[Cagdu] FW: [nagdu] Part II: Medford resident takes action to protect servicedogs

[tina thomas]

After reading the second part of the escalator incident, I am convinced that
both dog guide handlers did not use proper technique in getting their dog
guides off the escalator properly. In the  first incident involving the dog
guide  being injured the handler admits that he was distracted, and was
carrying a bunch of stuff in his hand and  he was stressed out. However he
did notify the other handler as well as his sighted employees concerning the
incident. His dog did suffer an injury to his back foot, however the man was
able to return to work while his dog healed up. I don't know what is going
on with the handler involved in the second incident. Sounds like he doesn't
want to take responsibility for his actions. JMO. 
Tina             

Subject: [nagdu] Part II: Medford resident takes action to protect
servicedogs

Medford resident takes action to protect service dogs By Nell Escobar
Coakley/ncoakley at cnc.com Thu Nov 12, 2009, 09:00 AM EST
Source:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x2087392354/Medford-resid
ent-takes-action-to-protect-service-dogs

Medford - While Massachusetts General Law clearly states that if an accident
occurs on an escalator, the unit must be shut down until it is fixed and
inspected by the proper authorities, one Medford man said the commonwealth
clearly failed in its duties to protect him and his guide dog.

As a result, Steve Giannaros said his 5-year-old German shepherd Dakota
suffered a horrible accident, which left the dog with two amputated pads on
his right back leg and Giannaros with no job and a $3,000 hospital bill to
pay.

Last week, Terrel Harris, communications director for the Executive Office
of Public Safety and Security, which oversees the Department of Public
Safety, stated in an e-mail to the Transcript that if the accident had
occurred to a human being rather than a dog, the escalator would have been
shut down.

Harris also stated the agency was notified about the accident, which took
place June 26, via an oral report from the Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency.

However, MEMA spokesman Peter Judge said the agency's hotline never received
any notification of an accident occurring in the John W. McCormack Building,
so it could not have made such a report to DPS. He added he checked logs
going back through early May and into July, but found no such report.

Additionally, Judge said he spoke to those manning the hotline and they
could not recall such an incident either.

Harris declined further comment on the issue, referring all further
questions about the escalator, its maintenance or any reports made about the
accident to the Bureau of State Office Buildings in Boston, which oversees
not only McCormack, but also the Charles F. Hurley and Erich Lindemann
buildings.

A call to BSOB Superintendent Carole Cornelison was directed to the agency's
spokeswoman Cindy Roy, who was on vacation. Bob Bliss, acting spokesman for
the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, which oversees BSOB, in
late September, said the escalator was inspected and it was found that a
comb plate was broken and had popped off.

He added a similar accident had occurred on the same escalator at the same
location to another guide dog and his owner. He said that accident, which
took place May 21, was also caused by a broken comb plate.

"I have no explanation as to why that would happen," he said of the two
accidents.

Giannaros, however, said the explanation is just plain negligence on the
part of the state. He claimed that after the first accident, the escalator
was not properly shut down and inspected, as per the requirement of state
law.

"It's just awful they didn't check into it," he said of the first broken
comb plate. "If they had checked it, they might never have had this happen."

 

The first victim

But Carl Richardson, ADA coordinator for the State House, said he believes
the broken comb plate found following Dakota's accident was a result of the
accident and not its cause. As for the first accident, he believes it was
due to the owner's negligence.

He should know. He was the first victim, or rather his guide dog, Kinley,
was.

Richardson said he was on the same escalator in late May, carrying items in
his hands, when his dog was injured.

"He got squeezed to the side and wasn't able to get off,"
Richardson said of Kinley's accident. "His right rear pad was torn severely.
They sewed it back together and he was down for a total of about five
weeks."

Richardson said he kept his dog home, but returned to work each day until
Kinley was able to return to his duties.

"I truly believe I didn't get off properly," he said of the escalator
accident. "It was very traumatic and stressful. I can truly empathize with
what Steve went through."

But, Richardson said, he went to everyone in the building, Giannaros
included, and told them to be careful of the escalator.
Richardson said after his accident was reported, the escalators were
inspected daily.

"They checked after me," he said. "Everything was in place."

Richardson, however, was unable to explain why or how Dakota's injury
occurred or why, as Bliss claimed, the comb plate had popped off.

"I think it was a weird coincidence," Richardson said. "But I've stayed away
and I don't go on it anymore."

Richardson also inferred that Giannaros was carrying lunch and might have
let go of Dakota's harness. Giannaros, however, called Richardson's claim
absurd and said he had spoken to Richardson following Dakota's accident.

"I asked him to file a report and he said he didn't want to talk about it,"
Giannaros said. "Then he suggested I seek outside counsel. I think he's
afraid for his job."

 

The reports

Giannaros maintains that whether or not he or Richardson were holding on to
their dogs' harnesses has no bearing on the accidents. The fact, he said, is
the state still didn't follow proper procedure when Kinley was injured by
shutting down the escalator until the DPS could sign off, and that resulted
in Dakota being injured.

Giannaros further stated it wasn't until July 7, as Harris stated in an
e-mail to the Transcript, that a DPS inspector finally OK'd the escalator
repairs.

According to an after-accident form provided to the Transcript by the BSOB
via Richardson, as ADA coordinator, the accident involving Kinley took place
May 21, but was not reported until May 26. In it, an unidentified man named
Richard Gagnon reports the dog's paw "slipped between the combs at the top
of the escalator."

The report goes on to say the escalator was shut down, the broken combs
replaced and the escalator re-inspected and placed back in service. However,
there is no mention of DPS being contacted or whether a state inspector
looked at the escalator.

However, a Delta technician, which oversees the escalators and elevators in
the building, was reportedly to inspect the receiving combs on both
escalators daily, as Richardson stated.

On a similar form submitted on the day of Dakota's accident, Gagnon again
states the escalator was inspected and no problem was found, despite Bliss'
claims that the combs had popped off again.

"Will be meeting with BSOB ADA Coordinator to explore this issue and the
training received regarding escalator use by service animals," Gagnon
writes, referring to the report's first page where he states he will be
"meeting with C. Richardson."

In an addendum written Aug. 4, Gagnon goes on to further document the
incident, mentioning several security and police officers on sight to help
with the injured dog, as well as Paul Barry, a Delta Elevator technician.

"As the scene was cleared P. Barry examined the escalator," he wrote. "After
a review of the escalator, it was deemed to be safe and was put back in
service."

Again, Gagnon does not state in the addendum that the DPS was contacted nor
that a state inspector OK'd the escalator's being placed back in service.

Giannaros calls this the smoking gun.

"They mopped up the blood and turned the escalator back on like nothing ever
happened," he said. "A friend of mine who works there said it was back in
service half an hour after the first accident and after Dakota's accident."

He said it's no surprise no one has called him back, despite the weeks of
telephone calls and messages left. And, he added, it's also not surprising
that the first DPS escalator inspector he talked with, a man named Lenny
Chase, who told him the escalator should have been shut down, as per state
law, and re-inspected only by the DPS, no longer answers his phone.

Giannaros could only smile that the Transcript was told my Harris it would
not be allowed to speak to Chase either.

"I've tried to keep contacting them, but they've blown me off,"
Giannaros said. "I haven't heard back from anyone at all."

 

The future

Giannaros said these days, he's no longer angry about the accident and is
only relieved that Dakota has fully recovered.

"We went to Chinatown a few weeks ago and had to take the escalator,"
Giannaros said. "I was worried about what he might do, but he was fine. I
was the one who was a total wreck!"

But despite the dissipating anger, Giannaros said that doesn't mean he wants
to let the entire incident just drop. He plans to sue the state in small
claims court for negligence in the hopes of reclaiming the $3,000 he shelled
out in hospital bills.

Meanwhile, he will continue with graduate school and hopefully, work with
Medford's state delegation to file and pass a bill that protects service
animals injured while performing their duties.

"I doubt anyone knows how many guide dogs are injured every year," he said.
"There's probably been no research done. That wouldn't surprise me.

"What I want to do now is contact my state representatives and senator to
pass a law, at least in this state, that will protect these animals,"
Giannaros added. "There's nothing ADA can do, but there has to be some
protection for these dogs. Look at me, in two seconds, my entire life
changed."

 

Related Stories
Medford resident plans to file lawsuit, bill after guide dog injured on
escalator
 

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Comments (2)
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ShopLoc8523 hours ago
Report Abuse
This is a interesting story....I think people forget about what a hard job
these service dogs have. 
PatsFan10118 hours ago
Report AbuseThat's very sad that two service dogs were injured on the
escalator. As a fellow service dog user, I wonder if these dogs were
properly trained in how to get on/off and ride an escalator? If the dog is
not trained to do it, it can be dangerous. But if the dog is properly
trained for escalators, he won't get hurt. 

The dog needs to hop (jump) onto the escalator, keep his feet in the middle
of the steps, stay away from the sides of the escalator, start walking as he
nears the end of the escalator, and then hop well over the end of the
escalator (where the steps get taken into the mechanism). I don't know how
much, if any, vision either of the men in the article have, so don't know if
they are able to watch their dog's paws at all, but whenever I take my
service dog on escalators and moving sidewalks, I watch her paws and make
certain she rides correctly, as she's been trained to do. 

Letting go of the dog's harness would not negate his escalator training, but
if both or either of these men were not paying attention to their dogs, thus
helping them know the proper times to jump and remind them where to stand,
they need to partially blame themselves for the injuries. Lunch or other
items are never more important than your service dog's safety! 

I do agree that Massachusetts needs a much better law regarding injury to
and interference with service animals, however. They need to check out the
law that Florida has and emulate it. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Ginger Kutsch
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 5:21 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: [nagdu] Guide dog injured on escalator

Medford resident plans to file lawsuit, bill after guide dog injured on
escalator By Nell Escobar Coakley/ncoakley at cnc.com Thu Nov 05, 2009, 09:00
AM EST
Source:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x1312011995/Medford-resid
ent-plans-to-file-lawsuit-bill-after-guide-dog-injured-on-escalat
or
 
Editor's Note: The following is part one of two. See next week's Medford
Transcript for part two.
 
When his 5-year-old guide dog was badly injured in an escalator accident
this summer, one local resident made it his mission to file a bill that will
protect all assistance animals traveling in public places with their owners.
 
"My anger over the whole thing is finally gone," said Steve Giannaros, of
Wellington Circle. "But I also don't want it to happen to anyone else. I
can't let something go on. I have to correct this problem."
 
The problem is what Giannaros perceives as the shoddy treatment he received
from the state following an accident on an escalator in the John W.
McCormack Building in Boston.
 
On June 26, Giannaros and his German shepherd guide dog, Dakota, were riding
the escalator upstairs from the cafeteria. Upon reaching the top, Giannaros
felt a thump and heard a loud wailing coming from the animal.
 
"He was wailing like crazy," Giannaros recalled with a shudder.
"It was horrible. I could hear him screaming. It was really chaotic."
 
Although several people immediately jumped in to help, Giannaros said it was
a state trooper who really came through by driving him and Dakota to Angell
Animal Medical Center.
 
"He was at Angell for about five days," Giannaros said. "The doctors said
the two pads of the middle toes of his right back leg were badly injured.
After a few days, they said they had no way to repair it and if they tried,
he couldn't work. I was devastated. If he couldn't work again, I would have
had to give him away."
 
Doctors amputated the two pads, and it took more than five weeks for Dakota
to recuperate from his wounds.
 
"Angell said he would be fine and that he would work and live a normal
life," Giannaros said. "He's fine now."
 
In the meantime, Giannaros found himself homebound, missing several weeks of
work at his job in the Secretary of State's Office because he could not
travel without Dakota. And it was his job to take care of the animal as
well.
 
"He had stitches for four weeks and his foot was in a cast," he said. "When
he got the cast removed, he was very raw."
 
Giannaros, whose vision has failed over the past 10 years, spent his time at
home not only caring for his dog, but getting angrier and angrier.
Especially when a friend called him and told him the escalator Dakota had
been injured on was running only 30 minutes following the accident.
 
"I got really mad," he said. "A half an hour later, they mopped up the blood
like the whole thing never happened."
 
The situation was compounded after he said he was told that another guide
dog was injured the same way on the same escalator only a month before
Dakota.
 
"That just made me feel horrible," he said. "What if a little kid or an old
woman's shoe got caught in that escalator?"
 
And so Giannaros started looking into the laws and proper procedures
governing escalators in the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
 
 
 
The investigation
 
While homebound, Giannaros started making some calls. First, he tried the
Department of Public Safety, where he spoke to an escalator inspector named
Lenny Chase. He said this man told him that state law specifically states if
an accident occurs, the escalator must be shut down until it is fixed - and
it can only be turned back on once the DPS inspects its safety.
 
Giannaros said Chase told him no one had filed a report about the accident
with DPS. About three weeks after the accident, Giannaros called Chase
again, but was referred to another inspector, whom he said has never called
him, despite leaving several phone messages.
 
Giannaros said he then called the building's management, the Bureau of State
Office Buildings, in order to obtain a full report of the accident. With no
calls returned, he filed his own report.
 
"By then, they said they filed a report with Public Safety and that it was
out of their hands," he said. "It seemed like everyone was passing me off to
everyone else."
 
Fed up, Giannaros called the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD). After
speaking with the director herself, Giannaros said he was told the case was
not discriminatory in nature and that MOD could not help him.
 
"They seemed like they didn't want to get involved because this was another
state agency," he said. "They suggested I find outside counsel."
 
By September, Giannaros had received no telephone calls from anyone, despite
his persistence. And to top it all off, he received a $3,000 bill from
Angell for Dakota's care.
 
But there was one more surprise in store.
 
"I lost my job," he said, with a shake of his head. "My boss called and said
I had two options: a leave of absence with no pay or a voluntary layoff."
 
Giannaros took the latter, choosing to go back to graduate school to study
disability issues. He also paid off Dakota's hospital bill, although he
plans to file a small claim against the state for negligence in failing to
keep the escalator in safe working condition.
 
Yet, he couldn't let go of the fact that no one seemed to care about the
problematic escalator or the fact that his dog was injured.
 
"It's not like he was the first dog to be hurt," he said. "I think they
thought I would just give up."
 
 
 
Second investigation
 
But he didn't give up. Not even close.
 
In August, Giannaros started writing to the local and Boston media about the
accident and while he received a call here and there, no one seemed
interested in his story.
 
"I have no idea why," he said. "None of this makes sense."
 
After hearing Giannaros' story, the Transcript contacted the Division of
Inspection, a DPS office which, according to Secretary of State William
Galvin's "Commonwealth of Massachusetts Citizens' Guide to State Services"
Web site, "is responsible for the annual inspection of all existing
elevators, sidewalk elevators, dumbwaiters, hosts, lifts, escalators and
moving stairways and for the plan review/inspection of all new installations
in the state."
 
An official in the office, who did not identify himself, declined to
comment, stating that any requests for information should be made in writing
to the legal office of the DPS. The official transferred the Transcript to a
media official, who failed to return a message requesting the state laws and
regulations.
 
A further call to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which
oversees the DPS, was transferred to Communications Director Terrel Harris,
who asked an e-mail be sent with specific questions regarding the case.
 
In mid-September, the Transcript sent several questions to Harris,
requesting the following information: the process for an inspection
following an escalator accident, the last two dates of inspection for the
escalators at McCormack and if the DPS had received any incident reports
involving guide dogs in the building. An additional request was made to
speak to Chase.
 
Harris stated escalators are inspected annually, the last dates being June
16 and June 18, 2008.
 
He added that Chapter 4 of state regulations clearly states that, "Once an
owner learns that a person has sustained a serious injury in an elevator
accident, the elevator shall be immediately shut down until express consent
to resume operation is granted by a supervisor of elevator inspectors
employed by the Department.
In the event of such an accident, the owner shall be responsible to ensure
that the elevator and area surrounding the elevator are secured and are not
disturbed, cleaned, or altered in any way until such time as an inspector
has completed an investigation.
The only exception to this requirement shall be acts in furtherance of
ensuring the safety of the area or a person, or for the extraction of an
injured person."
 
He went on to say the state had received no report from Steve Giannaros
about the accident and that the DPS was notified orally by the Massachusetts
Emergency Management Agency about the McCormack Building incident.
 
He also stated it would "not be possible" to speak to Chase.
 
"Bottom line: neither the statute (G.L. c.143, s.66) nor regulations require
that DPS be notified or a report be filed in a situation like this," Harris
wrote in his e-mail. "If the injury that the dog sustained happened to a
person, we'd have a whole different story. Then, the unit would have to be
shut down and a full report filed in accordance with the regs including the
section cited above. Apparently, the comb plate was broken when the incident
occurred. That was fixed and looked at by one of our inspectors to make sure
it was done properly."
 
In a follow up e-mail, Harris said that inspection was done July 9, 2009,
although he could not say when the actual repairs took place.
 
"I'm not surprised this their response," Giannaros said. "It's just a dog.
That makes me angry. I think it's awful they didn't check into it after the
first dog was injured."
 
 
 
- Did they or didn't they check into the problematic escalator?
And what, if anything, has the state done to make sure another accident
doesn't occur? Check next week's Transcript for part two of this story.
 
 
 
Loading commenting interface...
Comments (2)
 
vlizzled3 days ago
Report Abuse
This is upsetting and uncalled for, but unfortunately, I do not find it
surprising! I am sick of the attitude of 'its just a dog'
and I cannot believe this man was forced to leave his job.
Instead of progressing as a society, we continue to regress.
ada3 days ago
Report AbuseIt seems to me that the people who were contacted in the
investigation of this incident are bobbing and weaving to cover the
inadequacies of the Commonwealth agencies. It is very sad to see that this
very specialized guide dog was considered 'a nothing', and therefore no
accident report filed. This man and his dog should be considered 'one and
the same' as he is an integral part of his daily functional life. And the
fact that this happened to another guide dog a short time before without any
action taken to repar the escalator, could have prevented the second dog
from being severely injured. Just too bad. I hope this is appropriately
resolved.
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Ginger Bennett Kutsch
Morristown, NJ


 
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