Joerns Dolphin FIS Wheelchair Seat DLPH-1717WCOOJ-C, 17 x 17 x 4 in

The Joerns Dolphin FIS wheelchair cushion, DLPH-1717WCOOJ-C, is a powered fluid-immersion seat for a chair. It is not the Dolphin bed mattress.

What does it do and how does it work?

The cushion adjusts to the person's weight, contact area, and position, and simulates floating in fluid. Joerns describes that immersion as support for prevention and healing of pressure injuries through stage 4, and for care after flaps and grafts.

Joerns treats those indications as guidelines. The care team decides, including when turning is unsafe, and for a spinal cord injury only after a physician has cleared the person.

Who is it for, and who should choose something else?

Choose it for someone at or under 250 lbs (113.6 kg) who will sit on Dolphin FIS in a standard wheelchair, a power chair, or a stationary chair. Over 250 lbs (113.6 kg), this cushion is the wrong surface.

The Dolphin bed, stretcher, and crib pads are different products. A foam seat from the wheelchair cushions range is not fluid immersion.

Will it fit?

The cushion is 17 in (43 cm) wide, 17 in (43 cm) long, and 4 in (10 cm) thick. It weighs 5 lbs (2.3 kg). The 250 lb (113.6 kg) figure is the cushion rating only. The person plus the cushion must stay inside the wheelchair maker's load limit.

Place the hose at the back of the chair, with the therapy cells facing up, and strap the cushion to the seat frame. If the therapy pad is not already zipped on, close that zipper around the edge before anyone sits.

Using it day to day

Set the control unit to Chair/Stretcher for this cushion. Bed mode is only for a Dolphin therapy mattress. The wrong mode can injure the person on the seat.

Turn the storage switch to Battery On, then press Power until the green light shows. Keep the unit on while someone is sitting. The person sits only after the immersion profile is green, and the system is left to finish adjusting.

What does it work with, and what are its limits?

This item number is the wheelchair cushion. A Dolphin control unit has to sit on the chair back, with the hose clicked in. Tell us if that unit is already on the chair, and we confirm before you order whether this carton is the cushion alone.

The system battery is rated for about 12 hours of seated therapy and has to be recharged. The cushion does not replace the chair's brakes, the seating assessment, or the care plan. See the Dolphin FIS mattress when the surface has to be a bed.

How does it compare?

The bed mattress uses Bed mode and a higher weight rating. Foam seats on wheelchair cushions need no control unit. Other powered surfaces sit under medical mattresses.

Funding may help: see who may help pay.