Stretcher-Alternative transportation across Schaumburg & Chicagoland.
For clients who can’t sit upright for the trip. A fully-reclining chair in our van lets your loved one travel lying back — comfortable, dignified, and door-through-door. It’s the calm, non-emergency alternative to an ambulance — not an ambulance.
Built for the people who ride with us.
Can’t Sit Upright for the Trip
When sitting for the whole trip isn’t an option, the fully-reclining chair lets your loved one travel lying back.
Bed-to-Bed Transfers for Imaging
Clients who are a two-person (2x) assist or use a mechanical (Hoyer) lift, heading to an MRI, CT, or other radiology. The height-adjustable, lie-flat chair makes a bed-to-bed transfer easier on the client, the staff, and the family.
Outpatient Surgery & Procedures
When a procedure calls for a bed-to-bed transfer — arriving or returning reclined and supported, with a gentle transfer at each end.
Discharges & Facility Transfers
Coming home from a hospital or moving between facilities — reclined and comfortable the entire way.
Comfort-First & Hospice Trips
Palliative, hospice, and wound-care visits where a gentle, unhurried transport matters most.
Not sure which service fits? Call (847) 585-8888 and we’ll match the client to the right vehicle and Transportation Specialists.
The dignified way to travel lying back.
Travel Fully Reclined
A fully-reclining transport chair — never forced to sit up.
Not an Ambulance
Non-emergency and calmer, for stable clients — planned ahead.
Statewide Coverage
All of Illinois — plus long-distance in or out of state.
A Companion Rides Free
Bring a spouse or caregiver at no extra cost.
Book Stretcher-Alternative transport
2-Min QuoteBed-to-bed, in five steps.
Every Stretcher-Alternative trip follows the same clear process, so you always know what to expect.
Example only — names, places, and times are illustrations.
A Stretcher-Alternative is not an ambulance.
It’s easy to mix these up. Here’s the plain-language difference, so you can tell in a moment whether this is the right transport for your loved one.
An Ambulance
For medical emergencies and clients who need clinical care or monitoring on the way. Staffed by EMTs or paramedics and billed as emergency medical transport. Rainbow Road Transport is not an ambulance service and does not provide one.
Stretcher-Alternative
Non-emergency transport for a stable client who simply can’t sit upright. They travel fully reclined in a cushioned, tilt-in-space transport chair with a trained Transportation Specialist — scheduled ahead, door-through-door, bed-to-bed when needed. No clinical care or monitoring en route.
Wheelchair or Ambulatory
For clients who can sit upright for the transport. If your loved one can travel seated, one of our seated services may be the better fit.
Choose this service if…
The trips this service is for:
What every transport includes.
Travel Fully Reclined
A cushioned, tilt-in-space transport chair reclines to lie-flat and tilts for pressure relief — positioned for comfort the whole trip.
Secured, Every Transport
Four-point tie-downs anchor the chair, plus a lap-and-shoulder belt — the same securement standard as every Rainbow Road Transport trip.
Door-Through-Door, Not Curb-to-Curb
Your Specialist assists from the room to the van and brings your loved one inside at the other end — help is there the whole way.
Trained, Screened Specialists
Background-checked, PASS-certified, and current on CPR and First Aid — trained in calm, respectful, unhurried care.
Comfort is the whole point.
For a client who can’t sit up, the difference between a Stretcher-Alternative and an Ambulance is the experience. Here’s what makes it calm.
Fully Reclined, the Whole Trip
A cushioned, tilt-in-space chair reclines to lie-flat and tilts for pressure relief and comfort on longer trips — your loved one never has to sit up for the transport.
Height-Adjustable, Bed-to-Bed
The chair lowers and reclines flat next to the bed or imaging table, so the transfer is a gentle side-to-side move instead of a lift — easier on the client, the family, and the staff.
Anchored and Secured
Four-point tie-downs anchor the chair in our accessible vans, with a lap-and-shoulder belt — the same securement standard as every Rainbow Road Transport trip.
A gentle side-to-side move — not a lift.
A traditional stretcher trip often means a difficult lift and two or more people just to get moving. The Stretcher-Alternative changes that.
Easier on the Client
The chair lowers and reclines flat next to the bed, so the transfer is a gentle side-to-side slide on a slide sheet instead of being lifted into a seat — less pain, less anxiety, more dignity.
Easier on Family
No scramble to arrange help or a second vehicle — and the reclined, cushioned transport is calmer to watch and to be part of.
Easier — and Safer — on Staff
Height-adjustable transfers mean fewer awkward lifts and a lower risk of injury during the move.
One or two specialists, matched to the transfer.
Rainbow Road Transport sends one or two Transportation Specialists depending on the transfer. Tell us the details when you book and we’ll plan the right number of Transportation Specialists.
Rainbow Road Transport provides transportation and non-clinical assistance — not medical or post-operative care. Where a mechanical (Hoyer) lift is used, the lift transfer itself is handled by trained facility or home staff.
Facility to Facility
One Specialist is often enough — facility staff are on hand to help with the transfer.
Home Pickup or Drop-Off
We typically send two Specialists, so the bed-to-bed transfer is gentle and unhurried.
Across all of Illinois.
Headquartered in Schaumburg, with a six-county Chicagoland core — and service across all of Illinois, plus long-distance trips to and from other states. Reclined transport travels well: don’t see your city? Call (847) 585-8888 — we likely cover it.
Door-through-Door Service
Help from inside the home to inside the appointment and back — not just curb to curb.
Certified & Insured in Illinois
Certified and insured under the State of Illinois, across the whole fleet.
Eco-Friendly Hybrid Fleet
Wheelchair-accessible Toyota Sienna Hybrids with ramps, four-point tie-downs, and seatbelts.
PASS - Certified Transportation Specialists
Trained in Passenger Assistance, Safety, and Sensitivity — for every passenger.
Questions we hear most
Still unsure? Call (847) 585-8888 and we’ll walk you through it.
No. Stretcher-Alternative transport is non-emergency: a trained Transportation Specialist transports a stable client who simply can’t sit upright, reclined in a fully-reclining transport chair.
There is no clinical care or monitoring en route.
If your loved one needs medical care on the way — or it’s an emergency — call 911 or an ambulance service instead.
A fully-reclining, tilt-in-space transport chair that combines the practicality of a stretcher with real comfort and dignity.
It reclines to lie-flat, is height-adjustable for bed-to-bed transfers, has cushioned pressure-relief seating, and is anchored with four-point tie-downs in our accessible vans.
Stable, non-emergency clients who can’t sit upright for the length of the trip — coming home from a hospital or facility, heading to imaging (MRI, CT) or an outpatient procedure that calls for a bed-to-bed transfer, or taking a comfort-first or hospice trip.
If your loved one can sit up for the transport, wheelchair or ambulatory transport may be the better fit.
One or two, depending on the transfer.
For a facility-to-facility trip one Specialist is often enough, since facility staff are on hand to help; for a pickup or drop-off at home we typically send two.
Where a mechanical (Hoyer) lift is used, the lift transfer itself is handled by trained facility or home staff.
Yes. The first companion rides free — just add them at booking so we plan the right vehicle. Need us to stay for the visit? Add Wait & Return, an optional paid add-on.
Private pay by debit or credit card, with a card on file to confirm. Facilities can be set up on monthly invoicing. We don’t bill insurance directly — if you have NEMT coverage, call your plan to confirm benefits.
Book Stretcher-Alternative transport across Chicagoland.
Tell us the client’s transfer needs and we’ll bring the right chair and Transportation Specialists. Transportation is scheduled 24/7.
Rainbow Road Transport provides non-emergency transportation and non-clinical assistance using a fully-reclining transport chair — a Stretcher-Alternative, not an ambulance. There is no emergency or in-transit medical care. Each trip is staffed by one or two Transportation Specialists; where a Hoyer/mechanical lift is required, the lift transfer is performed by trained facility or home staff.