A recent tweet from the Boston Emergency Medical Service read, “When folks w/pets call 911 for help put the animals in a room away from the patient if possible. It will speed our response.”
I retweeted the message to spread the word to more families with pets and then called Jennifer Mehigan, Director of Media Relations for the department. She told me what inspired that tweet. “Yesterday, after hearing an incident over the department radio where a crew was waiting on Animal Control to secure a dog before they could reach a patient,” she explained, “I felt it was necessary to remind people to put pets or animals in a secured room if at all possible.”
Plan for a 911 Call
If you or someone in your family has a medical emergency, call 911 first. Then, move your pets to a safe, secure location. “Of course if the owner is the patient and there’s no one else around that may not be possible,” Mehigan said.
It may be wise to rehearse for this situation, especially if you have a chronic condition that might cause 911 calls. It’s always easier if a dog or cat is used to a given situation. For a pet who is never confined and the first time it happens is in an emergency, it could be extremely frightening.
Let your animal experience staying in a dog crate or kitty carrier while you clean, have a worker in your home, a delivery, or are not feeling well. Then, should an emergency arise, it won’t be a strange happening for the pet. If you don’t have a crate, a bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen with a door or gate could work.
Ed and I are currently training our new puppy to, “Go to bed.” This is a command we’ve used with other dogs for everything from a broken glass on the kitchen floor to a delivery. It means she should go to her crate in our bedroom and wait for us.
When the first thought that you might need to call for help hits you, round up your pets and make them safe. If it’s a false alarm, they’ve had a dry run. If you follow through with the call, you’ve kept your animals safe and improved your own care.
Planning Could Save a Life
“It is a very intimate thing to enter a person’s home to help them, and our staff are trained to keep the patient comfortable and try to put them at ease,” Mehigan said. “Sometimes pets in a home become upset when our crews are there and it is difficult for the EMTs to focus on the patient. If our crews ever feel that an animal will cause issues at a scene, they are told to contact police and animal control to secure the animal.”
When that happens it delays patient care. If you are alone when you call 911, try to alert the dispatcher that you have a dog or cat who will be on the scene and whether that animal is secured. That will inform the ambulance crew of the need for possible assistance.
Finally, you will have prevented your pet from escaping when doors are held open to allow responders to enter and exit with equipment and stretchers. Planning is not only for your health, but also for the safety of your pets.
Note: This important message was first published in Penny's City Paws newspaper column.
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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: (Top) iStockphoto.com; (Middle) © 2012 Laurie Thomas; (Bottom) © 2012 Penny Cherubino
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