CPR First Aid | Mouth-to-snout CPR prepares people to save pets

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CPR First Aid Mouth-to-snout CPR prepares
people to save pets
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Animal lovers are finding theres another way to
pamper their pets learn pet CPR.Researchers have
translated human resuscitation guidelines and
training for pet owners, preparing them to use
CPR to save their furriest family
members. Veterinarian Daniel J. Fletcher, Ph.D.,
D.V.M., led the development of the first
science-based CPR guidelines for animals,
published in 2012 in a special issue of the
Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical
Care. He and 100 other veterinary specialists
followed the same formal process used to develop
human CPR guidelines from the American Heart
Association, which has funded groundbreaking
research in CPR techniques. Cardiac arrests in
dogs and cats are similar to those in children,
often resulting from breathing problems rather
than heart issues, said Fletcher, professor of
veterinary medicine at Cornell University College
of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York.
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Choking, allergic reactions and heat stroke are
among the top reasons dogs collapse and need CPR.
As with children, pets need both rescue breaths
and chest compressions. Terri Taute of Omaha,
Nebraska, saved her Maltese BoBo her husbands
little princess with CPR in 2008. I knew if
I didnt save her with CPR, I would have had to
do CPR on my husband. BoBo had collapsed
after being frightened by nearby fireworks on a
camping trip. Taute revived her using child and
infant CPR training shed received as an AHA
employee. I think its as important to know pet
CPR as it is to know CPR, Taute said. AHA CPR
instructor Alicia Pederson of Forney, Texas,
saved Miri, a Boston terrier-bulldog puppy, in
2014 after finding the newborn still and cold
in the middle of the night. Within five minutes
after starting CPR, Pederson heard a cough, and
the puppy started whimpering.
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I thought, Oh my gosh, it worked! she said.
You have more of a chance with CPR than
without. Fletcher said common misconceptions
about the effectiveness of animal CPR has held
back progress. There is a longstanding belief in
veterinary medicine, he said, that theres no
point in doing CPR because survival rates are so
low currently 6 percent to 7 percent. But
those stats are misleading, Fletcher said. Dogs
and cats who go into cardiac arrest shortly after
being given general anesthesia have an almost 50
percent chance of survival.
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Its not hopeless, he said. Its worth being
trained. Now, its just a matter of getting the
animal CPR guidelines out to veterinarians and
pet owners, said pediatric critical care
specialist Vinay Nadkarni, M.D., of The
Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. In
addition, pet CPR training introduces the
concepts of human CPR, which could lead more pet
owners to learn the technique for people, said
Nadkarni, who wrote an editorial in the special
issue that featured the pet guidelines. Using
the guidelines, Fletcher developed online
training for veterinarians and other veterinary
professionals, offered through Cornell. In
September, a modified course will be offered
online to pet owners.
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Interest in pet CPR training has grown since the
mid-1990s when CPR instructor Thom Somes founded
the pet first aid and CPR training company
PetTech. The company now trains about 1,000
people a month and incorporates some of the 2012
recommendations, Somes said. PetTech instructor
Beth Bowers trains pet owners and dog caretakers.
The course emphasizes preventing pets from
needing CPR in the first place, she said, and
includes watch-and-learn techniques and hands-on
practice on dog manikins. Unfortunately, one of
the big reasons people join my class is something
happened and they didnt know what to do, Bowers
said. Its an emotional moment, when they
realize what they could have done.
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A 2009 Associated Press-Petside.com poll found
that nearly two-thirds of dog owners and half of
cat owners were at least somewhat willing to
perform CPR on their pet. John Shore of Kansas
City, Missouri, considers his white Labrador
retriever, Daisy, his daughter. Hed give her CPR
in a heartbeat, so to speak, he said. In St.
Petersburg, Florida, Suzanne Grant said of her
German Spitz, I wouldnt think twice about it.
Franz is family. Learn more about CPR First
Aid. Bergenfield, NJ, Jersey City, NJ,
Livingston, NJ, and Queens, New York and
Gainesville, FL. Source https//newsarchive.hea
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