[gdum-l] Fw: [bscb-l] potential guide dog issue

[Nancy]

Hi bob
As a nurse and first responder at times this is touchy. Asthma and breathing are considered life threatening even if they are not when she boarded that ambulance. Dog hair when it is know asthma is a big cause for things to go south fast even if you told them she has no allergy to dogs. If it was het dog they could be sure the dog hair did not trigger the negative response. And no an ambulance does not have to allow ant passenger with them even if it is a child being transported. Their role is to save that life. My dad was transferred from baystate to Boston in ambulance in critical condition. I as his daughter as an rn with giggs made that transfer with him. It was only allowed because I was a nurse and was going to be at hospital as his health care proxy. They never have to transport. A passenger with them
Hope this helps
Nancy

Sent from my iPod

On Jan 17, 2012, at 8:35 PM, "Bob Hachey" <bhachey at verizon.net> wrote:

>   ----- Original Message ----- From: "Milissa Garside" <milissa.g79 at gmail.com>
> To: <bscb-l at acb.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 5:18 PM
> Subject: [bscb-l] potential guide dog issue
> 
> 
>> Hi Everyone,
>> I apologize if this is not the appropriate list for this but, I do not
>> know if there is still a GDUM e-mail list.
>> Last night, a friend of mine who is blind but does not currently have
>> a guide dog had to go to the emergency room by ambulance. She wanted
>> me to ride the ambulance with her as she was having difficulty
>> breathing and could not communicate with the paramedics and doctors
>> upon her arrival to the hospital. Perhaps I am wrong but, it is my
>> understanding that the paramedics usually permit one person to ride in
>> the ambulance to accompany the person experienceing the emergency. Let
>> me make cleeer that this was not a life threatening emergency. My
>> friend has azma which becomes unmanageable at times and requires
>> hospitalization to bring it under control. She lives in a small town
>> and most paramedics and fire men are formillar with her situation.
>> As the fire men and paramedics were getting ready to take her out in a
>> stretcher, I asked if I could ride in the ambulance with my friend to
>> the hospital. Jockey had his harness on so, there was no question that
>> he was a guide dog. While one of the medics responded that of course I
>> could ride in the ambulance, a second asked me if the guide dog
>> belonged to my friend. When I explained that the guide dog belonged to
>> me, he told me that they could only take me and not my dog. Puzzled, I
>> responded by saying really? He then explained that if the guide dog
>> belonged to my friend, then they would be obligated to take the dog.
>> Otherwise, they could not allow a my guide dog to accompany me on the
>> ambulance. Caught up in the moment, I did not argue but instead ended
>> up taking a taxi to meet my friend at the hospital.
>> My question is that is it legal for the paramedics to deny access to
>> my dog to accompany me on the ambulance? I understand that if my
>> friend and I both had guide dogs that her dog would be priority and
>> that my dog would not be able to travel with me in the ambulance. But,
>> where my friend doesn't have a dog, its seems rather strange that my
>> dog would not be able to accompany me. The more I think about it, the
>> more I feel that it wasn't right. What if I needed to travel to the
>> hospital with my child? Would my guide dog be refused? It just seems
>> very perplexing. Does anyone know what the laws are around this
>> particular issue? If the paramedic was legally correct, I'm ok with
>> that but, I would really like some clarafication.
>> Thanks in advance for any help and or suggestions you may have.
>> Milissa
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