[nagdu] Request for help regarding emergency services

[Ed Meskys]

I only had two experiences with medical emergencies while working a guide 
dog. Around 1973, when I was working with my first dog, whom I had only had 
had for about a year, I was hit by a car while crossing a quiet street in a 
residential neighborhood in Brooklyn. I had gone out for exercise on a 
Sunday afternoon. I was briefly unconscious, and was transported to a nearby 
hospital with my dog. I had a large egg like bump on my head, but had no 
real injuries. I was sent home with only a tetanus shot. Later I took the 
dog to a vet who said he had a crack in his hip. Seeing Eye came out to my 
mother's home (whom I had been visiting at the time) and took Ned back for 
care and refresher training. I remember no real agitation of him at the 
time. His original trainer brought him back and we did a practice walk. We 
walked to a subway station 3.5 blocks away, cutting thru Sunset Park on the 
way. We took the 4th Ave Local one stop to 36 St., an express station with 
tracks on both sides of the platforms, went upstairs and down to the other 
side. As we walked towards the stairs noisy trains pulled in on both tracks, 
and the instructor (Ed Oathout) praised Ned for not being flustered or 
spooked by the noise. We took the West End Express one stop to 9th Ave., and 
walked home, 9.5 blocks.
My last incident was last December. I fell in my living room bending down to 
pick up something from the floor, lost my balance, and injured my neck. I 
was in a lot of pain so my wife drove us to an "urgent care" center. 
Unfortunately they found my neck injury too complicated for them to handle, 
so they sent me by ambulance to a nearby hospital, while Sandy followed in 
her car, with my dog. We ended up staying in the emergency care section for 
about 8 hours. The dog was agitated when I first fell, but after that was 
very calm.

Ed Meskys