[nagdu] an incident with ambulance people tonight

Mon Mar 2 22:46:27 UTC 2009

I have been in an ambulance many times when my boyfriend Chris had epileptic 
seizures, back when they weren't under control. And now when my friend had 
his heart problems on Friday. What doesn't seem right to me, however, is 
that without her, they were perfectly willing to let me ride in it. It was 
never an issue of, well, we don't let people ride with their friends. They 
were perfectly willing to let me ride in the ambulance if she rode separate 
from me or if I left her at home. So in that case, they were telling me I 
had the right to ride in the ambulance, it became an issue of Hadley, not an 
issue of me not being able to ride at all, despite having a dog or not.

Chasity
Check out the tribute page I created for my guide dog Vanda at:
www.myspace.com/vandaandchasity
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Or by phone at: (559) 553-4627
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] an incident with ambulance people tonight

> That's a good question.  I never thought of it before, but it would be 
> good
> to know, just in case.
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Garry and Joy Relton
> Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 8:18 AM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] an incident with ambulance people tonight
>
> As I understand it, you don't necessarily have the right to travel in the
> ambulance with your friend. This is because of the relationship between 
> the
> two of you. If you have the right or need to be in the ambulance your dog
> also must be transported with you unless there is some problem with them
> being able to work on you, i.e.. severe bleeding and the like. The front 
> of
> the ambulance issue is ironic. I was once transported in the ambulance 
> with
> my dog, and one of the people tried to tell me that I had to leave my dog 
> on
> the side of the road. I said very firmly that the dog was coming with me.
> Others staffing the ambulance knew that it was the law and suggested that
> the dog could easily fit in front. They told me that the space was a 
> little
> limited around the stretcher and they wanted to be sure that they could 
> give
> me the care I needed. Since I was pregnant at the time and wanted to be 
> sure
> that the baby was ok I didn't argue with that. The idiot person even had 
> the
> guts to say to me while in transit that, if he would have had to put me in 
> a
> helicopter he would have left the dog on the side of the road. Ironically, 
> I
> was transported in an ambulance three-and-a-half years ago and then in a
> helicopter. My dog was taken with my family members in the car so it 
> wasn't
> an issue. I have been told by county emergency personnel that the dog may 
> be
> refused access to an area in the ambulance if I am bleeding. I haven't had
> to press this issue. Any information?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Chasity Jackson
> Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 7:24 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> 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
>
>
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