One of the gifts bloggers can give one another is the gift of linking. Check out these posts from some of my favorite bloggers:

2010 EMS Gift Guide from the Social Medic.

A Special Thank You to EMS professionals from public speaking coach Lisa Braithwaite. If you are interested in becoming a better public speaker as an EMS professional subscribe to Lisa’s outstanding blog – Speak Schmeak.

Rogue Medic responds to an Everyday EMS Tips post about Service Animals and EMS.

Jim Hoffman, the EMS Professional, discusses if there is really a generation gap in EMS

The 6th Edition of the First Due Blog Carnival explores Social Media Policies

Everyday EMS Tips sponsor, EMT Review, launched a new product this week, EMT Review Plus – which features 500 review questions. Find all of their products in the iTunes app store or at EMTReview.com.

Last December I wrote about Giving the Gift of Information and Peace of Mind. Another excellent emergency personal health record system is the QuickStart ePHR.

Finally, I posted a new episode of the Medical Author Chat podcast this week, an interview I did with nurse and Army Reserve Colonel, Susan Luz, about her book the Nightingale of Mosul.

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This is a guest post Emily Williamson. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

I am the human half of a service dog team that recently was in an awful automobile accident. Somebody ran a stop sign and drove their SUV across the top of my SUV. I use a service dog to help me mitigate the effects of Klippel Feil Syndrome (don’t worry if you do not recognize it, most doctors have not heard of it either). It is a deformity of the cervical spine that made an ER visit a requirement after any accident. So, obviously, I needed transport. I also suffered head trauma, lower back trauma, and blacked out.  I also am severely hard of hearing.

The EMS crew that responded to the accident had no information about Service Dogs. Here I was, in intense pain and fully packaged, having to argue that my service dog could not be left behind in my decimated vehicle in the middle of nowhere. People frequently argue that Service Dogs are monetarily valuable (Bug-A-Boo’s training ran about $20,000 and is insured for $250,000). Forget the money, Boo is my life, because I have none without her ability to hear for me, to help me navigate terrain (I have a lack of feeling in my feet), to alert to spinal headaches, and is the reason my husband can travel for work (Boo is trained to call 911 in an emergency).

After an extended argument, the point became moot, because a fellow Red Cross volunteer drove by and stopped at the scene.  This person transported Boo to the hospital.

I do not want to share the in’s and out’s of when to, when not to, and how to transport a service animal on an ambulance. There is a lot of information and a good deal of gray area involved.  Because, regardless of what the disability world thinks there are times that it is not appropriate to transport the owner and animal together.

Alternate Modes of Transportation for Service Dogs

Sorry for the long introduction, here are my tips. A service dog does not have to be transported on the ambulance if the owner can not maintain control of the animal, would interfere with the care of the handler, or the dog is not behaving appropriately. Disoriented animals can act in unusual ways until they settle.  This is true after many emergency situations and during disasters.  However, the owner and the service animal should arrive at the hospital at the same time (as best as can be managed).

Alternate modes of transportation can include:

1.  Animal control can transport the service animal.  However, a service animal should never be confined with another animal.

2.  Police can transport the animal.  In my area,  a small rural community, this one seems to work the best and is my favorite.

3.  Fire can transport, if they are available and will not be forced to leave their zone.

4.  A friend or neighbor can transport.

5.  The EMS supervisor can transport the animal in the fast response vehicle.

Regardless of who transports the animal (if not on the ambulance), please, make a note regarding whose care the animal was released in the EMS paperwork and if possible have the police note it as well.  A lost service animal is a traumatic experience for a disabled person.

Thanks for letting me share my experience and possible alternate methods to transport a service dog. I am happy to say that after my bad experience, EMS supervisors did let me talk to their crews about service dog laws and added additional training on the subject.  The crew was not being mean, they just did not know.  The problem seems to be solved, at least here.

Emily Williamson is a  volunteer with the Highlands County (Florida) unit of the American Red Cross where she serves as the coordinator of the Health, Safety, and Disaster Preparedness programs, instructs CPR at all levels, and responds to disasters. In the past, she volunteered with search and rescue teams (canine assist) and served on AmeriCorps National Readiness and Response Corps.

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Assessing and Treating patients with service animals is one of the most popular continuing education lessons available at RapidCE.com. Service animals make amazing contributions to their owners. Are you aware of the ADA protections for service animals?  Do you know what to do with a service animal if the patient is unresponsive or no family or friends are present to help with the animal.

The user comments are consistently positive and express gratitude that this important information is not available anywhere else. This is what a couple of users wrote recently:

“This was a lesson that would benefit ANY rescuer who would be in this situation. Gives the student a variety of things to think about. EXCELLENT!”

“This course was quite interesting … the seizure-alert dogs are fascinating.”

The lesson objectives are:

• Define service animals
• Describe functions service dogs perform
• Describe how to recognize a service dog
• Define assessment and treatment principles for patients with service dogs
• Discuss other considerations relating to service dogs

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