Typical Cast Member Reaction After Safety Incident?

[cakebaker]

A conglomerate like Disney is ultra careful of documenting such incidents, so I am truly surprised this was handled the way it was. This is not about Disney "magic", but more about the liability they could face if this was not such an understanding member. The CM in this case may not have been properly trained, cause I think any manager would have taken this much more seriously.
Glad no one was hurt.

I was at DL and tripped over the curb just as you come into main st. I fell pretty hard and landed holding one of my hands out to brace my fall. It was a decently bad fall- scraped my knee badly and my hand was killing me. Before I knew it, some guy in a suit was standing there asking us if I needed assistance. My hand was killing me, but hey it was park opening and I was missing low crowds. So, I thanked him, assured him I was fine and we went on our way. No written reports, no nothing.

Shortly after that I got really nauseous, my hand continued to hurt and we ended up going to an urgent care- where I discovered I had broken my little finger- but there was no accident report taken and I was obviously injured. But if I decline assistance, Disney has done their part. The rest is up to me.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

she went to guest services thinking they would make out an incident report and look into what she thought was an unsafe gate.

Why make an incident report if you don't want to follow up with medical treatment? She already told the two cast members about the gate?

 

[disney world dreamer]

Why make an incident report if you don't want to follow up with medical treatment? She already told the two cast members about the gate?

because an incident took place whether she was in need of medical treatment or not and she wanted written documentation of the fact that she felt the gate was unsafe.
whether you follow up with medical treatment or not shouldn't have anything to do with it.

 

[aaarcher86]

because an incident took place whether she was in need of medical treatment or not and she wanted written documentation of the fact that she felt the gate was unsafe.
whether you follow up with medical treatment or not shouldn't have anything to do with it.

GR didn't seem to think it was an incident worth a report. Just wanting something isn't enough to get it.

But I would agree that the gate is unsafe for sitting/leaning, because that's not what it's for.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I get why the OP thought they should have taken an incident report, even though she wasn't injured. She was reporting an unsafe situation and was looking for it to be fixed to avoid possible injuries to others in the future. She probably felt like it was a responsible thing to do. Telling two cast members won't necessarily bring the unsafe situation to the attention of those who have the authority to get it fixed.

 

[bumbershoot]

But I would agree that the gate is unsafe for sitting/leaning, because that's not what it's for.

Do we know that the OP knew it was a gate before she leaned on it and found out?

DH leaned against the green metal railing in front of the big butterfly topiaries, and I went to do the same thing - except I leaned against what was actually a gate

And we checked that gate yesterday, five days after the incident - it's not repaired, not even tied closed or marked with a warning sign - is that typical? The whole thing seemed careless on Disney's part.

Disney can take ages to do things.


Now, the one place that does seem to keep track of how often something causes injury is First Aid! They aren't paramedics; no one is being called, but they are RNs there and they document even an ibuprofen being taken. At California Adventure my son was part of the file I imagine they kept on the Mater ride in Carsland, after he smashed his cheek against the unpadded side of the ride. They indicated, when we went in there to see if his cheek was OK, that they were getting many injuries from that ride. He wasn't bleeding, he wasn't screaming, but he was in pain and we felt it was good to have it checked out. I would really urge anyone who hurts themselves at the parks to go to FA and just have the RNs look at you. The RNs checked out his face, made sure there was no obvious fracture, gave him an ice pack (Disney RNs make the BEST ice packs), and made a report of it.

I think it was a month later that Disney FINALLY decided to put padding on the kid's-face-height walls on the vehicles of that high-spinning-forces ride. DS was one of many to be injured, they knew where the injuries came from, and they got through the red tape to fix it.

So given our experience (and the wonderfulness of the ice packs) I would have gone to First Aid and told *them*, because I KNOW they write things down and have a procedure.

 

[BabyFu18]

I don't know about the specific gate where your fall incured but I will say when my mom fell on the moving walkway on The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride at Epcot the CMs were less than helpful. She was in her wheelchair but they said she'd have to transfer to ride and she felt like she could do it. She asked if they could slow or stop the moving walkway and they said no and that we were holding up the line trying to decide if she could do it or not, so we decided to try. I walked in front of her holding her hand and my dad walked behind her but she tripped and fell and neither of us could catch her. Of course we got her up and situated but the CM there never offered to help her up or ask if she was okay. They didn't offer her medical attention or anything, all they said was "watch your step". It's not like she tripped a little she fell and landed on her side. My dad and I helped her up and got out of there to make sure she was okay (thankfully she was) so she didn't need medical attention but it should have at least been offered.

I think in general CMs act very detached when accidents happen, but maybe that's the way they are trained and to make sure they cover themselves in case of legal action.

My Mom was so upset about her fall though that she refuses to ride anything with a moving walkway now when we visit. I wish they could slow or stop those walkways for the people who need that assistance.

I'm sorry about your accident and I do hope the situation with the gate is fixed,but honestly I'm not surprised Disney didn't file an accident report or anything of that nature.

 

[aaarcher86]

Do we know that the OP knew it was a gate before she leaned on it and found out?

Maybe not, but she would've known it was a 'hand' rail, not a place to put your ***.

Anything will end up dangerous or unsafe if you use it for something it's not meant for.

 

[ArwenMarie]

What fence is this? Was it obvious that it was not meant to be leaned on?

 

[ton80]

How many FP was the OP expecting to get for the "incident" ?

 

[Jennasis]

Maybe the gate wasn't fixed because it wasn't broken? It possibly wasnt meant to latch (or be leaned on).

 

[jc040404]

Disney does train CMs to handle "accidents" a particular way. It is basically to claim no fault up front as that can be used against them in court. I do not think it is because they are uncaring, but because of the way Cast is trained when it comes to claiming liability.

This is what I was thinking when I read the OP. My son was once hurt in Disney's care, at one of the children's activity centers. His head was hit hard enough by another child that he spent most of the night with ice. They didn't call me when it happened, and made no mention of it when we picked him up. You couldn't miss the big red mark on his forehead though. We did inquire and everyone was so careful with their responses. I was shocked by how little anyone seemed to care about the incident. Informing a parent of their child's head injury seemed important to me, but I guess Disney has to look out for Disney first.

If the OP declined any help, I don't see why anything else would be done. If it was an issue of fixing a gate, why would personal information need collected anyway?

 

[::Snow_White::]

When I worked in Merchandise our protocol was to ask the guest 3 times if they needed assistance or paramedics. If they refused all 3 times, then that was it. If they wanted assistance we would call for help or would walk them to the first aid station, depending. What happened after that was not up to the merch cast members, and I assumed handled by the paramedics. So, from my standpoint, I assume they only fill out reports if someone needs assistance (maybe asking the CM what they saw/did). Of course, if there is a safety issue such as the gate, we would report it to our managers asap.

Not sure if that has changed or not.

 

[maxiesmom]

I don't know about the specific gate where your fall incured but I will say when my mom fell on the moving walkway on The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride at Epcot the CMs were less than helpful. She was in her wheelchair but they said she'd have to transfer to ride and she felt like she could do it. She asked if they could slow or stop the moving walkway and they said no and that we were holding up the line trying to decide if she could do it or not, so we decided to try. I walked in front of her holding her hand and my dad walked behind her but she tripped and fell and neither of us could catch her. Of course we got her up and situated but the CM there never offered to help her up or ask if she was okay. They didn't offer her medical attention or anything, all they said was "watch your step". It's not like she tripped a little she fell and landed on her side. My dad and I helped her up and got out of there to make sure she was okay (thankfully she was) so she didn't need medical attention but it should have at least been offered.

I'm not sure if CMs are able to slow that ride, but I know they are not allowed to physically help guests. Unfortunately you would have people who claimed that a CM did them harm, or touched the inappropriately. It is a sad statement of our sue-happy nation.

 

[maxiesmom]

because an incident took place whether she was in need of medical treatment or not and she wanted written documentation of the fact that she felt the gate was unsafe.
whether you follow up with medical treatment or not shouldn't have anything to do with it.

But it does have something to do with it. I know where I work if we fill out a report or not all depends on the guest and if they want medical treatment. If they decline treatment, no report.

 

[connie1042]

A couple of years ago I cut the top of my hand on the strap rope coming out of Dinosaur. I have thin skin. It was at the end. No idea what cut it, probably a little piece of plastic. Anyway I was really bleeding, like dripping into my other hand. I asked for a Kleenex and the CMs acted like I was crazy. They told me to go to First aid. I said I planned on it, but maybe a Kleenex would be better than my hand for catching the blood. Got fixed up at first aid, but was just amazed that they would not give me a kleenex, or ask me where I got cut, so they could fix it. Not only that, but there was blood involved and they had no idea if I was HIV or anything. That sould of been checked, fixed and thoroughly cleaned.

 

[maxiesmom]

A couple of years ago I cut the top of my hand on the strap rope coming out of Dinosaur. I have thin skin. It was at the end. No idea what cut it, probably a little piece of plastic. Anyway I was really bleeding, like dripping into my other hand. I asked for a Kleenex and the CMs acted like I was crazy. They told me to go to First aid. I said I planned on it, but maybe a Kleenex would be better than my hand for catching the blood. Got fixed up at first aid, but was just amazed that they would not give me a kleenex, or ask me where I got cut, so they could fix it. Not only that, but there was blood involved and they had no idea if I was HIV or anything. That sould of been checked, fixed and thoroughly cleaned.

Maybe they didn't have a kleenex on them? And as you stated, they have no idea if you were ill or not, so if they had nothing to give you to clean up with, there wasn't much else they could do. Except tell you to go to first aid.

Did you volunteer the information of where you got cut?

 

[BabyFu18]

I'm not sure if CMs are able to slow that ride, but I know they are not allowed to physically help guests. Unfortunately you would have people who claimed that a CM did them harm, or touched the inappropriately. It is a sad statement of our sue-happy nation.

I see, it's sad they can't help people because some might try to turn that into something ugly, they certainly need to protect themselves so I understand why they can't physicslly assist guest.

 

[disney world dreamer]

Maybe they didn't have a kleenex on them? And as you stated, they have no idea if you were ill or not, so if they had nothing to give you to clean up with, there wasn't much else they could do. Except tell you to go to first aid.

Did you volunteer the information of where you got cut?

they certainly could have ran to a bathroom to get her some paper towels.
they did so for me when i fell and cut my chin last month and it was bleeding badly.

 

[delmar411]

If the gate was actually broken and not meant to stay unlocked, then maintenence already had a work order in and it would go in order of priority. Most people don't just place their rump down on something without checking it out first and you are not supposed to be sitting on the fence so I doubt this repair ranks high up there.