Most people are familiar with “seeing eye dogs” for the blind, and even service dogs who assist people in wheelchairs, but many are still unaware of the life-changing, and sometimes life-saving, assistance that service animals provide for people with invisible disabilities and for children with serious health conditions.
Service animals are a lifeline for people with physical disabilities and conditions such as PTSD, making everyday activities that most of us take for granted possible.
Saving Lives
Medical alert dogs detect changes in their owners before anyone else can. Most common are dogs for people with diabetes and seizure alert dogs. For people with diabetes, alert dogs tell them when their blood sugar is getting too low or too high. Seizure alert dogs warn their owners just prior to a seizure, so they can lie down and avoid accidents and injuries.
Medical alert dogs and medical response dogs save lives by getting help, dialing 911 on specially equipped phones, retrieving emergency medications, and keeping their owners safe during a medical crisis.
In March, 2016, a dog named Jedi saved his boy Luke who has Type 1 diabetes. The seven-year-old was sleeping in bed with his mom when Jedi sensed that his blood sugar was dangerously low. Even though the boy wears a monitoring system, no alarms sounded. But Luke saved his life by waking his mom so she could give him the medication he needed.
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be extremely debilitating and for some it can lead to suicide. Very little progress has been made in treating PTSD, but for many veterans and others suffering from the condition, service dogs are a life-line. In a 2009 survey by the U.S. military, 82% of those diagnosed with PTSD experienced a reduction in symptoms after being paired with a service dog.
PTSD dogs can help people be able to go out in public again, go back to work, stop panic attacks, and so much more.
If you have been denied service in a business or experienced employment discrimination because you have a service animal, please contact AccidentAttorneys.org to be put in touch with a highly credentialed, local attorney.
About Sandra Dalton
