Mouth-to-Snout Resuscitation? Guess Who Learns Dog CPR?
Before graduation, our students are taught dog CPR and first aid.
When people with visual impairments and veterans with PTSD come to our school to learn to navigate with their new guide dogs and service dogs, they attend lectures and classes along with their hands-on training. One of their new skills is dog first aid and CPR. It’s important!
For the basic first aid and CPR class, our students work with large plush huskies to practice. With a mouth that opens and a tongue that comes out, this handy practice tool gets a workout as students learn the Heimlich maneuver; how to tie tourniquets and place splints; and how to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation including mouth-to-snout breathing and chest pumps.
Students learn basic skills including how to find and measure a dog’s pulse; how to take a dog’s temperature; signs and treatment of anaphylactic shock; how to spot hypothermia and heat stroke; and lifesaving steps to take before the dog reaches a veterinarian.
For our visually impaired students, learning takes place by listening and by touch. Hopefully, these are skills they will never have to use, but just in case, they are prepared.
