July 20, 2007

I was out on my usual lunch hour walk yesterday with Theo, who I dogsit. We were on our usual route, when all of a sudden, I heard this incredibly horrific YELPING. As I got closer, I could see a car stopped and a dog squirming on the ground; people were gathering everywhere. I tied up Theo and bolted to the scene.

The owner came crying to me saying that the dog bolted out of the house, ran across the street to see someone they knew, and was hit by a car. I quickly knew to calm down the owner, and I told everyone that I knew Dog First Aid.

I assessed that it was safe for me to approach the dog and saw that the dog had a non aggressive demenour. I looked to see where the main injury was and in this case it was the right leg and paw, which seemed to be broken or dislocated. As traffic was forming, we got the dog safely off the road.

Then my training really kicked in. I didnt have a first aid kit on me, (I shoulda bought one!) so I asked for a magazine and a piece of cloth and was able to apply a splint on the injured leg. Oh, man, during the whole thing, I really had to be on my heels, cause the owner was so sad and so upset; I knew I had to keep her occupied, so I had her helping me all the time. I grabbed her hand, placed it on the splint and said "here, make sure the splint stays on and doesn't move around!"

A neighbour volunteered to use his car, and while we waited, I was purposely checking the dog's pulse. At the time, I didnt have a watch and my adrenaline was running so high, it was hard to concentrate on the pulse. But it didnt really matter, what mattered was that it showed the people around that everything was ok, and to have confidence that the dog was in good hands. And because waiting is such agony during times of distress, checking the pulse occupied us as well. I was also able to say to the distraught owner that "your dog's going to be fine, he has a "healthy pulse".

At that point the dog had calmed and was not squirming as much too. I made sure to have him covered and I told the owner to keep him warm so he doesnt go into shock. When the car came, someone was like "lets pick him up", but he was a bigger dog, a red-coloured, long-haired retriever, so I was like "no, someone get me a sheet"; someone passed me a jacket and we were able to slide it underneath and use it as a stretcher. The funny thing is that when we picked him up with the makeshift stretcher, I could hear someone say, "wow, that's a good idea." Finally, the owner got in the car next to him, and I told her how to communicate to the dog that everything was ok.

After they left, I went back to get Theo, who was patiently waiting for me, and he looked at me like "what was that all about?" haha. What a lunch hour!

So yeah, the course definitely paid for itself, and I am going to get a first aid kit right away.

Ps. I still can't believe how this happened after I took the course just a month ago. Feel free to use this on your website, or tell people about it in future classes.

Thankfully yours,
Alex Kwan
Vancouver Animal Shelter Volunteer
DOGSAFE Graduate, June 24, 2007 

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