[nagdu] Guide Dogs and Ambulances

Nancy Irwin vandyvanderbrink at outlook.com
Wed Nov 25 04:55:49 UTC 2015


Hey folks,

Wanted to share a recent experience I had.

On October 26th I was in an auto accident with my dog, Doc.  We were on our
Paratransit van called DART here in SC and we were rear-ended by someone who
I'm told smelled of alcohol and left before HP showed up.

I was ok at first but after about 20 minutes or so felt nauseous and started
to hurt from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers and all the way
down my spine.

Doc seemed to be all right, the van we were in had a driver seat and a
passenger seat beside it - like a minivan but big enough to transport a
wheelchair and unfortunately we had a passenger in a wheelchair and her
Service Dog with us as well.

Her dog seemed quite shaken initially, he was literally shaking.  After I
unbuckled myself, she asked me if I'd pet him since she couldn't reach him
due to her CP.  I petted him and talked to him and he seemed to calm, I
noticed the shaking stopped.

Since I was hurting, an ambulance was called and they took me and Doc in the
ambulance.  I was hurting so much by this point that I couldn't reach my arm
down to pet him to reassure him.  The ambulance staff were great, one of
them got Doc in the ambulance while the other helped me get on the
stretcher.  We got to the hospital in the ER and he was calm for the most
part, he was whimpering a bit but once I talked to him and told him we were
ok he seemed to calm.

After we got to a bed, they connected him to the IV pole for me and he put
his paws up there and I could pet him some.  They offered him some water and
when the doctor showed up, he checked Doc over for me to be sure he was ok.
All of his joints seemed ok and he didn't whimper at all, though the doctor
got a bath, whether he wanted one or not! Lol

I had a CT Scan and some X-Rays and by this point my husband and his dog
Hansen arrived and Doc and Hansen were very happy to see each other.  

We took him by a vet to get checked out and the vet said he was fine, no
soreness or anything.

Ultimately, I'm beginning to feel better almost a month later but I wanted
to share my positive experience.

Everybody was kind to us, never separated us, constantly asked me what I
needed, if Doc needed anything and generally cooed over him.

I also wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

>From the Irwins, Nancy & Doc, Billy & Hansen




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