Add Boulder Junction's volunteer fire department to a growing list of departments getting specially-designed masks to help pets breathe during a structure fire.
This donation comes from Invisible Fence brand’s Project Breathe program, which was established to equip every fire station in America and Canada with pet oxygen masks. These masks allow firefighters and EMS staff to give oxygen to pets who are suffering from smoke inhalation when they are rescued from fires.
Boulder Junction Fire Chief Matt Ruess says after hearing about the program, he contacted a local affiliate...
"......Northern Fence of Wisconsin is the(business) that provided the units to departments in Arbor Vitae, Minocqua, Woodruff and Hazelhurst. We asked them if purchase the equipment and get some training on it. They said no, they would donate them to us. They gave them to us for pet resuscitation. Specially shaped units similiar to what EMS personnel would call a bag valve mask...."
Ruess says there isn't much that can be done for a pet in trouble at the scene of a fire...
"...I'm sure we've seen the You Tube videos of a firefighter trying to give mouth-to-mouth to a dog or cat. That's basically what it boiled down to in extreme situations. This device is designed to fit around the animal and is designed to administer the oxygen to help resuscitate an animal...."
Invisible Fence® Brand has donated more than 12,400 pet oxygen masks to fire stations. The U.S. Fire Administration, industry web sites and sources have cited an estimated 40,000 to 150,000 pets die in fires each year.
