Why ReviMo?

I am one of ReviMo’s biggest believers. But when I first heard of ReviMo, I didn’t think it was possible that this problem had not already been solved. 

I had worked as an Emergency Medical Technician, spending the bulk of my days transferring patients. I transferred them from bed to stretcher, from stretcher to wheelchair, from floor to back board. I lifted and sheet-dragged. I used the slide-board and the inflatable mat. I used the Hoyer lift and the stand-and-pivot method. 

In short, I thought, with my wealth of experience, that I had seen it all. The patient transfer problem had been solved long-ago. 

Then I saw Aleks pitching at a healthcare entrepreneurship event. He had the passion, skill-set, and eloquence of an entrepreneur. It was clear he believed so strongly in his mission that he was going to make this business part of his identity. 

But I didn’t love his idea, at least not at first. And I told him so. I told him he needed to add more back support, change the wheel size, and make sure his device did not cause skin tears. And, like all successful entrepreneurs, Aleks listened. 

He didn’t just listen to me, but to every person he came into contact with. The customer discovery process he has taken ReviMo Niko through has been arduous. 

Seeing the way he accepted feedback and took it seriously only increased my respect for him as an entrepreneur. And it got me thinking- what did he see that I didn’t? 

At first glance, the patient transfer space is already crowded. There are a lot of ways to get from point A to point B.  

I started reflecting on my experiences caring for ill family members, as an EMT, and as a medical student. And it occurred to me that there was one key element missing in all of the aforementioned patient transfer techniques; patient autonomy. 

Not one of the techniques I had encountered offered patients a semblance of independence. Patients were dragged, swung through the air, and, in general, told what to do. Maybe this problem wasn’t as solved as I had previously thought. 

So when Aleks invited me to attend an accelerator program with him as a member of the team, I agreed. 

As I started interviewing individuals with mobility challenges, I learned about their pain-points. The difficulties of lying in bed for hours on the days their care-givers didn’t show up. The increasing demands on aging bodies as parents tried to lift their growing children multiple times per day. The embarrassment of having an accident while being jostled around. The fear that their parents wouldn’t always be there to help them. 

I quickly became convinced that in actuality, the patient transfer problem had not been solved at all. I’d just never noticed it before. 

The more I looked, the more I saw. Multiple sclerosis, arthrogryposis, ataxia, strokes, muscular dystrophies, injuries, cerebral palsy, and a myriad of other conditions that cause mobility disorders all had one thing in common; the people carrying the burden of these diseases wanted to find ways to become more independent. 

When interviewing their caregivers, I saw that they too wanted the same thing for their loved ones and patients. In their eyes I would see the familiar mixture of hope and fatigue. 

The biggest gift that we at ReviMo give to our patients and their caretakers is relief. Relief to the providers and caregivers who no longer have to physically transfer their loved ones to or from bed or the bathroom, but also to the individuals who can transfer themselves. 

So why ReviMo?

ReviMo because it doesn’t require caregivers. It doesn’t require slings. It doesn’t require patients to float through the air because it can be a single piece of equipment that can be used for patient transfer, toileting, and moving about the house to perform ADLs. 

Because at the end of the day, ReviMo Niko restores dignity to the human beings who need it most. 

-Kyra Chester-Paul, first ReviMo employee