Katie, a young border collie, was excited to be out of her cage and at the center of firefighters’ attention.
After taking a lap around the room, to get petted from all sides, she sat patiently with an air mask around her nose.
Katie was the Humane Society of Sedona’s first guinea pig to test out a trend that’s been sweeping the nation — breathing masks to feed compressed fresh air to pets suffering from smoke inhalation.
By Alison Ecklund
Larson Newspapers
Katie, a young border collie, was excited to be out of her cage and at the center of firefighters’ attention.
After taking a lap around the room, to get petted from all sides, she sat patiently with an air mask around her nose.
Katie was the Humane Society of Sedona’s first guinea pig to test out a trend that’s been sweeping the nation — breathing masks to feed compressed fresh air to pets suffering from smoke inhalation.
Individual donors have recently provided the mask systems to the Sedona Fire District.
Each kit contains three sets: small, medium and large to fit cats and dogs. The kits cost $65 each.
The funnel-shaped masks are the same shape of masks used by veterinarians to deliver oxygen and anesthesia to pets.
A rubber ring around the mask creates a seal allowing rescuers to pump air into the pets’ noses.
Estelle Kingston, a past humane society board member remembers reading about the masks years ago, but couldn’t track them down at first.
“I just keep plucking away,” she said.
Once she found them, Kingston donated two kits — one on behalf of her cat Cleo who died nearly two years ago, and one for her living cat Shelby. Both were rescued from the shelter.
Since then, other board members have donated enough kits to stock each of SFD’s five engines, Shelter Executive Director Birgitte Skielvig said.
SFD is appreciative, Deputy Fire Marshal Gary Johnson said, calling it a “win-win” since it puts another tool in firefighters’ tool boxes.
Johnson estimates 75 percent of households in Sedona have pets. Chances are
high that a pet will be involved if there is a house fire.
Since cats’ and dogs’ lungs are just like humans’, SFD firefighters have found pets suffering from smoke inhalation, Captian P.J. Lingley said.
Now that all the masks are in, SFD firefighters will start the training, probably with the help of Gary DeGeronimo, the shelter manager, who is CPR certified for pets, Johnson said.
“This will mitigate some of the trauma homeowners go through,” Johnson said. “A lot of times, pets are part of the family.”
It’s no wonder people go to great lengths to save their pets. Pets always give the best of themselves, Skielvig said.
“It’s one of those things that you save a life, and you turn around and they [pets] save a life a dozen times,” she said.
Alison Ecklund can be reached at
282-7795, Ext. 125, or e-mail
aecklund@larsonnewspapers.com
