What should a caregiver do, in order, when bathing someone in a walk-in tub? Set up the room, warm the seat, check the water before the bather feels it, keep the bather seated with a belt where the care team requires one, stay in the room for the whole bath, and never open the door until the tub is empty. Those follow the Ella owner's manual rules, which require a caregiver in attendance at all times, with an installed safety belt, for any bather who is paralyzed or does not have all limbs functioning. Print this and keep it by the tub. Temperature, duration, positioning and technique for a particular person come from that person's doctor or therapist.

Print and Tick: Set Up the Room

• ☐ Care team's instructions read: temperature, soak length, positioning, jets, belt
• ☐ Heated seat, if fitted, on 10 to 15 minutes before entry; it turns off after 20 minutes
• ☐ No electric appliances within 3 feet of the tub, phones included
• ☐ Non-slip mat at the entry; floor dry; door swing area clear
• ☐ Towels, soap and everything else brought in first, so nobody leaves the room

Before the Bather Enters

• ☐ Tub empty; never help anyone into a tub with water in it
• ☐ Door fully open; seal wiped clean
• ☐ Transfer as the therapist taught it, using the grab bars, never the door, which holds only its own weight

With the Bather Seated, Before Water

• ☐ Bather fully in the seat, back on the backrest, not slouched or lying in the footwell
• ☐ Safety belt fastened where the manuals or the care team require it
• ☐ Feet and knees clear of an inward-swing door; door closed and locked
• ☐ Both drains closed completely
• ☐ Water checked by the caregiver before it reaches the bather; the manuals warn that water above 100.4 F may be harmful

See the seat belt accessory, how to take a bath step by step and will I get cold while the tub fills or drains.

During the Bath

• ☐ Caregiver within reach for the entire bath
• ☐ Fill stops below the center of the drain handle; water covers every jet before any pump runs
• ☐ Jets only if the care team allows: hydro one press on, one off; air is high, medium, low, off on the fourth press
• ☐ Soak timed to the care team's length; end the bath if in doubt
• ☐ No bath bombs; oils and salts discouraged; ordinary soap is fine

See how to turn the jets off in an emergency.

Draining and Exit

• ☐ All therapies off
• ☐ Both drains fully open; bather stays seated; about 80 seconds for an average dual-drain tub under ideal conditions
• ☐ Door opened only when the tub is completely empty; never forced
• ☐ Bather dried in the seat before standing; heated seat restarted if needed
• ☐ Transfer out using the grab bars, never the door

After the Bath and Notes for the Care Team

• ☐ Expect the Auto Purge about 20 minutes after the air pump was turned off: 120 seconds, on its own, normal
• ☐ Door left open between baths to protect the seal
• ☐ Tub rinsed; chrome rinsed after any salt bath
• ☐ Note for the care team: temperature, soak length, therapy used, transfer, anything reported

Where the person cannot be transferred into a seated tub, see assisted bathing tubs compared.

Common Questions