[nagdu] an incident with ambulance people tonight

[Marion & Martin]

Chassity,
    Ambulances are considered "Health Care Facilities" and, as such, are 
public accommodations under ADA and depending upon your state's statutes, 
probably under state laws as well. Attached is guidance from the Centers for 
Disease Control  that may help you. If you need help resolving this issue, 
please give me a call. We need to educate the ambulance provider on the law. 
My contact information is below my signature.

Fraternally,
Marion Gwizdala, President
National Association of Guide Dog Users
National Federation of the Blind
813-626-2789
800-558-8261
president at nfb-nagdu.org



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasityvanda at charter.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:24 AM
Subject: [nagdu] an incident with ambulance people tonight


> Hey everyone,
>
> I need an opinion as to what to do about this particular situation. My 
> friend and room mate was complaining about irregular heart palpetations 
> tonight, and we ended up calling an ambulance and taking him to the ER. I 
> knew it would be a while and decided to take Hadley. The ambulance crew 
> said that she had to ride in back and I had to ride up front. I told them 
> this was a dog I had recently graduated with 3 mnths ago, and that I did 
> not approve of her riding separately from me, as I could not control her 
> this way. So then they refused to transport me period. They said, "Just 
> stay here. There's no reason for you to go." I said to them, "You wouldn't 
> tell a sighted person they couldn't go with their friend, relative, etc." 
> And they said, "Well, just take a taxi up there." A police officer agreed 
> to transport me in his car, and it turned out he didn't know the state 
> guide dog laws either. He didn't know squat about guide dogs period, 
> because he kept petting her and making kissy noises, and talking to her 
> over and over even after I explained that she was a working dog. As far as 
> the ambulance crew, my friend told me that while they were transporting 
> him, they said they could not allow her to ride up front due to the safety 
> of the driver. I'm not sure what to do about this situation. I don't have 
> time to write in depth because my friend is still in the hospital and I 
> need to get back up there. So any replies that I may need to respond to 
> might be delayed on my end because I may be at the hospital for a few 
> days. I'm just curious what should be done.
>
> Thanks,
> Chasity
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/swampfox1833%40verizon.net 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: guidelines for environmental Infection Control in Health Care	Facilities.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 35328 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nagdu_nfbnet.org/attachments/20090228/09b263d6/attachment.doc>