Wheelchair lift training videos: what the lift makers publish for drivers, and the sign-off to keep

A lift video teaches the steps and records nothing about the person who watched it. The record has to be yours: a dated note that someone saw that driver run your lift correctly. This page covers what BraunAbility, Ricon and Q’Straint publish for the people who run their equipment, what each one certifies, and what to keep in the driver file.

The full training plan, with PASS and the broker course lists, sits in NEMT driver training. The driver’s steps when a lift stops working are in when a wheelchair lift fails mid-trip.

What does BraunAbility publish to train lift operators?

BraunAbility publishes a short video, a long one and an operator’s manual for each lift family. Its guidance for fleets describes a short version of about 5 minutes and a comprehensive version of about 15 minutes. It recommends that agencies and school districts make sure each driver watches both, and it calls documenting the training program with drivers a best practice.

The long video, How to Operate a Wheelchair Lift, runs 15 minutes 47 seconds and was posted in November 2019. The short one, How a DPA Wheelchair Lift Works, runs 5 minutes 32 seconds and dates from August 2019. The long video covers the DPA family: the Century 2, Millennium 2 and Vista 2. The short one is a shortened version of the same loading and unloading steps. A third video, General Wheelchair Lift Maintenance, runs 5 minutes 30 seconds and covers the Millennium and Century series upkeep, not daily operation.

The transcript of the long video follows one order: the built-in safety features, unloading a rider, loading a rider, stowing the lift, the manual backup pump, then lubrication and inspection. It tells operators to set the parking brake, open and secure the vehicle doors, load and unload on flat ground, away from vehicle traffic, keep the chair inside the yellow boundaries and engage the chair’s brakes, or switch off the power on a powered chair. BraunAbility says the video supplements the manual and does not replace it.

The manuals are listed by lift family: 33702 Rev. G for the Century 2, 33703 Rev. G for the Millennium 2 and 35063 Rev. E for the Vista 2. Older series have their own manuals, so read the model plate before you assign a video.

What do Ricon and the other makers give operators?

Ricon’s public use service manual (August 2021) says its S-Series lift is operated by a trained attendant and that the operator must be completely familiar with the operating instructions. It tells Ricon sales or service personnel to go through the warranty and the operator manual with the customer until the customer understands how to run the lift safely. It also tells operators to inspect the lift before each use and to stop if it makes unusual noises or movements.

Two Ricon S-Series operation videos posted to YouTube by bus dealers date from 2010 (7 minutes) and 2014 (about 15 minutes). Ricon’s S-Series public use service manual is dated August 2021, so compare an older video with the manual that came with your lift before you use it to train anyone.

National RTAP hosts a free collection called Training Videos, Wheelchair Securement and Lifts, with folders for BraunAbility, AMF-Bruns of America, Ricon and a Q’Straint and Sure-Lok securement webinar. The collection says the videos come from the manufacturers for information only and that only the Q’Straint and Sure-Lok training gives a certificate. The rest of National RTAP’s catalog is in National RTAP training for NEMT drivers.

Does a lift video give a driver a certificate?

No. The certificates that makers and trade groups issue are for technicians and for securement, not for running a lift. Here is what exists:

• BraunAbility. It requires every dealer to hold Mobility Service Excellence certification, a mix of online and hands-on training, and sends expiration reminders to dealer staff. Its free monthly class on basic lift maintenance and adjustments runs 1 hour 15 minutes and is meant for technicians.
• NMEDA. The NMEDA Certified Technician credential takes five modules and a 50-question exam and is renewed every two years. Each accredited dealer location has to keep one on staff.
• Q’Straint. Securement 101 has four lessons: safety and liability, securement equipment operation, securing the wheelchair and securing the occupant. Each ends with a quiz, passing takes 75 percent, and the course takes about 75 minutes and costs $49.99 per student. The certificate of completion is valid for two years. Its live monthly webinars, listed as free, give a certificate valid for one year. Both cover securement, and Q’Straint recommends hands-on practice afterward.
• CTAA’s Full PASS. This in-person course teaches lift operating procedures and securement on the van the driver works in, and it must come inside 90 days after PASS Basic. It is the one course on this list that includes the lift. NEMT driver training gives the deadlines brokers attach to it.

How does 49 CFR 37.173 turn a video into training?

The ADA’s training rule covers public and private operators of demand responsive service. It makes the operator responsible for staff who are trained to proficiency in their own duties, so vehicles and equipment are run safely and riders with disabilities are treated with courtesy. It names no course and no hours.

The Department of Transportation’s commentary on the rule explains what that means. DOT prescribes no course and asks for no plan to be filed. Its own example is that a bus driver has to know how to operate lifts and securement devices properly. There is no refresher schedule, but the duty never pauses: at any moment staff must be proficient, and a driver who has forgotten earlier training falls short of the standard.

So the video is the teaching, and proficiency is shown by the driver doing the work in front of someone who can judge it. The federal vehicle standard for lifts at 49 CFR 38.23(b) shows what to judge. Lift controls must need continuous pressure from the operator, and the emergency method must be safe when run by the maker’s instructions. That makes two skills worth watching in person: holding the control through a full cycle, and working the manual backup without a rider on the platform. The backup drill itself is in the lift failure guide.

CTAA’s PASS handbook gives a ready model. Its lift and ramp module ends with a 10-question hands-on quiz, and the driver’s performance must be marked satisfactory by a PASS trainer on a checklist of lift and ramp operations.

What do states and brokers want to see?

States and brokers that name lift training ask for instruction before the first rider, and some ask for a record. Three examples:

• Minnesota. Before providing special transportation service, each driver and attendant needs instruction and demonstration in operating the vehicle ramp, wheelchair lift and securement devices, if the vehicle has them. The rule says every course in this training part must include proficiency testing, and courses must be taught in person unless the state approves another format first. Each three-year cycle adds two hours of securement training.
• Wisconsin. Before a driver takes the wheel or works as an attendant, the rule requires specific instruction in how to use each ramp, lift and restraint device the provider operates. Basic first aid and CPR training come with it.
• Virginia. MTM Health’s provider roster asks for each driver’s training dates by course: first aid, HIPAA, PASS, defensive driving and wheelchair securement. Its handbook, dated August 10, 2026, also tells providers to document each lift’s manufacturer, model, age and rated capacity. MTM’s in-person Driver Training class runs six hours, includes securement instruction and hands-on practice, and has drivers bring the van they work in and its equipment. DMAS says it honors a PASS Basic and Securement certificate that has not expired.

What should the lift sign-off say?

A good sign-off names the person, the lift, the date and what the driver did in front of the trainer. Keep one per driver and per lift model.

1. Driver and trainer. Full names and the trainer’s signature.
2. Lift. Maker, model, the van it is on and the manual revision used.
3. Materials. The video titles and posting dates and the manual the driver read.
4. Observed skills. Checked off one by one: power switch and interlock check, deploy, load with the chair inside the yellow boundaries and brakes set, hold the control through the full travel, unload, stow, and the manual backup without a rider.
5. Result and retraining date. Pass or repeat, and the date to do it again, such as the next lift change.

The driver training log holds the dates, and the lift inspection checklist gives the daily cycle test the driver should be able to run before a shift. Securement gets its own sign-off, built from the securement standards.

Keeping lift training dates in HealthRide

HealthRide keeps one registry of driver credentials and certifications with expiration dates, sends reminders before they lapse and flags an expired one when you assign a trip. Record the lift sign-off and its retraining date there, next to the driver’s license and CPR card. In the driver app, each driver also runs a van check at the start of a shift, and dispatch sees the result on the fleet page.