By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
Fort Worth Star Telegram
In the future, firefighters who save human lives may also be able to save beloved pets, too.
Several North Texas fire departments are looking into stocking a special type of oxygen mask on firetrucks and ambulances to help revive pets rescued from burning homes.
Dallas is scheduled to order the masks in the next few weeks, while Fort Worth and Arlington are studying the pet-friendly equipment.
“A local animal group contacted the department about them, and we believe the masks to be very important,” said Dallas fire Lt. Robert Holloway.
The masks are nothing new to local veterinarians, who have used them for years in their offices.
But for the past year, the masks for cats and dogs have popped up on ambulances and firetrucks across the country. In Texas, several fire departments in the Houston area began using them this year. The equipment is on firetrucks in more than a dozen states.
The trend has overwhelmed Smiths Medical Veterinary Division in Waukesha, Wis., a company that makes the masks. The company has sold about 3,000 sets in the past year.
“The demand is through the roof,” said Jeff Baker, the company’s vice president and general manager.
Local fire officials say rescuing people is their top priority, but firefighters sometimes risk their lives for animals, too.
“We’ve had instances where CPR has been administered to pets,” Holloway said. “Human masks have worked, but the pet masks just work better.”
Using the masks is simple: a firefighter hooks a mask to a tank that forces pure oxygen into the rescued animal’s nose.
Dallas fire officials plan to order 50 sets of masks in the next few weeks and will put them in the department’s 43 ambulances by January.
A set of masks valued at $50 includes three sizes: a small mask for cats that also fits rabbits and guinea pigs; a medium size for most dogs; and a large size for bigger dogs. The masks are washable and can be reused.
Fort Worth and Arlington fire officials said they are studying the use of pet masks.
“Our staff looked into them and there are no plans to have them at this time,” said Fort Worth fire Lt. Kent Worley. “But we will continue to monitor it.”
That’s because it is common for firefighters to find pets in a burning home. According to the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 39 percent of the homes in this country have at least one dog and about 34 percent have at least one cat.
J. Scott Mellina of Fort Worth said stocking ambulances and firetrucks with pet masks is a good idea.
“Veterinarians have used them for years, so they’ve been tested,” said Mellina, incoming president of the Tarrant County Veterinary Medical Association. “Society wants to help pets, and this would be just another way.”
Dallas’ masks will be purchased with city money, but in many departments across the country, local groups have raised the money to pay for them.
Help Animals Inc. in Florida has campaigned for the masks in that state. And Best Friends Pet Care of Norwalk, Conn., has sponsored dozens of campaigns for the masks in the Northeast.
The Connecticut company, a pet boarding, grooming and training facility, has helped equip more than 60 fire departments and emergency rescue teams in 18 states, spokeswoman Deb Bennetts said.
“We’ve received calls from as far away as Alaska,” she said.
In the Houston area, paramedic Rick Wyatt used one of the masks in May to save a small mixed-breed dog who was pulled out of a burning house in The Woodlands.
The Woodlands firefighters had just put the limp dog and a bird on the ground when Wyatt started to grab for a human mask.
“One of the firefighters told me to stop because he had something else,” Wyatt said. “That’s when he came back with this set of masks for pets. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Wyatt said he had never been trained to revive a pet.
“It looked like a cone with a seal around it. I put it on and it worked,” Wyatt said. “In a matter of seconds, that dog was acting like any other small hyper dog.”
The bird, however, died.
“In the past with cats and dogs, we did the best we could,” Wyatt said.
“Now we have masks that are truly amazing.”