In the cities of Appleton and Madison, Wisconsin, fire trucks and ambulances have been equipped with masks intended for use on dogs, cats and other small animals.
Alderman Richard Thompson initiated the program after he saw a newspaper photograph of a firefighter in Superior giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a cat rescued from a house fire.
“A pet is family to most people,”he said.”I know I wouldn’t want to lose Maggie, my collie, or Lucy, my Tabby cat, to a fire, carbon monoxide poisoning or Lord knows what else.”
The money to pay for each $49 mask came from donations by local animal lovers.
“It was something to see,”Thompson said.”There was no organized solicitation effort. People and community groups just read or heard about the program and stepped up to the plate.”
The masks, which come in three sizes, will be distributed to each of six fire stations and to the Appleton Police Department K-9 unit, he said The Madison Fire Department carries similar masks on its seven ambulances, said Lori Wirth, the department’s community education officer.
The Madison department also bought its masks with money raised from unsolicited donations, she said. In fact, the department raised so much money it was able to buy mask kits for several neighboring communities.
Wirth said the department’s firefighters haven’t had to use the masks yet but they’re trained and willing.
“What we’ve done so far is use the masks as a way to remind people to get out of their residence in the event of a fire and don’t go searching for pets,”she said.”Firefighters will care for any pets we find in the event they suffer from smoke inhalation.”
Oxygen masks made for pets are actually now being used by fire departments all over the country. The trend started in Florida in 2004, when the death of a dog from smoke inhalation triggered a local campaign to equip fire departments, said Jeff Baker, vice president and general manager of Smiths Medical Veterinary Division, a Waukesha, WI, company that makes the masks, traditionally used for anesthesia. They have sold more of the masks since then, than in the previous 15 years, most going to fire departments including Chicago and New York City.
Human oxygen masks are often foiled by fur and long noses, leading firefighters to try makeshift methods including, in moments of true dedication, mouth-to-snout resuscitation. But the cup-shaped pet masks have a rubber ring that creates a seal, allowing rescuers to pump pure oxygen into the noses of dogs and cats. Each set has three masks – small, medium and large – meant to fit all sizes of pets. Without the masks, reviving animals was hit-or-miss at best, firefighters say, and losing a pet adds more trauma to a family already dealing with the fallout from fire damage.
Firefighters are of course still trained to rescue people first, but they are willing to take further risks to bring out an animal. They realize, like we do, that pets are an important part of people’s families.
