Something important to know

[wednesday42]

We visited an art museum this last weekend, and while we had a fantastic time, there was an incident that highlighted a gap in my safety training that I can now remedy, and want to share because I think it can save lives

Comments

[ysobelle]

Any point in calling the museum and asking what their policy is/should be? They're gonna get sued one day, I'm very sure.

[wednesday42]

I still haven't called them, though I should at least send an email inquiry. I have no idea what the laws say about public venues, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't some sort of allowance for the individual accepting X degree of risk in using such facilities.

[blythechild]

Responder time to heart attacks and strokes are key to the level of recovery post-incident, so the museum's policy in this instance could definitely cost that woman in terms recovery and rehabilitation.

It's a pretty standard response on the part of any facility open to the public. You can see why: liability issues, logistics of organizing first responders through a facility, costs incurred by fake or unnecessary emergency calls, etc. But when it comes to someone's health, it's counter intuitive. I don't think there's anything wrong with calling 911 as a private citizen in this case - I certainly would've. Better to have a rash of calls about the same incident than none at all.

[wednesday42]

Agreed. I worked (briefly) as a Marriott housekeeper when I was in undergrad, and I got to see nearly first-hand how such policies can cost lives. A guest suffered a heart attack in one of the rooms, and by the time management actually called for help, it was too late for him. I quit nearly immediately after finding that out, partially because it outraged me as a policy, and partially because I realized that if anything happened to me while working there (we often worked alone) it might not even be discovered until hours or more later. :-/