Firefighter saves Dog, for a minute

[HellsBells]

Firefighter performs CPR to revive dog struck by car

'Mouth to snout' allows owner to bid pet farewell

Steve Bartlett, St. John's Telegram

Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2008

An off-duty firefighter who performed mouth-to-snout resuscitation on a terrier poodle says he's no hero -- he was just doing his job.

Steve Quick spent five minutes doing CPR on Diana Bolger's dog, Brandy, after it was struck by a car in Mount Pearl, near St. John's, last Thursday afternoon.

The animal wasn't breathing and didn't have a heartbeat, but by blowing through its nose, the firefighter revived it.

His efforts gave Bolger a chance to spend a few minutes with Brandy before the dog succumbed to its injuries.

"I was fascinated, overwhelmed. I think (Quick) is a hero," said Bolger.

"I thank him with all my heart and soul that he is such a compassionate human being that he would help out an animal," she said.

Quick dismissed the praise.

"Oh God, I don't want to be called a hero," the St. John's firefighter said.

"That's a bit much. I'd never pass by an animal in distress like that."

He says he didn't hesitate to perform what he calls "mouth to snout" on the dog.

"Not a lot of people will do it," he said, "because they don't like putting their mouth on a dog's nose."

Quick says CPR does work on dogs. He notes he has performed the procedure previously, and even offered a brief description on how to do it.

"You close off their mouth with your hands, hold the mouth shut and you blow in through the nose," he said. "That inflates their lungs and then you do compressions and that circulates the oxygen in their blood."

He was also quick to point out the fire department treats animals like humans.

"I've searched for rabbits and I've searched for cats in a fire," he said. "We will go search for animals and revive them. I consider animals just like people."

He says he was saddened to hear the dog died, though.

"I could see in (Bolger's) face that this little pet was just like a child to her," he said. "So it was really heartbreaking."

© The Calgary Herald 2008

Thankfully this heroic firefighter has answered the call to save dogs, rabbits, and cats everywhere.

[EmergencyMedicalTigger]

Oh how sweet. He brought Fido back from death just so his owner could spend a few minutes with him before he died again. I hope the owner got the closure he needed, considering Fido probably didn't even know what hit him until Rescue Randy came along and revived the poor pooch (maybe he could even feel the pain caused by his mortal injuries). It gives me the warm fuzzies just thinkin' about it.

[mobey]

Paramedics may save lives....EMT's may save Paramedics

But Firefighters save dogs!!

I hope he gets a medal of some sort for his heroic efforts. Boy no wonder FF's are paid such substantial salaries.

*End sarcasm*