More than people hurt in fires

Fri, July 27, 2007

By IAN GILLESPIE, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

In these times of bottom lines and budget cuts, some might say it's a frivolous extra.

But those people probably don't own a dog. And they're likely not firefighters.

And besides, if everything goes as planned, this latest life-saving gadget won't cost the London Fire Department, or taxpayers, a single cent.

I'm talking about new oxygen masks designed to fit snugly over a dog's snout and give firefighters a better chance to resuscitate a pet pulled from a burning building.

When I ask acting Captain Kevin Austin if these animal masks are a worthwhile investment, the London firefighter doesn't hesitate.

"Our mandate is to save lives," says Austin. "And it doesn't matter whether it's a human or animal life. We do what we can to preserve it.

"If we can save something from dying in a fire, it's a good save as far as we're concerned."

The push to get the masks came from Heather Pinsky, who owns and operates a local dog-walking and pet-sitting service called Happy Paws.

The London woman read about the oxygen masks in an American magazine. She'd also heard a client's tale about how difficult it was for local firefighters to resuscitate a pet dog (the animal lived) while using a mask designed to fit over a human face.

"It's very difficult for them to try and save an animal with a mask that doesn't fit," Pinsky says.

Realizing money is tight, Pinsky came up with a fundraising idea she dubbed a "pooch plunge."

The event, scheduled to take place Sunday, Sept. 2 at Stronach pool (1221 Sandford St.), will give Londoners a chance to bring their dogs -- at $5 a pet -- for a swim. (For details, go to the website www.poochplunge.com.)

As London's aquatics supervisor Lisa Brandie explains, the Stronach pool is ideally suited for the event because it features a gradual incline that allows the dogs to get in and out of the water easily.

And Brandie says the timing of the "pooch plunge" is ideal because, like all city-operated public pools, the Stronach pool will close for the season that day -- so no human swimmers will have to deal with any dog-related detritus.

Pinsky says the goal is to outfit each of London's 13 pumper trucks with a set of the masks. Each set costs about $100 and contains three different-sized masks, including one for large dogs, one for small dogs and one for cats.

The masks, which are connected to a canister of pure oxygen during an emergency, feature two exhaust valves and a rubber seal that fits snugly over an unconscious animal's snout.

"I don't think there are any statistics on it, but there are certainly more animal casualties than there are human casualties over the course of a year," says Austin, adding he has tried to resuscitate about half a dozen dogs during his 19-year career. "It often happens that we find a cat or dog in a home where people have gotten out safely or they weren't home when the fire started."

Austin says firefighters often find dogs and cats hiding "in the strangest places" during a fire. And he says the toxic smoke usually overcomes pets more quickly than humans because of an animal's smaller body mass.

"But we can certainly give them a much better chance (of survival)," he says, adding the special pet masks are becoming more common with fire departments throughout North America. "Getting oxygen to them right away is hugely important."

Of course, he emphasizes no one should ever enter a burning building to try and rescue a pet. Just to underscore that point, London Fire Department Capt. Shawn Fitzgerald recalls that the first fatality he encountered as a firefighter occurred when a man re-entered a smokey Hamilton Road house to retrieve his dog.

He says firefighters found the dead man lying atop his pet, which survived the ordeal.

"We're not going to risk a human life to save an animal life," says Austin. "But we try to get the pets out because it's something for people to hang onto.

"If we can give them back their animal, they've got something."