CLINTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A kitten rescued during a fire training exercise has been adopted by the EMT who provided oxygen therapy for the litter of kittens on scene.
The Annandale Hose Company had just finished conducting a fire training exercise at the Emergency Services Training Center, said Lyn Serino of the Lost Paws Animal Rescue organization, when they walked through the scene and heard kittens crying.
They found seven newborn cats in the training facility who had inhaled smoke during the drill.
EMT Thomas McGrew was one of the medical personnel who arrived on scene. Serino told the New Jersey Hills that McGrew administered oxygen to the kittens for “at least an hour” while members of his crew cleaned smoke debris from their bodies and mouths.
The kittens were taken to a veterinary hospital and were in an oxygen cage for two days. Three of them died due to complications from inhaling smoke.
The rest of the litter was transferred to the care of Lost Paws members, who bottle-fed the kittens until they were ready to be adopted.
McGrew visited the kittens and adopted one of them this weekend.
“The kitten is now called Ember and she is very happy in her new home,” Serino said.