Firefighters pride themselves on being lifesavers. But without proper equipment, doing their job is difficult.
One piece of equipment the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association is encouraging clinics to donate to fire departments is animal oxygen masks.
Veterinarian Sheldon Yessenow said, The quicker you can react and provide oxygen to the patient, just like with humans, it is the same benefit that animals will receive from this mask.
Countryside Veterinary Clinic and Shoreline Animal Emergency clinic all teamed up to give three masks to the Shelton Fire Department.
Lt. Paul Wilson said, I think it's awesome. For years, we've been providing EMS for just our neighbors and it's about time that we actually had equipment to help our family members."
And by family members, he means pets. My dog is my son, he said.
It's the same story for a lot of people and the likelihood that a firefighter will encounter a pet at a fire scene is high.
Approximately 58 percent of homes have pets and some have more than one.
Now, they'll be even more protected.
"We treat it as if it is an actual family member, Wilson said. We go in, we conduct our search and rescue just as if we were looking for a child or husband or wife."
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