Plainfield fire officials make pet rescue a priority

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Cheryl M. Hansen, emergency medical services coordinator at the Plainfield Fire Department, and her husband Mark smile with their first rescue dog, Maggie, an Australian shepherd/husky mix. | Submitted photo

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Updated: May 9, 2012 10:16AM

Pet safety is a priority for Cheryl M. Hansen, whether she’s stocking pet oxygen masks, learning animal cardiopulmonary resuscitation though the American Red Cross or fostering rescue dogs with her husband, Mark.

“On a fire scene, life and personal safety are number one,” said Hansen, emergency medical services coordinator with the Plainfield Fire Department. “For many people, their pets are family members, so we want to have the proper equipment. It helps us do our job better.”

It’s the firefighters’ job to save the animals, Hansen said. Owners should rescue their pets only if they can “grab them and go.” Unfortunately pets, especially cats, will hide during a fire.

Hansen recommends everyone have an exit plan in case of fire.

Members of the Plainfield Fire Department learned animal CPR and first aid in 2005 and, soon afterward, received its first donation of five pet oxygen masks. Recently, Kathryn Dunlap, owner of local Neapolitan mastiff celebrity, Rufio, donated another two, one large and one medium-sized.

Oxygen masks designed especially for pets work better on animals than ones used meant humans. A rubber gasket slides over the muzzle, which keeps the apparatus in place. Masks for cats are flatter, to fit over their noses. A pet oxygen mask also prevents biting when the confused animal regains consciousness.

Fire departments that don’t own pet oxygen masks must rely on human masks or hold tubing from the mask near the pet’s nose.

“I’ve heard of firefighter-paramedics trying to resuscitate dogs and cats on the scene just by doing mouth to mouth, which is possible,” Hansen said.

Also in 2005, members of the Plainfield Fire Department had begun offering animal CPR classes to the community, but response was slim.

With the current pet market boom, Hansen feels more owners will be interested and plans to offer classes soon. The biggest difference, she said, in performing CPR on a dog or cat is that the victim does not lie flat on its back during the procedure.

“Pet CPR is done on the side,” Hansen said. “Their sternums are not like human ones. Their rib cage is longer and narrower. When they’re on their side, it’s easier to compress the heart between the ribs.”

Off the job, Hansen models the same concern for pets. An animal lover since childhood, Hansen’s first pets were often strays. She spent the weekends of her teen years at dog shows.

In 2007, after Hansen moved to Darien, she wanted to own a dog with a particular characteristic: one ear up and one ear down. She began researching dogs on Petfinder and soon adopted her first rescue dog, a husky mix named Maggie, from Doberman Plus rescue in Barrington.

Soon, Hansen began volunteering with A Caring Place rescue in Darien, where she fostered two dogs: a Pyrenees mix and a lab mix.

She laughingly calls herself a “foster failure” because she adopted the Pyrenees and accepted the lab mix back into her home when its first adoption did not last.

Although her husband, Mark, did not grow up with pets due to an allergic brother, he’s as committed to rescue as Hansen is, she added. She affectionately calls him, “Dr. Doolittle.”

“I’m the disciplinarian and the feeder, but he’s the hugger and lover,” Hansen said.

For questions regarding fire prevention, animal CPR or pet rescue, call Hansen at 815-436-5335.