Recognizing the need to access a restroom quickly, the ICA created the Restroom Access Card. This plastic wallet card communicates your emergency need for a toilet. The card gives a brief description of IC and explains your need to use of toilet facilities in public places.
Now there is even more help for people needing immediate restroom access. State laws mandate restroom access, websites provide online databases, and new products take the worry out of being stranded without a restroom.
After a store manager denied her access to the shop’s bathroom, Ally Bain, a Chicago teenager with Crohn’s disease, championed the Illinois Restroom Access Act. Also known as Ally's Law, this Act requires businesses to allow people with medical emergencies access to private restrooms if there are three or more employees at the business. The law fines stores $100 if they do not cooperate.
In addition to Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington require businesses to provide restroom access to those with chronic conditions. Most laws direct you to present a letter from your physician when asking to use a restroom. Similar legislation is pending in other states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
New online services help you locate public restrooms in the US and abroad:
In addition to bathroom locations and distances, the sites highlight cleanliness ratings, disability access, diaper-changing stations, and more. These services also continue to expand listings by encouraging users to send suggestions regarding the best restrooms in their towns. You can even access these sites via your mobile device browser because they have Blackberry and iPhone apps.
Portable toilet devices offer an alternative for long-distance traveling and remote locations.
GoGirl is a new female urination device (FUD) that helps females to urinate while standing up. GoGirl is portable, reusable, dishwasher-safe, and made of medical grade silicone. Providing an alternative to squatting in the woods, this FUD may be helpful for women with IC.
TravelJohn sells a number of portable toilet devices and accessories. Portable urinal and solid waste collection devices absorb liquid waste in a "no spill" disposable gel bag. Small enough to fit in a pocket, purse, or glove compartment, use TravelJohn units up to three times in a day and then throw them away!
Posted June 12, 2009