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From: Jay.Croft@p0.f147.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Jay Croft)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Sign Word for Paramedic
Message-ID: <17776@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 9 Feb 91 05:26:31 GMT
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[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

I was recently in a hospital emergency room.  My 16 year old daughter
passed out while watching a doctor give *me* an exam!  (He was simply
examining my nose--no blood or gore, but she passed out anyway!)

Folks at Washington Hospital Center wear white coats.  Ditto at Holy
Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.

The question was not if the hearing-impaired employee should sign in an
emergency situation.  She was being *regularly* used by the hospital as
an "interpreter" instead of the hospital getting a qualified interpreter
at all.  A great money-saving procedure, but it could have disastrous
comsequences.

Any signs are better than none, in most cases.  But this should not
relieve the hospital of its obligation to provide a qualified
interpreter.

--
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