A loved one of mine is in the psych ER after she attempted to unalive herself. Brad and I visited yesterday with no issue. I had Felix with me.
Today I went by myself, in my wheelchair (there are no chairs in the psych ER), with Felix. I went up to the security desk to get my badge and get escorted back to the pod. The man behind the desk said I couldn’t bring the dog with me. I said he’s a service dog, so yes he can go with me.
The security guard asked for certification. I replied that it wasn’t legally required. So then he asked for a vaccination record. I replied that that also wasn’t required. So he said he had to make a few phone calls. He called one person on three different lines and they didn’t answer. So then he called another person and asked him to come down and deal with the service animal issue.
While we were waiting for the supervisor to come down, the security guard relayed how he knew the laws because he himself has a service dog (presumably at home)…….
So eventually the supervisor comes down, and they figure out pretty quickly that certification and vaccination records can’t be required. But then they are all worried because I’m going to the psych ER, and it’s a DOG.
So he comes over to talk with me about it, and tells me it’s a security risk to have a service dog in the “pod”. I explained to him that I had been there the night before, and I’d just be sitting in my loved one’s room talking with them, not even in view of anyone else in the pod. He also mentioned how my wheelchair alone would be a disruption to the pod.
He spent a lot of time calling people and discussing me and Felix with them and what to do. After 20 minutes, he finally said I was allowed to go back there with Felix, so long as I took his leash off and put it in my wheelchair basket. I understand not allowing leashes, and was fully prepared to leave my leash at the security desk (they don’t allow phones, keys, belts, etc etc etc in the pod). But he said in my basket would be fine.
So we get back to the pod and he goes in to warn the nurses that a potentially disruptive visitor (me with my scary wheelchair and service dog) was coming in. One of the nurses came out to talk with me.
I fully expected her to be upset about the service dog issue, and while that was in play, it was a slightly different issue. Apparently one of the patients was out wandering the pod and acting aggressively, and they were worried he’d see me as a target since I appeared weak in my wheelchair and my dog was small and looked weak. So they asked me to wait outside the pod until they got him back in his bed in his room. That seemed quite reasonable.
I was able to see through a small window into the pod, and indeed could see this happening, so it wasn’t a ruse. So I had to wait 10 more minutes for them to calm him down before I could go in and see my loved one.
I had a good visit with her, but boy was it hard to make it there! I didn’t get to see her until 30 minutes after my arrival!
Brad will come with me when we go back to see her tonight, but only one of us can be in the room at a time. I just hope I don’t have to go through the whole service dog thing again tonight! I’m sure a different guard will be on duty, so we’ll just have to see how it goes.