Where’s the Respect?

Dear Editor:

As a PCA for two years, I also have a few things to say as far as working with physically disabled/ handicapped people and their families. PCAs are not mechanical beings, nor strongmen. I myself had to stop working for a client because of pulled muscles in my back. PCAs also get ill from time to time, and we “have to” get to a client’s home, no matter what the weather or how we feel physically. I am not short; I am six inches shy of seven-feet tall, and clients think I have AMERICAN HOIST stamped into my forehead. They expect me to do the impossible. Also, clients should think about their PCAs and what they do by “dead lifting” a client two to six times a day.

And another thing is, the PCA offices that hire PCAs should take into consideration their former work history. I have done physical labor since I started working while in high school, and it has taken its toll on my back, arms and legs. And my back told me in its own way, “Enough is enough.” I got paid more for working at the tire shop than working as a PCA.

And some clients have no respect for the PCA; they leave notes and want them to meet the client at an office building somewhere. PCAs don’t get paid for gas, let alone to play “taxi driver.” I am not a plumber, an electrician, nor am I a construction worker. I am a PCA.

Name withheld by request.

 

911 Works for Me

Dear Editor:

With all due respect to the Diedrichsens (Telephone Access: Is TTY Still Needed?: July 10, 2006), the following statement is at least partially incorrect:

“Internet (VOIP and video relay) phone services do not have the capacity to connect with 911; you must know your local 10-digit emergency number to connect.”

I have used VOIP for at least a year and have always had 911 access. When I initially got VOIP, the customer had to configure it; from then on 911 works. The FCC now requires these VOIP services to provide 911 access.

Thank you for a great publication!

Sincerely,

Anna-lee Aton