Mass. Providers Learn to Treat Injured Canines

On April 12, 2018 Sgt. Sean M. Gannon of the Yarmouth Police Department in Massachusetts was killed and his police dog, Nero, shot in the head while they served a search warrant. Due to legal restrictions at the time, fire and EMS crews were unable to transport Nero to a veterinarian, even though he was critically wounded. Instead they put Nero in the back of a patrol car and took him to a vet. He almost died before he got there.

The sheer injustice of this situation led to the Massachusetts Legislature passing “Nero’s law,” Bill S.1606, in February 2022. Under the bill, “Ambulance services shall authorize their EMS personnel to provide emergency treatment to a police dog injured in the line of duty and transport such police dog by ambulance to a veterinary clinic or veterinary hospital equipped to provide emergency treatment to dogs; provided there are no persons requiring emergency medical treatment or transport at that time.” It also calls for Massachusetts EMS services to be trained in basic first aid and proper handling for injured dogs.

In response to Nero’s law, Newton-based EMS provider Transformative Healthcare is launching a “K9 first aid” training program. Designed to run for 3 hours for basic EMTs with an extra hour for ALS providers, K9 first aid is open to all EMS personnel in Massachusetts. The course was prepared with input from veterinarians skilled in emergency care of dogs.

K9 first aid will cover canine-centric CPR, lifesaving first aid, and the safe administration of naloxone. It will also teach EMTs how to handle injured dogs to keep themselves and the animals safe, where to find appropriate treatment facilities for injured canines, and how to follow proper decontamination and sterilization procedures to restore ambulances for human transport once a dog has been dropped off. The course starts this month and will be offered in online and in-person versions.

Doing Things Right

Andy DeFrias is the director of Transformative Healthcare’s Center for Clinical Excellence. His company runs 3 ambulance transport companies in New England and offers first responder medical education.

“We’ve been interested in providing canine first aid training for some time now,” he says. “This is something we see as important. These police canines are out there protecting us, and we see our ability to treat them, if they’re ever injured on scene, as a very important part of our responsibility to the public, our police officers, and our public safety friends.”

In addition to the points outlined above, Transformative Healthcare plans to teach EMTs about some of the finer points of helping injured dogs. For instance, “we’re going to show students how to interact with an injured canine if their handler isn’t available to manage the situation,” DeFrias says.

“Unlike humans, dogs don’t understand what’s going on when they get injured and unfamiliar humans are trying to treat them. You can’t rationalize with a dog to get them to calm down. So if you have an injured canine, you have to know how to muzzle it for safe transportation and secure it properly. This is why we partnered with our veterinarian staff and friends—to make sure we are doing those things right, using the proper techniques.”

The K9 first aid course will also tell EMTs what to look for when assessing dogs for injuries—because they can’t say where it hurts—and how to modify existing EMS techniques for treating nonhumans.

“The management of bleeding is different for dogs than it is for humans,” says DeFrias. “And most tourniquets don’t work well on our canine friends. So you have to slightly modify how you do some of those things.”

Veterinarian Guidance

In developing all this content, Transformative Healthcare has leaned heavily on veterinarians for guidance.

“We’ve been working with them to vet the information and make sure we’re doing the right thing for these canines,” DeFrias notes. “We’re not just modifying human EMS approaches and applying them to dogs.”

To this end the course will be using 3 canine manikins to demonstrate CPR, airway maneuvers, and the insertion of IV lines. “Eventually we’ll get to the point where we’re going be training on some ALS procedures as well,” he says.

By offering K9 first aid training to Massachusetts EMTs, Transformative Healthcare wants to ensure animal heroes such as Nero receive the emergency care they need going forward.

“We want to do the best for these canines, their handlers and departments, and the municipalities we serve,” says DeFrias.

As for Nero? He has recovered fully from his injuries thanks to top-quality veterinary care and support and is now enjoying a well-deserved retirement from police work. The culprit who shot him and killed Gannon got life without the possibility of parole for 35 years.                                                                  

To learn more about the K9 first aid program, go to https://transformativehc.com/.

James Careless is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to EMS World.