The Airdrie Fire Department has started a new community safety initiative aimed at saving the lives of our furry friends.  

The Pet Rescue Program will allow firefighters to administer oxygen and perform CPR on animals.  Deputy Fire Chief Garth Rabel thinks cats, dogs and other pets are important members of the family.  "When they're in distress they deserve as rapid intervention as we can provide and as meaningful support as we can provide as well."

The program has been about 18 months in the making, says Rabel.  "Other departments do have pet rescue programs in place.  For Airdrie Fire we've implemented it now, the equipment will be on our trucks starting today and our team will be ready to support families and their pets going forward."

Pets are considered members of the family and are treated as such.  However, Rabel says the animals they run into as firefighters are often more than simply family pets which is what makes this program so important.

"We have family pets, we have service animals, seniors are very, very close to their pets, so anytime we can do anything we can do to assist in the time of crisis, then we're definitely excited now that we have the ability to do that."

Rabel says that past events have told them they need to consider implementing the pet program.  He explains the program is not simply about pet safety, for the fire department, it's also about management of pets, even if they're not distressed physically.

" We have to be able to effectively and efficiently manage pets when we come into resident's homes as well.  So we have control items that we demonstrated with our pet control crates, our leashes, so we can control animals and get them back to their owners safely."

Airdrie firefighters have recently completed training to enhance their ability to assist pets.  Skills learned include assessments of injured animals, opening and managing the airway and delivery of ventilation or compressions to sustain a life.  

Rabel says all front-line apparatus that go to calls in Airdrie will be equipped with specialized items like pet oxygen masks for various sizes of cats and dogs and pet crates and leashes to allow them to manage pets on the scene and prepare them for possible transport to veterinary clinics.

Rabel says the equipment is meant for cats and dogs but can be adapted to be used on pets like ferrets and birds.

A demonstration of pet life saving was put on for the assembled media by Platoon Captain Mike Pirie and his black lab Pepper.  Pepper is also a member of the Canada Task Force Two team and is a search and rescue dog.  

 

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com