trouble (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trouble) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
accessibility_fail2009-07-15 01:14 pm
trouble) wrote in accessibility_fail2009-07-15 01:14 pm
Entry tags:
Emergency Room FAIL
I had to take Don to Emerg last night (A&E, I think, in UK & Aus). He's (relatively speaking!) okay. (You can read it here, but the key thing is that he was injured enough that we headed straight for Emerg, but not so much that we didn't walk the five or so blocks, rather than call someone to get us there.)
During construction, they've taken out parts of the sidewalk.
So, to get to Emerg, one needs to notice (in a stressful situation) that the sidewalk has been taken out, preferably before taking a wheelchair all the way to that point, which is a good... 30ish feet from where one can take a wheelchair safely off the sidewalk.
One then needs to go into the road - the road used by ambulances and cars trying to get to Emerg, so people who may either be driving quickly, or who are also very stressed - down those 30 feet, and then turn into an area we couldn't see.
There is no indication anywhere coming up that the sidewalk is out. The way the site is setup, I assumed there was another way around, because there's another sidewalk that meets this one, but it just leads to a set of stairs going someplace else.
An alternate entrance is not marked, or at least not clearly.
When reporting this to the Security Guard, I guess we weren't nice enough, so we were basically told to call the Health Authority, because making a note, apologizing for the inconvenience, and ensuring that such complaints would get to the proper people is obviously too much to expect.
(I'll be calling the security company about it, too.)
When I talked to the paramedics about it, they *begged* us to call the Patient Representative because their complaints about this are going nowhere. The guy made sure I knew who to call, and when to call them, circling their name and number, and confirmed I still had the pamphlet later.
They aren't in today, but I'll be calling tomorrow.
Slightly unrelated, but what's the state of 'terps in your area? There was no signage anywhere indicating that terp service was available, but I'm not sure if that means there isn't or not. (I'll be asking this when I call Patient Services.)
When I was working in Australia, there were strict rules about not letting a family member interpret unless it was impossible to get an interpreter wthin a certain period of time, and even then they'd be still trying to get someone not-related while they dealt with what had to be done. It's because it's a stressful situation.
During construction, they've taken out parts of the sidewalk.
So, to get to Emerg, one needs to notice (in a stressful situation) that the sidewalk has been taken out, preferably before taking a wheelchair all the way to that point, which is a good... 30ish feet from where one can take a wheelchair safely off the sidewalk.
One then needs to go into the road - the road used by ambulances and cars trying to get to Emerg, so people who may either be driving quickly, or who are also very stressed - down those 30 feet, and then turn into an area we couldn't see.
There is no indication anywhere coming up that the sidewalk is out. The way the site is setup, I assumed there was another way around, because there's another sidewalk that meets this one, but it just leads to a set of stairs going someplace else.
An alternate entrance is not marked, or at least not clearly.
When reporting this to the Security Guard, I guess we weren't nice enough, so we were basically told to call the Health Authority, because making a note, apologizing for the inconvenience, and ensuring that such complaints would get to the proper people is obviously too much to expect.
(I'll be calling the security company about it, too.)
When I talked to the paramedics about it, they *begged* us to call the Patient Representative because their complaints about this are going nowhere. The guy made sure I knew who to call, and when to call them, circling their name and number, and confirmed I still had the pamphlet later.
They aren't in today, but I'll be calling tomorrow.
Slightly unrelated, but what's the state of 'terps in your area? There was no signage anywhere indicating that terp service was available, but I'm not sure if that means there isn't or not. (I'll be asking this when I call Patient Services.)
When I was working in Australia, there were strict rules about not letting a family member interpret unless it was impossible to get an interpreter wthin a certain period of time, and even then they'd be still trying to get someone not-related while they dealt with what had to be done. It's because it's a stressful situation.
no subject
It's only a guess, though.
no subject