Information request: Service Dogs

[Richard B the EMT]

My mother and I are sighted members of the Queens/Long Island (NY) chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.

The wife of the chapter president asked me for information on EMS responsibilities towards "Seeing Eye" dogs, now more commonly known as "Service" or "Guide" dogs.

I know, under local protocols (read as New York City and New York State), that the dog must be transported with their "master/mistress" if said person requires our EMS intervention.

I also remember, from several years ago, an article on this, in either EMS magazine, or JEMS, but so far, I am unable to find it, to pull it/them up with the search engines I use.

Could you, the members of EMT City, pull up articles from any EMS "trade" magazines that you have, even those from outside the United States, that I may relay the information to this friend of mine? Post the articles, with the link, in this string.

As always, thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.

Richard B, the EMT.

[Scaramedic]

Heres a story on EMS live that might help..

http://www.emslive.com/ourshows.php?month=08

Heres a story from EMS Responder..

http://www.emsresponder.com/features/artic...p;siteSection=3

More stuff..

http://www.guidedogs.com/graduates-emergen...og%20teams.html

Not allowed in Queensland....

http://www.guidedogsqld.com.au/cgi-bin/index.cgi/faq/2

An article from JEMS....

http://info.jems.com/jems/exclus04/e0604k.html

[JPINFV]

Not allowed in Queensland....

http://www.guidedogsqld.com.au/cgi-bin/index.cgi/faq/2

There are places that Guide Dogs and Guide Dog Puppies are not allowed. These include the back of ambulances, sterile areas of hospitals, food preparation areas, zoos and protected areas within the meaning of the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Of course there is always the front seats of the ambulance.

[fire911medic]

I have a bit of knowledge in this as a good friend of mine trains assistance dogs and we also frequently transport a patient who has a service dog, and the way we handle it, is provided the patient is stable, and the animal is okay with it, we will transport the service animal with person in the back. Usually they will just sit in the well of the truck. If not, we request PD to transport the animal to the ER following us, or if the person is unstable seriously, they have agreements with local boarding facilities as well as the humane society to take in the animal due to tight quarters within the ambulance. However, you must remember there is a difference between service animals (which actually perform a function for the person they are accompanying) and therapy animals (which provide a therapeutic effect, but perform no specific function - ie opening doors, alerting to low blood sugar or seizures, pulling a wheelchair, whatever). They usually will have a vest or backpack on marked as service animal, or at the least a tag on their collar stating they are a service animal. May be officially "certified" or not as some people train their own dogs as assistance animals and formal certification is not required. Therapy dogs, though they may be well trained, because they do not provide a specific function of assistance are not required to be given all the same rights and responsibilities of a person. Service animals are permitted anywhere a human is with the exception of two areas within a hospital (ICU - may vary depending on situation and hospital and surgery areas, though Pre-op is acceptable). Also, they may be excluded from public areas if they are a proven nuissance (continuous barking during a movie, at a zoo, etc). Remember a service animal may not just be a dog, it may also be a monkey or yes, even a miniature pony (function similar to a guide dog). I've seen it, strange, but it does happen. These are general rules within the united states, I'm not aware of rules outside of the US. A really good reference site is the DELTA SOCIETY. They have alot of useful info for medical professionals and are a certifying agency which certifies dogs which people have individually trained, as well as placing appropriate dogs with people.

[whit72]

Interesting I heard that we were never supposed to separate the service dog from owner. I have never been presented with this issue, however the articles will be a good read.

I was told in a con-ed class that if you remove the halter from the dog, he realizes that he is no longer responsible for his owner. If maybe the halter was removed you could then put him in the front seat, of course with a seat-belt on....LOL

This would make for an interesting post. EMS and the service dog. With the frequency of these people being able to live on their own with the help of their animals, we might be in contact with them on a more frequent basis.

Just a thought.