Mansfield EMTs Learn How to Treat Police Dogs Under the New Nero’s Law
January 26, 2023
MANSFIELD — When a Cape Cod K9 police officer was killed and his partner Nero was critically injured helping with an arrest in 2018, EMTs were prohibited by law from taking the dog by ambulance to an animal hospital.
Now, local EMTs and paramedics and 20,000 others around the state, are undergoing training to treat police dogs injured in the line of duty. The training is required under the new Nero’s Law passed last April. The law is named after Nero, the Yarmouth K9. His handler, Sgt. Sean Gannon, was shot and killed in the 2018 incident.
Mansfield EMTs are currently training on how to treat police dogs with the help of a veterinarian from Bulger Veterinary Hospital in Lawrence, who is volunteering her time for the sessions.
At the end of the month, Foxboro fire officials, Tufts Veterinary Hospital and Gillette Stadium will host 400 EMTs from around the region for training. The EMTs will be able to apply all the basic life-saving techniques used on humans, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the Heimlich maneuver and even administering Narcan in the event a drug-sniffing dog inhales opioids.
Naturally, because dogs differ from humans, the techniques and even the ways to provide comfort during treatment are different, Mansfield Fire Capt. Marc Goyette said in an interview Wednesday during the training session.
“Just as it is with humans, it’s exhausting doing CPR on a dog,” said Kate Wilson, a veterinarian with Bulger who is conducting the training.
Read the full article from 1/18/23 on The Sun Chronicle here.