About Us - Second Step's History

At Second Step, helping people walk again, more independently, is what we are all about

Second Step was founded in 1989.  Second Step has invested years of research and development in rehabilitation institutes, nursing homes, in-patient clinics, out-patient clinics, research and educational institutions, and hospital settings. The consortium of input was provided at the outset by research and development teams of physical therapists, engineering designers, prototype builders, biomedical researchers, caregivers, and users, all of who clearly identified the need for what is now known as the Gait Harness System® (GHS). The engineering designs were produced by David Dubats, one of the principals of Second Step, Inc. After the drawings were complete, his designs were evaluated and analyzed by a multi-disciplinary human factors team.

The original intention by the designers was to create an adaptive and assistive system that will allow users to resume their activities of daily living in relation to standing and walking. It was quickly discovered that the Gait Harness System® expanded its utilizations far beyond the assistive and adaptive arena. 

In addition to the assistive and adaptive settings where the System is used (such as nursing homes and adult care living facilities, for general maintenance and restorative care programs), the Gait Harness System® was quickly applied to recovery-based therapy for higher and lower level clients who required parallel bars or the assistance of several caregivers to conduct therapy. Anecdotal evidence rapidly emerged as Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury clients began walking under the supervision of teams of therapists and doctors for the first time in the 5, 10 and 20 years since their injuries.

The Second Step Gait Harness System provides

 an affordable solution towards recovery, which makes perfect sense

Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are confined to beds and wheelchairs who need to have proper healthcare equipment to walk and stand. Whether they can reestablish quality of life often depends on whether they have opportunity, and access, to effective therapy and equipment.

Today, the GHS is used with clients living with a broad spectrum of medical conditions, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke/CVA, developmental disability, lower extremity amputation, and other neurological disorders of the central nervous system. Second Step is dedicated to high customer satisfaction and "Helping People Walk Again" by keeping users and caregivers safe, simultaneously facilitating healthy, functional therapy outcomes.

Watch Home Users Success Stories to see Knute’s history of progression with the GHS 

No problem is too big…if the right people, with the right treatment, and the right System, go at it the right way