DeKalb fire officials say they recently completed their first-ever training session about caring for police K-9 units in the event of an emergency.
DeKalb Deputy Fire Chief Jeff McMaster says first responders complete required Emergency Medical Services training every month touching on various subjects. But this time around was a little different.
“We’ve never had this type of training before, so it was new, it was fresh and very engaging.”
McMaster says the NIU police department approached fire officials about K-9 EMS training because they realized there was a knowledge gap on how to treat those dogs and their handlers if something happened to either of them on duty. He says several potential instances were covered in the training:
“How to treat them for gunshots, how to treat them if they become exhausted, if they’re exposed to illicit drugs – because these were drug dogs and explosives dogs.”
McMaster says the training may become an annual thing. He says DeKalb Police officers observed the training as well.