COVID-19 Coronavirus
Please see below for the latest updates on how the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic is affecting Emprise Mobility.
Recent weeks have seen a sudden jump in the number of new COVID-19 cases per day, with hospitalisations growing. We are in the midst of a new COVID-19 wave.
While the COVID-19 requirements regarding isolation periods and similar have been dropped in Australia, it makes sense to continue to take care.
We strongly encourage calling to make an appointment before visiting one of our showrooms or our Service Centre. This helps us to manage the number of visitors so that we can maintain social distancing. It also helps us ensure that we have the staff on hand to assist you. Like many businesses, we have staff falling ill and we are running understaffed at a very busy time of the year.
If we get a sudden influx of visitors, we will do our best to maintain social distancing and might ask you to take a seat in our waiting area (and grab a cuppa) or start with viewing other products, if other people are already working with the products you would like to see or trial.
Our staff will continue to wear masks, when working with customers in our showroom, until further notice and our cleaning/sanitising processes will continue.
We look forward to welcoming you to Emprise Mobility, in Bibra Lake and Mandurah, for all your mobility equipment and daily living aids requirements.
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With the greatly reduced number of new COVID-19 cases per day, and many of the remaining COVID-19 requirements about to be dropped in WA, it seems like we’re well on the road back to normal.
Effective Tuesday, 7 June, 2022, Emprise Mobility will remove the “by appointment only” visits to our showrooms and Service Centre.
We will still encourage social distancing and might ask you to take a seat in our waiting area (and grab a cuppa) or start with viewing other products, if other people are already working with the products you would like to see or trial.
We still strongly encourage that you make an appointment to visit, if you need to review or trial products or just get advice on what might be appropriate.
Our staff will continue to wear masks, when working with customers in our showroom, until further notice and our cleaning/sanitising processes will continue.
We look forward to welcoming you to Emprise Mobility, in Bibra Lake and Mandurah, for all your mobility equipment and daily living aids requirements.
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Effective 12.01am Tuesday, 8 February, 2022, new high caseload environment COVDI-19 protocols were introduced across WA by the WA Government.
In keeping with our objective to keep our customers, team, families and business associates safe, our current COVID-19 policies and procedures for the high caseload environment follow:
Showrooms and Service Centre
By Appointment Only
Effective immediately, our showrooms and Service Centre will be “by appointment only”.
- Showrooms will continue to open 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 12 noon on Saturday.
- The Service Centre will continue to open 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Please phone us to book an appointment. Appointments will be needed for all visits to our showrooms or Service Centre – sales, service, hire or trials.
- We will limit the number of concurrent appointments in each showroom, to help us manage social distancing.
When you book your appointment, please also share with us the products you are interested to see. This will help us to plan visits so we don’t have groups of people trying to see the same things at the same time (and, hence, making social distancing very difficult).
We respectfully advise that, should you visit our showroom without an appointment, you might be denied entry. We will accommodate you if we can, but not if it is outside our “COVID-19 high caseload environment” policies. This is protect both you and us – and those for whom we care.
Number and size of groups visiting our showrooms will be restricted.
To help us manage social distancing:
- We will book a maximum of three concurrent visits per showroom (and one at a time in our Service Centre).
- We will limit the number of visitors per group to 3.
- Upon request, we will book the entire showroom for one visitor/group – e.g. to minimise the risk to someone who is immunocompromised.
If you have a special requirement related to the number of people will attend with you or the need to book the showroom just for you, please let us know when you call. We will make every endeavour to meet your requirements.
We will make every effort to not book overlapping appointments for individuals or groups interested in the same products. If we feel we already have too many people in one area of the showroom, trying to see and try the same equipment, we will ask some to wait.
Further details on Showroom “by appointment” during the high caseload environment.
Equipment Trials and Home Visits
Trials and in-home visits will continue.
Social distancing and sanitisation (hands and equipment) will proceed as per our COVID-19 policies and processes.
All staff will wear masks throughout the trial/home visit.
We request that those we visit also wear a mask during the trial/home visit unless this poses a health or safety risk.
Unless urgent, we will not complete trials and in-home visits with individuals in isolation with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. If urgent (that is, cannot be delayed until confirmed clear or COVID-19 and out of isolation), our staff will wear full PPE and will require the client to wear a mask.
Phone and Video Conference Consultations
We offer remote consultations by phone or video conference. Our sales team, OT team and Service team are just a phone call away.
Please see our Online Meetings post for further information.
Deliveries
We will continue deliveries, but our delivery team will employ rigorous hygiene and social distancing processes to keep people safe, including use of gloves and masks.
We request that those to whom we are delivering equipment also wear a mask during the delivery/handover of equipment unless this poses a health or safety risk.
Unless urgent, we will not complete deliveries to individuals in isolation with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. If urgent (that is, cannot be delayed until confirmed clear or COVID-19 and out of isolation), our staff will wear full PPE and will require the client to wear a mask. To the degree possible, the deliveries will be contactless.
Hygiene, Sanitisation and Masks
All people entering our premises will be required to wash or sanitise their hands upon entry.
All equipment, counters and vehicles will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitised on a regular basis.
Staff and visitors will be required to wear masks unless they have a documented exemption.
Contact Register
We will maintain a contact register (you can register either manually or using the SafeWA or ServiceWA app).
Vaccinations
All our staff are double vaccinated and are getting boosters as they become eligible.
At this time, we do not require Proof of Vaccination from those visiting our showrooms. We will adhere to any Health Directive from the WA Government regarding the requirement for Proof of Vaccination.
Wrapping Up
Some of these processes and policies might seem a bit uncomfortable. We might not be able to visit you as soon as you’d like. It might take us a bit longer to serve you or to deliver your equipment. We might even need to turn you away if you visit our showroom without an appointment and we’ve too many people to meet social distancing requirements. We are committed to doing our very best to assist every customer while also keeping everyone safe. We thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have questions or concerns about how Emprise Mobility can work with you during the lockdown, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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To enable us to by manage the number of people in our retail showrooms at one time (to help keep our customers and staff safe during the COVID-19 high caseload environment), Emprise Mobility is moving to “by appointment” in our showrooms.
To support this change, we are also strongly encouraging phone, email and video conference consultations.
Other than published, long weekend closures such as Easter, the showrooms will continue to open:
- Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm
- Saturday between 9am and 12 noon
You can phone or email us to make an appointment to visit one of our showrooms or to schedule a telephone consultation (using the Phone and Contact buttons above). However, we recommend phoning as the most effective option.
Background to the changes:
Typically, in a showroom or in-home setting, we work closely with our customers.
- We spend substantial time with our customers.
- We work closely with our customers demonstrating and setting up equipment.
- There are regularly several people involved – our staff, the customer, a therapist and one or more family members or carers.
- A large percentage of our customers are those that have been identified as being at the greatest risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19.
Moving our engagement model in our showrooms to “by appointment” enables us to best manage how many people are in the showroom, to ensure equipment and surfaces are cleaned and sanitised between customers, and to give each customer our full focus.
By appointment visits to our showrooms, more detail
How many appointments at a time?
Each showroom will book a maximum of three appointments at a time.
- With our spacious showrooms, there will be ample space for good distancing.
I am immunocompromised; can I book the whole showroom?
If requested, we will book only one appointment in the showroom if an individual is immunocompromised. We will minimise all interactions with staff.
How many people can be involved?
We know that the process of learning about, trialling and selecting appropriate products sometimes requires extra support – from a therapist, carer or family members. To enable this while still protecting all concerned, we will limit the people associated with an appointment and ensure that only two are working together at a time; anyone else will be required to keep distant and only be involved (one on one) as needed.
Maximum people associated with a visit = 4 (1 staff member, 3 visitors)
- Our staff member.
- The customer.
- One family member or carer.
- One therapist.
However, only two people will be working together at a time. For example:
- Our staff member and the customer.
- A therapist and a customer.
- Our staff member and a therapist.
When we have two or three bookings at a time, they are to be well distanced in the showroom.
What if I need to bring more people with me?
If you need to be accompanied by more people, please call us to discuss. We will accommodate you if we can (e.g. by reducing the number of concurrent appointments or booking an appointment outside of normal hours).
How to make an appointment?
We recommend that you phone to make an appointment. This is the best approach to share your requirements and to get a confirmed appointment time.
What if it is urgent?
If you have an urgent need, please call and we will slot you in if we can, or try and make alternative arrangements (e.g. come to you). We will make every effort to meet your needs.
What if I turn up without an appointment?
We respectfully advise that, should you visit one of our showrooms without an appointment, you might be denied entry.
We will try to accommodate you if we can but, if we are at capacity, we will ask you to wait outside or return later, with an appointment.
Keeping Our Staff Safe
If we are to visit you – part of our process to book a service, trial or pickup/delivery will include enquiring if the person we will be in contact with has or is suspected of having COVID-19 or is in Isolation.
As per Department of Health recommendations , if the individual we will be visiting is unwell and has or may have COVID-19 or is in Isolation, we will only visit if
- it is essential
- there is no alternative approach
- appropriate precautions can be taken, including appropriate use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by both the individual and our staff member
- interaction can be minimised
When working with you in person is not a suitable option, Emprise Mobility is happy to work with you by phone or online.
This is especially important with COVID-19 Coronavirus social distancing restrictions and the current “high caseload environment”, as designated by the WA Government effective 8 February, 2022.
We’re all familiar with using the phone; online meetings offer more flexibility and function to a meeting.
Online Meetings
If you are not familiar with online meetings:
- Online meetings use technology to bring people together, even when they’re physically distant.
- An online meeting can use audio and video – we can see and hear everyone in the meeting.
- We can record all or some of the meeting, so we can refer back to the content.
- We can capture notes into the meeting as we go.
- Using the camera, we can also see important things in the environment – existing equipment and where the equipment will be used, for example.
An online meeting can involve several people who are physically in different places (with you, at their office, in their own home, in our workshop, wherever).
For example, to make the most of an online meeting we can invite one or all of the following:
- Our sales consultant, Service Technician or OT, depending upon what you need.
- One or more of your family.
- Your therapist.
- Your carer.
This is important with the tightening requirements on social distancing that are keeping us all safe.
You can have someone with you in person, and anyone else who should participate can be there “virtually” – online, listening in, seeing video of you, your home, the equipment, etc. as appropriate.
The camera can also be turned on and off, so privacy is maintained when it is appropriate but things that are important to see can be seen (e.g. where an item of equipment will be used).
When we schedule the meeting, we can invite anyone who has an email address.
If your therapist is with you and needs our input, he/she can invite us to an online meeting so we can participate, or we can set up the meeting with the therapist.
Your GP might be using Telehealth for consults – Telehealth is an online meeting engine being used by the medical profession. Telehealth is being promoted by the government to minimise the spread of COVID-19.
What you need for an online meeting
- An email address.
- A device with Internet capability that has a microphone and camera.
Examples include your mobile phone, iPad, other tablet or computer.
We will do the rest.
How does this work?
- We will schedule online meetings with you using Microsoft Teams.
- We will send you an invitation (to your email address) to join a Teams meeting.
- All you need to join a Teams meeting is a link – which will be in the invitation.
- Open the invitation (or Calendar booking if you saved the booking to your Calendar).
Meetings in Teams include audio, video, and screen sharing. And you don’t need to be a member of our organisation (or even have a Teams account!) to join a Teams meeting
- You click on the link in the invitation, enter your name and join the meeting.
- You will be able to join on the web without having to install any software (apps) or if you want additional functionality, such as the ability to start sharing your screen, you can also install the app.
Select Join Microsoft Teams Meeting in your meeting invite to be taken to a page where you can choose to either join on the web or download the desktop app. If you already have the Teams app, the meeting will open there automatically.
- Use the buttons to turn your microphone and camera on or off.
Want to see more before you join your first meeting?
Check out this short video from Microsoft on how to join a meeting.
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COVID-19 and the challenges it has brought us have upped everyone’s stress levels. If you visit one of our showrooms and need to wait, or just want to have a break, have a cuppa (and a biscuit) on us.
Because we are still dealing with COVID-19, we request that you sanitise before you make your beverage, and afterwards, please put your mask back on and sanitise again before moving throughout the showroom. These simple steps can help to keep us all safe and healthy.
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In response to the COVID-19 coronavirus situation, the ATSA Independent Living Expos in Perth and Melbourne have been postponed until October 2020.
The new dates:
Melbourne -Tuesday 13 October and Wednesday 14 October
Perth – Wednesday 28 October and Thursday 29 October
Emprise Mobility will be exhibiting at the ATSA Independent Living Expo in Perth. We hope to see you there.
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