By Laura Wilcox
Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA)
Copyright 2006 Tribune Review Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
Few people know how to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dog.
But a mix of paramedics, police officers and people interested in animal medicine learned how to resuscitate working dogs at a K-9 Medic class held this week at Murrysville Medic One in Export.
The four-hour class, part of Westmoreland County Community College’s Homeland Security programming, teaches medical responders how to provide emergency care to dogs working during emergencies.
“These dogs are constantly in dangerous situations,” said Dr. Harvey Bendix, director of Norwin Veterinary Hospital.
Bendix said the coursework at WCCC was expanded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Becky Lauffer, program coordinator, said corpse dogs were sent to ground zero and were falling ill because of chemical exposure at the site.
Bendix, who formulated the course’s text, said K-9 Medic is designed to teach police officers and paramedics how to help dogs until a veterinarian can assist. Students learned how to administer oxygen, stop bleeding, cover wounds and give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“Those are all important things that can be done to help resuscitate animals,” Bendix said.
The course covers everything from basic first aid and transportation to first aid for specific eye and ear injuries. Instructions include what to keep in a first aid kit and how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on dogs. The text addresses soft tissue wounds, bandaging, burns, shock, poisoning, drugs and how to insert an IV.
“It’s an intensive four-hour class for the students,” Bendix said.
Bendix showed a slideshow and videos, and gave demonstrations on a live dog and mannequin. He passed around various muzzles, handlers’ gloves and an informational book. Students followed the “Basic First Aid for Police and Service Canines” slideshow with their own bound books.
Bendix, his assistant, and Max the dog demonstrated how to check hydration and assess for pulse. Bendix lifted the skin behind Max’s neck. “It should bounce back down,” he said. He said a dehydrated dog’s skin would fall slowly or stay lifted.
Bendix put his hand on the inside of the femur to check the pulse. If a dog is not obese, its heartbeat usually can be felt through the chest.
Most of the students told Bendix they have dogs as pets. He suggested they listen to their pets’ heartbeats with a stethoscope to get an understanding of how a normal dog’s heart rate should sound.
Bendix also taught the class to improvise. A shoelace makes an effective muzzle, he said, for an animal that is snarling and needs to be restrained.
He reminded students to make sure dogs are in positions where they can easily breathe during transport.
Kimberly Beech, 18, of New Kensington, said she found out about K-9 Medic from her sister, who works as a paramedic at Medic One.
“I’ve been interested in working with police dogs for awhile,” she said.
Beech recently started attending the Vet Tech Institute in Pittsburgh. She said she hoped the course would help her get ahead in her studies.
“It seemed worth the four hours of class,” she said.