“Simply brilliant and brilliantly simple". That’s the claim from Sir Ranulph Fiennes BT OBE, Patron of Hydrate for Health Ltd, about a breakthrough re-hydration product for the disabled market, to be displayed at enABLE 08. The UK’s only national consumer show for people with disabilities will be held in the Jaguar Exhibition Hall at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry on 28-29 November 2008.
Sir Fiennes went on to add: “The Hydrant should be on every hospital and care home bed in the country – it enables people to drink easily and without assistance at any time of the day. I have no doubt that it will make a major contribution to the reduction in dehydration related problems in the healthcare arena.”
The issues of dehydration and malnutrition within the healthcare sector are well documented. Stakeholders including the Royal College of Nursing, the Department of Health, the British Dietetic Association, Water UK, the English Community Care Association and the National Patient Safety Agency have been working hard to raise awareness of this potentially fatal condition.
Resulting from the personal experience of being unable to reach a drink in hospital after a serious back operation, Mark Moran established Bristol-based Hydrate for Health Ltd with one simple goal – making it easy to drink independently. With a slogan of ‘If you can’t reach it, you can’t drink it!’ the Hydrant and the Hydrant Sports works by closing the gap between the drinker and the drink offering an ingeniously simple, low-cost solution to the serious issue.
By simply hooking onto a bed, wheelchair or chair, the Hydrant and Hydrant Sports give users easy access to fluids so they can drink at any time without assistance. The Hydrant drinks system is a one litre water bottle, an integrated cap/handle/hanging bracket, a drinking tube with a bite valve and a small clip to attach the tube to clothing if required.
The bottle works best when hung slightly above head height, on a bed headboard or back of a day chair and the user simply takes hold of the tube, inserts the bite valve between their lips then bites and sucks. The bite valve opens under pressure and closes when released so there is no leakage. In this position, once the tube is full of fluid the whole system becomes a siphon and no further sucking is needed to get a drink.
Hydrate for Health Ltd will be offering The Hydrant at a special price of £10 during enABLE 08 and £12.95 after the show. The Hydrant is available within the NHS Supply Chain system (order code UMT004). Additionally, many of the major disability and rehabilitation supplies distributors, such as Nottingham Rehab Supplies, Promedics and Homecraft Rolyan, are adding the products to their new catalogues. All products are also available directly from Hydrate for Health via their website www.hydrateforhealth.co.uk or call Mark Moran directly on 07813 013779.
Notes to Editors
To be held in the Jaguar Exhibition Hall at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry on 28-29 November 2008, the very first enABLE show will be free to attend and will meet the information needs of visitors while offering an engaging seminar programme. The Ricoh Arena, which offers the most disabled-accessible exhibition halls in the UK and thousands of parking spaces also boasts excellent travel links by car and train. Around 120 exhibitors will be at the show covering a wide range of areas from aids to holidays, from fitness equipment to health and beauty and training and recruitment to education. Visit the official website at www.enableshow.co.uk for further details.
For further information contact:
Emma Spearing
Tel: 01202 862 410 Mobile: 07736 341 828 E-mail: enABLEpr@hazelpr.com
Cathy Metcalfe
Tel: 01327 352 199 Mobile: 07802 332 398 E-mail: enABLEpr@hazelpr.com