It’s not everyday that the small midwestern city I currently reside in makes the national news. (At least not for an event that is considered “good news.”) But, that is exactly what this blog is about—a story that was picked up by the national media about a good deed.
Months ago a local alderman saw a newspaper photograph of a firefighter giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a cat shortly after it was rescued from a house fire. His idea: equip fire trucks and ambulances with oxygen masks designed for animals.
“A pet is family to most people,” the alderman told local reporters when he first introduced his idea. “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 specially designed oxygen masks, which are intended for use on dogs, cats, and other small animals came with a price tag of about $50 a piece. Within months of the alderman’s plea for help, donations came pouring in from local animal lovers.
“It was something to see,” the alderman said. “There was no organized solicitation effort. People and community groups just read or heard about the program and stepped up to the plate.”
Thanks to their generous help, the city I live in will be getting enough animal oxygen masks to equip six fire trucks and 13 ambulances. The masks, which come in three sizes, will be distributed to each of six fire stations and to our city’s police department’s K-9 unit.
Once word got out about how beneficial the masks were in helping aid animals, other fire departments from across the state got in on the action as well. A fire department in our state’s capital raised so much money from unsolicited donations it was even able to buy mask kits for several neighboring communities.
Each firefighter received special training on how to correctly use the masks, though they say they have yet to put their skills to the test in an actual emergency.
“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,” one local firefighter told reporters. “Firefighters will care for any pets we find in the event they suffer from smoke inhalation.”
And now with the help of the new masks, those pets can breathe a bit easier.