[nagdu] Blind man says paramedics prevented guidedog fromtraveling with him

Mon Nov 28 14:51:23 UTC 2011

Hello All,
When I was working my first guide dog many years ago, we were hit 
and drug ten feet down the street.
I was not able to call the paramedics, but someone did, and when 
they arrived, they were expecting a person down and a dog killed.
Fortunately, this was not the case, it was a blind person down 
with a very frightened guide dog.
The only question the Paramedics asked me, was how do you want us 
to to handle your guide dog but by the time they asked this he 
was already in the ambulance so they did not have to do anything.
When we arrived at the hospital they just walked him with the 
leash and he was fine.
So, there are Paramedics who know what they are doing and 
unfortunately some who do not.
Have a great day!

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com
>To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,	the National Association of Guide 
Dog Users'"<nagdu at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:01:49 +0000
>Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind man says paramedics prevented guidedog	
fromtraveling with him

>Not always possible if you are in shock or panicked. Or if you 
can't speak.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
On Behalf Of Natalie
>Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 8:51 PM
>To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users
>Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind man says paramedics prevented guide 
dog fromtraveling with him

>This is just so wrong, no matter which way you cut it.  
Fortunately, I've
>never had to be transported by ambulance in all the times I've 
worked a
>guide dog, but if I did, I'd inform the dispatcher I'm totally 
blind and I
>have a guide dog on scene.
>Best,
>Nat and Liam Joshua

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ginger Kutsch" <GingerKutsch at yahoo.com
>To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users"
><nagdu at nfbnet.org
>Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 4:29 AM
>Subject: [nagdu] Blind man says paramedics prevented guide dog 
fromtraveling
>with him

>> Blind man says paramedics prevented guide dog from traveling 
with him

>> Veteran, 62, had been traveling to parade when struck by car

>> By Julie Scharper, The Baltimore Sun

>> 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci
-ambulance-
>> service-dog-20111121,0,4352653,print.story

>> 11:53 p.m. EST, November 21, 2011

>> A 62-year-old blind man has filed a complaint with the U.S. 
Department of
>> Justice claiming Baltimore paramedics refused to allow his 
service dog to
>> accompany him in an ambulance after he was struck by a car.

>> Curtis Graham Jr., a Marine who served in Vietnam, was on his 
way to the
>> city's Veterans Day parade on Nov. 11 when he was hit by a car 
near his
>> West
>> Baltimore home. Paramedics would not allow Indo, his 2-year-old 
golden
>> Labrador retriever, into the ambulance, Graham said.

>> "They refused to take a service animal who I need very much," 
said Graham,
>> who suffered minor injuries. "He is my eyes."

>> Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said 
the
>> incident
>> was under investigation. He confirmed that a blind man was 
struck by a car
>> and taken to a hospital by ambulance, and said he believed the 
victim's
>> guide dog had not been transported.

>> Cartwright said that to his knowledge, the department did not 
have a
>> policy
>> on service animals.

>> A spokesman for the National Federation for the Blind said first
>> responders
>> are "legally obligated to transport the service animal" under 
Maryland
>> law.

>> "You're basically taking the blind person's way of understanding 
his
>> environment away from him," said federation spokesman Chris 
Danielsen. "I
>> have no idea what sort of irrational thought process was behind 
not
>> letting
>> the dog in the ambulance, but that is an act of discrimination," 
he said.

>> Graham said he had planned to take the subway to join in the 
city's
>> Veterans
>> Day parade, then head to the National Aquarium, where he 
volunteers at the
>> information desk. Graham, a retired bus driver, has relied on a 
guide dog
>> since 2006, when he lost his sight to glaucoma.

>> Graham said he and Indo were crossing Cold Spring Lane near 
Dolfield
>> Avenue
>> when a car making a left turn plowed into them.

>> "My dog took the blow because he was trying to protect me," he 
said. "By
>> the
>> grace of God, he wasn't hurt."

>> Graham said he was flung onto the hood of the car and carried 
about 10
>> feet
>> before he rolled off. Paramedics quickly arrived and strapped 
Graham to a
>> board to stabilize him, but balked when he said Indo needed to 
accompany
>> him.

>> "They were going to leave my dog on the pavement, and I wasn't 
going to
>> have
>> it," he said. "I said, 'The hell you ain't. He's a service dog.' 
I said,
>> 'If
>> you don't take my dog, I ain't going.'"

>> Graham eventually called the apartment complex where he lives, 
and a
>> maintenance worker came to retrieve Indo.

>> "He was upset and I was upset," Graham said of the dog. "He 
didn't want to
>> go as they were taking me away in the ambulance."

>> Danielsen said guide dogs are highly trained and would not cause 
problems
>> in
>> an ambulance or a hospital. And, he said, it's a misdemeanor to 
separate a
>> guide dog from a blind person.

>> Graham was taken to Sinai Hospital, where doctors determined he 
had
>> bruises
>> and swelling. He was treated and released. Graham said it was 
disorienting
>> to be in the hospital without his guide dog.

>> "As far as I'm concerned, they violated my civil rights," he 
said. "We're
>> partners, and it's against [the] law for them to separate the 
team."

>> julie.scharper at baltsun.com

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