I’m interested in the same topic regarding sick persons entering the museum as well.  In the Hands-On-History Center in the Education Center at Mount Vernon, we keep antibacterial hand sanitizer, tissues, and Clorox or Lysol disinfectant wipes available at all times.    I don’t feel we can ask them to leave although we would like to.

 

A question I have falls into a similar category – parents feel that our Hands-On-History Center is the ideal place to breastfeed and change diapers.  We nicely encourage parents to use the changing tables in the men or women’s restrooms and we invite mother’s into our first-aid facility or an office to breastfeed for their privacy.  Occasionally a parent becomes outraged even though we’re trying to assist for their convenience.   In the Commonwealth of Virginia, a parent can breastfeed openly if the building stands on property owned by Virginia, but Mount Vernon is not government property.

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Diana Cordray

Education Center Manager/

Special Projects Coordinator

George Washington's Estate, Museum & Gardens

P.O. Box 110

Mount Vernon, VA   22121

703.799.8602

 

From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathy DiPhilippo
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 6:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Policies for sick patrons

 

Dear fellow listers,

 

I'm wondering if any of you have had encounters with sick people visiting your museum, and if you have a formal policy dealing with this that you would be willing to share?  We recently had a quite visibly sick person visit our museum, who stayed for about 45 minutes while coughing, hacking, clearing sinuses, blowing the nose repeatedly, etc., which made everyone in the building quite uncomfortable. We have no written policy to deal with this, so she was not asked to leave, especially since we suspected from the way she was talking to her family (who left and waited outside for her) that she would not have left without making a scene and demanding to see our policy.

 

If you have a similar policy dealing with patrons who appear to be under the influence, we'd love to see that, too.

 

Many thanks!

Kathy

 

Kathryn DiPhilippo, director

South Portland Historical Society

55 Bug Light Park
South Portland, ME  04106
(207) 767-7299
www.sphistory.org

 

 

 

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