Donation gives pets better chance of survival after house fire

Posted at: 05/22/2012 8:56 AM | Updated at: 05/22/2012 6:15 PM
By: Ray Levato | WHEC.com

Pets now have more of a chance to survive if their owner's house catches on fire. 

An organization called Project Breathe presented 37 pet oxygen masks to Rural/Metro ambulance company in Rochester Tuesday morning.

Almost exactly four years ago today - EMT Chris Forsyth let his instincts that over. He put an oxygen mask on a cat to get it to breathe.

"I was a little scared because cats aren't really in my training. I'm trained on people, sick people, and what I'm supposed to do for them," Forsyth told News10NBC afterwards.

Another cat and a dog in the house were rescued unharmed in the fire that Forsyth responded to.

Today - the folks at Project Breathe tried the new animal oxygen mask on Budda, a dog, who didn't seem to understand that it might someday save his life. He put up a bit of a fight.

The pet masks come in three different sizes to fit any size muzzle. The kit comes with an oxygen supply line for each mask - and a rescue leash and instruction sheet.

Chris Shand is part of Project Breathe. "We're trying to get this life-saving equipment in the hands of everyone that's going to be coming across this situation where they're going to be saving these animal's lives," he says.

Dr. Simon Kirk is a veterinarian with Animal Emergency Service in Brighton. He says the masks can be a life-saver before an pet reaches an animal hospital.

A Youtube video from April shows firefighters in New Jersey using an animal oxygen mask on puppies they rescued from a house fire. Project Breathe says the masks don't take up a lot of space in an ambulance or on a fire truck - but if they need them - they're there.

"The oxygen will definitely help them to breath a lot better and hopefully will help them be a little more calm on the ride to the veterinary hospital," says Dr. Kirk.

Rural/Metro says of the many dozens of house fires they've been called to so far this year, they haven't had a situation yet where the mask could have been used.

They also say, obviously, that a person would be administered to first before a pet.

Either way, Rural/Metro says this is the right thing to do to help support the community.
 

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