[nagdu] Part II: Medford resident takes action to protect service dogs

[Jeanette Beal]

Man everyone wants to shrug out of personal error.  I can't imagine
Drum having an accident and getting injured because I'm an idiot and
fail to handle properly but that doesn't mean I pass blame off.
Plus agencies vs. individual claims of stupidity rarely work out well.
Also two handlers vs eachother over whether or not failure happened?  Drama.

On 11/13/09, Ginger Kutsch <gingerKutsch at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Medford resident takes action to protect service dogs
> By Nell Escobar Coakley/ncoakley at cnc.com
> Thu Nov 12, 2009, 09:00 AM EST
> Source:
> http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x2087392354/Medford-resid
> ent-takes-action-to-protect-service-dogs
>
> Medford - While Massachusetts General Law clearly states that if
> an accident occurs on an escalator, the unit must be shut down
> until it is fixed and inspected by the proper authorities, one
> Medford man said the commonwealth clearly failed in its duties to
> protect him and his guide dog.
>
> As a result, Steve Giannaros said his 5-year-old German shepherd
> Dakota suffered a horrible accident, which left the dog with two
> amputated pads on his right back leg and Giannaros with no job
> and a $3,000 hospital bill to pay.
>
> Last week, Terrel Harris, communications director for the
> Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which oversees
> the Department of Public Safety, stated in an e-mail to the
> Transcript that if the accident had occurred to a human being
> rather than a dog, the escalator would have been shut down.
>
> Harris also stated the agency was notified about the accident,
> which took place June 26, via an oral report from the
> Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
>
> However, MEMA spokesman Peter Judge said the agency's hotline
> never received any notification of an accident occurring in the
> John W. McCormack Building, so it could not have made such a
> report to DPS. He added he checked logs going back through early
> May and into July, but found no such report.
>
> Additionally, Judge said he spoke to those manning the hotline
> and they could not recall such an incident either.
>
> Harris declined further comment on the issue, referring all
> further questions about the escalator, its maintenance or any
> reports made about the accident to the Bureau of State Office
> Buildings in Boston, which oversees not only McCormack, but also
> the Charles F. Hurley and Erich Lindemann buildings.
>
> A call to BSOB Superintendent Carole Cornelison was directed to
> the agency's spokeswoman Cindy Roy, who was on vacation. Bob
> Bliss, acting spokesman for the Executive Office of
> Administration and Finance, which oversees BSOB, in late
> September, said the escalator was inspected and it was found that
> a comb plate was broken and had popped off.
>
> He added a similar accident had occurred on the same escalator at
> the same location to another guide dog and his owner. He said
> that accident, which took place May 21, was also caused by a
> broken comb plate.
>
> "I have no explanation as to why that would happen," he said of
> the two accidents.
>
> Giannaros, however, said the explanation is just plain negligence
> on the part of the state. He claimed that after the first
> accident, the escalator was not properly shut down and inspected,
> as per the requirement of state law.
>
> "It's just awful they didn't check into it," he said of the first
> broken comb plate. "If they had checked it, they might never have
> had this happen."
>
>
>
> The first victim
>
> But Carl Richardson, ADA coordinator for the State House, said he
> believes the broken comb plate found following Dakota's accident
> was a result of the accident and not its cause. As for the first
> accident, he believes it was due to the owner's negligence.
>
> He should know. He was the first victim, or rather his guide dog,
> Kinley, was.
>
> Richardson said he was on the same escalator in late May,
> carrying items in his hands, when his dog was injured.
>
> "He got squeezed to the side and wasn't able to get off,"
> Richardson said of Kinley's accident. "His right rear pad was
> torn severely. They sewed it back together and he was down for a
> total of about five weeks."
>
> Richardson said he kept his dog home, but returned to work each
> day until Kinley was able to return to his duties.
>
> "I truly believe I didn't get off properly," he said of the
> escalator accident. "It was very traumatic and stressful. I can
> truly empathize with what Steve went through."
>
> But, Richardson said, he went to everyone in the building,
> Giannaros included, and told them to be careful of the escalator.
> Richardson said after his accident was reported, the escalators
> were inspected daily.
>
> "They checked after me," he said. "Everything was in place."
>
> Richardson, however, was unable to explain why or how Dakota's
> injury occurred or why, as Bliss claimed, the comb plate had
> popped off.
>
> "I think it was a weird coincidence," Richardson said. "But I've
> stayed away and I don't go on it anymore."
>
> Richardson also inferred that Giannaros was carrying lunch and
> might have let go of Dakota's harness. Giannaros, however, called
> Richardson's claim absurd and said he had spoken to Richardson
> following Dakota's accident.
>
> "I asked him to file a report and he said he didn't want to talk
> about it," Giannaros said. "Then he suggested I seek outside
> counsel. I think he's afraid for his job."
>
>
>
> The reports
>
> Giannaros maintains that whether or not he or Richardson were
> holding on to their dogs' harnesses has no bearing on the
> accidents. The fact, he said, is the state still didn't follow
> proper procedure when Kinley was injured by shutting down the
> escalator until the DPS could sign off, and that resulted in
> Dakota being injured.
>
> Giannaros further stated it wasn't until July 7, as Harris stated
> in an e-mail to the Transcript, that a DPS inspector finally OK'd
> the escalator repairs.
>
> According to an after-accident form provided to the Transcript by
> the BSOB via Richardson, as ADA coordinator, the accident
> involving Kinley took place May 21, but was not reported until
> May 26. In it, an unidentified man named Richard Gagnon reports
> the dog's paw "slipped between the combs at the top of the
> escalator."
>
> The report goes on to say the escalator was shut down, the broken
> combs replaced and the escalator re-inspected and placed back in
> service. However, there is no mention of DPS being contacted or
> whether a state inspector looked at the escalator.
>
> However, a Delta technician, which oversees the escalators and
> elevators in the building, was reportedly to inspect the
> receiving combs on both escalators daily, as Richardson stated.
>
> On a similar form submitted on the day of Dakota's accident,
> Gagnon again states the escalator was inspected and no problem
> was found, despite Bliss' claims that the combs had popped off
> again.
>
> "Will be meeting with BSOB ADA Coordinator to explore this issue
> and the training received regarding escalator use by service
> animals," Gagnon writes, referring to the report's first page
> where he states he will be "meeting with C. Richardson."
>
> In an addendum written Aug. 4, Gagnon goes on to further document
> the incident, mentioning several security and police officers on
> sight to help with the injured dog, as well as Paul Barry, a
> Delta Elevator technician.
>
> "As the scene was cleared P. Barry examined the escalator," he
> wrote. "After a review of the escalator, it was deemed to be safe
> and was put back in service."
>
> Again, Gagnon does not state in the addendum that the DPS was
> contacted nor that a state inspector OK'd the escalator's being
> placed back in service.
>
> Giannaros calls this the smoking gun.
>
> "They mopped up the blood and turned the escalator back on like
> nothing ever happened," he said. "A friend of mine who works
> there said it was back in service half an hour after the first
> accident and after Dakota's accident."
>
> He said it's no surprise no one has called him back, despite the
> weeks of telephone calls and messages left. And, he added, it's
> also not surprising that the first DPS escalator inspector he
> talked with, a man named Lenny Chase, who told him the escalator
> should have been shut down, as per state law, and re-inspected
> only by the DPS, no longer answers his phone.
>
> Giannaros could only smile that the Transcript was told my Harris
> it would not be allowed to speak to Chase either.
>
> "I've tried to keep contacting them, but they've blown me off,"
> Giannaros said. "I haven't heard back from anyone at all."
>
>
>
> The future
>
> Giannaros said these days, he's no longer angry about the
> accident and is only relieved that Dakota has fully recovered.
>
> "We went to Chinatown a few weeks ago and had to take the
> escalator," Giannaros said. "I was worried about what he might
> do, but he was fine. I was the one who was a total wreck!"
>
> But despite the dissipating anger, Giannaros said that doesn't
> mean he wants to let the entire incident just drop. He plans to
> sue the state in small claims court for negligence in the hopes
> of reclaiming the $3,000 he shelled out in hospital bills.
>
> Meanwhile, he will continue with graduate school and hopefully,
> work with Medford's state delegation to file and pass a bill that
> protects service animals injured while performing their duties.
>
> "I doubt anyone knows how many guide dogs are injured every
> year," he said. "There's probably been no research done. That
> wouldn't surprise me.
>
> "What I want to do now is contact my state representatives and
> senator to pass a law, at least in this state, that will protect
> these animals," Giannaros added. "There's nothing ADA can do, but
> there has to be some protection for these dogs. Look at me, in
> two seconds, my entire life changed."
>
>
>
> Related Stories
> Medford resident plans to file lawsuit, bill after guide dog
> injured on escalator
>
>
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> Comments (2)
> Thank you for the abuse report. We will review the report and
> take appropriate action.
> Loading comments...
> ShopLoc8523 hours ago
> Report Abuse
> This is a interesting story....I think people forget about what a
> hard job these service dogs have.
> PatsFan10118 hours ago
> Report AbuseThat's very sad that two service dogs were injured on
> the escalator. As a fellow service dog user, I wonder if these
> dogs were properly trained in how to get on/off and ride an
> escalator? If the dog is not trained to do it, it can be
> dangerous. But if the dog is properly trained for escalators, he
> won't get hurt.
>
> The dog needs to hop (jump) onto the escalator, keep his feet in
> the middle of the steps, stay away from the sides of the
> escalator, start walking as he nears the end of the escalator,
> and then hop well over the end of the escalator (where the steps
> get taken into the mechanism). I don't know how much, if any,
> vision either of the men in the article have, so don't know if
> they are able to watch their dog's paws at all, but whenever I
> take my service dog on escalators and moving sidewalks, I watch
> her paws and make certain she rides correctly, as she's been
> trained to do.
>
> Letting go of the dog's harness would not negate his escalator
> training, but if both or either of these men were not paying
> attention to their dogs, thus helping them know the proper times
> to jump and remind them where to stand, they need to partially
> blame themselves for the injuries. Lunch or other items are never
> more important than your service dog's safety!
>
> I do agree that Massachusetts needs a much better law regarding
> injury to and interference with service animals, however. They
> need to check out the law that Florida has and emulate it.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Ginger Kutsch
> Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 5:21 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] Guide dog injured on escalator
>
> Medford resident plans to file lawsuit, bill after guide dog
> injured on escalator By Nell Escobar Coakley/ncoakley at cnc.com Thu
> Nov 05, 2009, 09:00 AM EST
> Source:
> http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x1312011995/Medford-resid
> ent-plans-to-file-lawsuit-bill-after-guide-dog-injured-on-escalat
> or
>
> Editor's Note: The following is part one of two. See next week's
> Medford Transcript for part two.
>
> When his 5-year-old guide dog was badly injured in an escalator
> accident this summer, one local resident made it his mission to
> file a bill that will protect all assistance animals traveling in
> public places with their owners.
>
> "My anger over the whole thing is finally gone," said Steve
> Giannaros, of Wellington Circle. "But I also don't want it to
> happen to anyone else. I can't let something go on. I have to
> correct this problem."
>
> The problem is what Giannaros perceives as the shoddy treatment
> he received from the state following an accident on an escalator
> in the John W. McCormack Building in Boston.
>
> On June 26, Giannaros and his German shepherd guide dog, Dakota,
> were riding the escalator upstairs from the cafeteria. Upon
> reaching the top, Giannaros felt a thump and heard a loud wailing
> coming from the animal.
>
> "He was wailing like crazy," Giannaros recalled with a shudder.
> "It was horrible. I could hear him screaming. It was really
> chaotic."
>
> Although several people immediately jumped in to help, Giannaros
> said it was a state trooper who really came through by driving
> him and Dakota to Angell Animal Medical Center.
>
> "He was at Angell for about five days," Giannaros said. "The
> doctors said the two pads of the middle toes of his right back
> leg were badly injured. After a few days, they said they had no
> way to repair it and if they tried, he couldn't work. I was
> devastated. If he couldn't work again, I would have had to give
> him away."
>
> Doctors amputated the two pads, and it took more than five weeks
> for Dakota to recuperate from his wounds.
>
> "Angell said he would be fine and that he would work and live a
> normal life," Giannaros said. "He's fine now."
>
> In the meantime, Giannaros found himself homebound, missing
> several weeks of work at his job in the Secretary of State's
> Office because he could not travel without Dakota. And it was his
> job to take care of the animal as well.
>
> "He had stitches for four weeks and his foot was in a cast," he
> said. "When he got the cast removed, he was very raw."
>
> Giannaros, whose vision has failed over the past 10 years, spent
> his time at home not only caring for his dog, but getting angrier
> and angrier. Especially when a friend called him and told him the
> escalator Dakota had been injured on was running only 30 minutes
> following the accident.
>
> "I got really mad," he said. "A half an hour later, they mopped
> up the blood like the whole thing never happened."
>
> The situation was compounded after he said he was told that
> another guide dog was injured the same way on the same escalator
> only a month before Dakota.
>
> "That just made me feel horrible," he said. "What if a little kid
> or an old woman's shoe got caught in that escalator?"
>
> And so Giannaros started looking into the laws and proper
> procedures governing escalators in the commonwealth of
> Massachusetts.
>
>
>
> The investigation
>
> While homebound, Giannaros started making some calls. First, he
> tried the Department of Public Safety, where he spoke to an
> escalator inspector named Lenny Chase. He said this man told him
> that state law specifically states if an accident occurs, the
> escalator must be shut down until it is fixed - and it can only
> be turned back on once the DPS inspects its safety.
>
> Giannaros said Chase told him no one had filed a report about the
> accident with DPS. About three weeks after the accident,
> Giannaros called Chase again, but was referred to another
> inspector, whom he said has never called him, despite leaving
> several phone messages.
>
> Giannaros said he then called the building's management, the
> Bureau of State Office Buildings, in order to obtain a full
> report of the accident. With no calls returned, he filed his own
> report.
>
> "By then, they said they filed a report with Public Safety and
> that it was out of their hands," he said. "It seemed like
> everyone was passing me off to everyone else."
>
> Fed up, Giannaros called the Massachusetts Office on Disability
> (MOD). After speaking with the director herself, Giannaros said
> he was told the case was not discriminatory in nature and that
> MOD could not help him.
>
> "They seemed like they didn't want to get involved because this
> was another state agency," he said. "They suggested I find
> outside counsel."
>
> By September, Giannaros had received no telephone calls from
> anyone, despite his persistence. And to top it all off, he
> received a $3,000 bill from Angell for Dakota's care.
>
> But there was one more surprise in store.
>
> "I lost my job," he said, with a shake of his head. "My boss
> called and said I had two options: a leave of absence with no pay
> or a voluntary layoff."
>
> Giannaros took the latter, choosing to go back to graduate school
> to study disability issues. He also paid off Dakota's hospital
> bill, although he plans to file a small claim against the state
> for negligence in failing to keep the escalator in safe working
> condition.
>
> Yet, he couldn't let go of the fact that no one seemed to care
> about the problematic escalator or the fact that his dog was
> injured.
>
> "It's not like he was the first dog to be hurt," he said. "I
> think they thought I would just give up."
>
>
>
> Second investigation
>
> But he didn't give up. Not even close.
>
> In August, Giannaros started writing to the local and Boston
> media about the accident and while he received a call here and
> there, no one seemed interested in his story.
>
> "I have no idea why," he said. "None of this makes sense."
>
> After hearing Giannaros' story, the Transcript contacted the
> Division of Inspection, a DPS office which, according to
> Secretary of State William Galvin's "Commonwealth of
> Massachusetts Citizens' Guide to State Services" Web site, "is
> responsible for the annual inspection of all existing elevators,
> sidewalk elevators, dumbwaiters, hosts, lifts, escalators and
> moving stairways and for the plan review/inspection of all new
> installations in the state."
>
> An official in the office, who did not identify himself, declined
> to comment, stating that any requests for information should be
> made in writing to the legal office of the DPS. The official
> transferred the Transcript to a media official, who failed to
> return a message requesting the state laws and regulations.
>
> A further call to the Executive Office of Public Safety and
> Security, which oversees the DPS, was transferred to
> Communications Director Terrel Harris, who asked an e-mail be
> sent with specific questions regarding the case.
>
> In mid-September, the Transcript sent several questions to
> Harris, requesting the following information: the process for an
> inspection following an escalator accident, the last two dates of
> inspection for the escalators at McCormack and if the DPS had
> received any incident reports involving guide dogs in the
> building. An additional request was made to speak to Chase.
>
> Harris stated escalators are inspected annually, the last dates
> being June 16 and June 18, 2008.
>
> He added that Chapter 4 of state regulations clearly states that,
> "Once an owner learns that a person has sustained a serious
> injury in an elevator accident, the elevator shall be immediately
> shut down until express consent to resume operation is granted by
> a supervisor of elevator inspectors employed by the Department.
> In the event of such an accident, the owner shall be responsible
> to ensure that the elevator and area surrounding the elevator are
> secured and are not disturbed, cleaned, or altered in any way
> until such time as an inspector has completed an investigation.
> The only exception to this requirement shall be acts in
> furtherance of ensuring the safety of the area or a person, or
> for the extraction of an injured person."
>
> He went on to say the state had received no report from Steve
> Giannaros about the accident and that the DPS was notified orally
> by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency about the
> McCormack Building incident.
>
> He also stated it would "not be possible" to speak to Chase.
>
> "Bottom line: neither the statute (G.L. c.143, s.66) nor
> regulations require that DPS be notified or a report be filed in
> a situation like this," Harris wrote in his e-mail. "If the
> injury that the dog sustained happened to a person, we'd have a
> whole different story. Then, the unit would have to be shut down
> and a full report filed in accordance with the regs including the
> section cited above. Apparently, the comb plate was broken when
> the incident occurred. That was fixed and looked at by one of our
> inspectors to make sure it was done properly."
>
> In a follow up e-mail, Harris said that inspection was done July
> 9, 2009, although he could not say when the actual repairs took
> place.
>
> "I'm not surprised this their response," Giannaros said. "It's
> just a dog. That makes me angry. I think it's awful they didn't
> check into it after the first dog was injured."
>
>
>
> - Did they or didn't they check into the problematic escalator?
> And what, if anything, has the state done to make sure another
> accident doesn't occur? Check next week's Transcript for part two
> of this story.
>
>
>
> Loading commenting interface...
> Comments (2)
>
> vlizzled3 days ago
> Report Abuse
> This is upsetting and uncalled for, but unfortunately, I do not
> find it surprising! I am sick of the attitude of 'its just a dog'
> and I cannot believe this man was forced to leave his job.
> Instead of progressing as a society, we continue to regress.
> ada3 days ago
> Report AbuseIt seems to me that the people who were contacted in
> the investigation of this incident are bobbing and weaving to
> cover the inadequacies of the Commonwealth agencies. It is very
> sad to see that this very specialized guide dog was considered 'a
> nothing', and therefore no accident report filed. This man and
> his dog should be considered 'one and the same' as he is an
> integral part of his daily functional life. And the fact that
> this happened to another guide dog a short time before without
> any action taken to repar the escalator, could have prevented the
> second dog from being severely injured. Just too bad. I hope this
> is appropriately resolved.
> Login or register to post a comment:
>
>
>
>
> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
> Morristown, NJ
>
>
>
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-- 
Jeanette Beal
MS.Ed Assistive Technology
Independent Consultant
Boston, MA 02115
bealjk at gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bealjk
http://bealjk.tumblr.com/

"Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire" - Marge Piercy