Ottawa Fire Services’ new oxygen masks will help increase a pet’s chance of survival in a fire.
Ottawa Fire Services is gearing up to protect its furriest residents – the city’s household pets – thanks to a woman’s solo campaign to promote better first-response care for animal victims of house fires.
Andrea Cormack-Akeson, owner of the Dirty Dog Gourmet Bakery, is raising funds to ensure that every fire station in the city will soon be equipped with customized oxygen masks for cats and dogs.
Ottawa Fire Services spokesman Marc Messier says the masks are designed in a cone shape with soft pliable rubber at the seams, which allows for a better fit when securing the mask onto the snout of an animal.
As a result, more oxygen is delivered to the pet victim.
“A lot of people feel that their pets are very important in their lives,” says Cormack-Akeson. “So I thought that if, by any means possible, we could help them out in a fire, then we should.”
Cormack-Akeson says the idea came to mind last spring after she learned Toronto had received masks for its fire stations.
“I called around to see if we had any (in Ottawa) and we didn’t,” says Cormack-Akeson.
It was from that point on that Cormack-Akeson says she decided to take action.
“We think it’s a great mission on her part,” says Messier, who noted animal rescues are common in firefighting.
“If we can give a pet a fighting chance after they’ve taken in smoke or been exposed to fire, then I think it’s a great idea,” says Messier.
The kits themselves cost about $55 each and are equipped with three types of oxygen masks: one for cats, one for small dogs and one for larger dogs.
According to Messier, the masks can be used on almost any animal, from ferrets to birds, as long as firefighters are able to get the masks to fit properly.
Before the special masks, Messier says local firefighters had no choice but to improvise in such cases with human oxygen masks. The human masks, Messier says, were bent, manipulated and shaped into place with pliable rubber to fit over an animal’s nose.
“It would give them some oxygen, maybe not as efficiently as these new masks, but it worked,” says Messier.
But long gone are the days of improvisation.
Cormack-Akeson says she has already raised enough money to purchase about 27 more kits to add onto the two she has already provided to the fire department.
Messier says the kits will first be distributed to every district chief in the city before being sent out to separate stations, such as the one on Preston Street.
For local residents and pet owners such as Lynn Frappier, the arrival of the masks is welcome news.
“I’m grateful,” says Frappier, who frequently brings Molly, her 12-year-old retired therapy dog, to Minto Park for some playtime.
Frappier, who lives on the ninth floor of a high-rise building on Somerset Street, says fires have always been one of her biggest concerns regarding Molly’s safety.
“The fact that they can rescue her and actually have something to resuscitate her or keep her breathing with is just fantastic,” says Frappier.
While Frappier says she wasn’t aware the masks were even an option beforehand, she says she can’t imagine fire stations not being equipped with them now.
“I think that for a lot of us, our dogs are equal to some people’s children,” says Frappier. “They feel just like we feel, so why would you want to see them suffer?”