Marble Falls fire, EMS crews now equipped to save pets’ lives
JARED FIELDS • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — Lady Gogh ushered in a new era Jan. 29 for Marble Falls Fire Rescue and Marble Falls Area EMS when she demonstrated the latest equipment donated to the departments.
The well-behaved Dalmation let her owner, firefighter Ken Schwake, attach a pet oxygen mask to her muzzle.
Now, one fire engine and every ambulance will be equipped with a kit of the oxygen masks to help resuscitate dogs or cats suffering from smoke inhalation at the scenes of house fires.
Each kit has a leash and three masks — small, medium and large — that are reusable and hook up to oxygen tanks carried by firefighters.
READ: Marble Falls firefighters learn pet CPR, first aid
Schwake said a resident approached the department about the pet masks, which led to him researching the equipment. The masks were donated by Austin-based Invisible Fence Brand through its Project Breathe initiative.
“It’s something we just started this past year,” said Paul Szymonek, an Invisible Fence dog trainer, who brought the kits to the department. “It’s about saving lives and giving them the opportunity to save animals’ lives.”
Schwake said, after people are accounted for, the pet oxygen masks are another tool to help save as many lives as possible at the scene of a fire.
“It’s another tool for us to have, to better help out the community,” Schwake said. “It’s about life safety; it doesn’t matter if it’s a human life or a pet life, safety is our goal.”
Because dogs can’t talk — unless they’re in the movies — Schwake had one bit of advice for how to know when the masks work.
“If (the dog) is wanting to fight it, it’s a good sign they’re ready to go,” Schwake said.
Schwake and Szymonek didn’t have personal stories of a pet’s life being saved by the masks but knew of other departments that had used them successfully.
In Lockhart, for example, Szymonek said Invisible Fence donated kits to the department that came in handy for one woman and her dogs.
“A woman had five dogs, and it saved all her dogs,” he said. “I don’t know how often (Marble Falls has) fires, but when you do, (the masks are) good to have. We want to not only save ourselves, but give you the opportunity to save family members.”
jared@thepicayune.com