The Glanbrook Veterinary Service, from Hamilton, Canada hosted a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) seminar for pet owners at the Lions Den in San Pedro Town on Tuesday, April 3rd. The CPR training saw participants being educated by Doctor Heather McGowan and Rebecca Sand on how to perform CPR on their pets, as well as life saving techniques and basic first aid.
The seminar began at 10:30am, with Dr. McGowan explaining the importance of CPR and how you go about doing it. According to Dr. McGowan, first you check if the pet is breathing by blowing into their nostril and observe if the airways open, or you can call them by their name to see if their respond. If still there is no response then you proceed with CPR. While Dr. McGowan explained the protocols for CPR, Sands demonstrated the procedure using a dummy pet. According to the Glanbrook team, for small dogs/cats you place them on the right side and put your hands around their chest for direct compression. A total of 120 compressions per minute. For medium cats/dogs, you place them on the right side and put on of your hands under their chest and with the other hand; a total of 100 compressions are to be done per minute. As for large dogs/cats, they are also placed on the right side, but this time you put a book under them and use both hands to do compressions; a recommended total of 100 per minute. If at the first attempt you don’t manage to resuscitate your pets, Dr. McGowan advices to perform the action repeatedly until results are shown. It is recommended for pets owners to seek veterinarian attention immediately after resuscitation.
Apart from the CPR demonstration, the team also explained the Heimlich Maneuver for pets, used when dogs/cats are choking with certain objects like toys, sticks, food, and vomit. First you carefully try to remove the object that the pet is joking on. If that doesn’t work then proceed with Heimlich Maneuver protocols. For small dogs/cats you turn them upside down and gently use gravity to shake their body putting your fists under their ribs and doing five frim thrusts. For medium dogs/cats, you pick them up upside down and place their back against your chest and fists under their ribs cage performing five firm thrusts. For large dogs/cats you put them in a wheel-barrel position, shake their body, placing your fists under their rib cage and performing five firm thrusts. If the pet is still choking and not breathing, you repeat the protocol until their out of danger and once gain breathing. Dr. McGowan advises pet owners to take their dogs/cats to a vet after the choking incident for further examination. The team finished the training by highlighting the importance of regularly vaccinating and deworming family pets to promote healthy living that can save their lives.
“It is very important for pet owners to know CPR as sometime they might not be close to a vet when an emergency occurs. If they are knowledgeable they will be able to save their pets lives or keep them alive until they get to a vet,” said Dr. McGowan. She also stated the they will be training the staff members of San Pedro Saga Humane Society so that they can be more adept in situations like these.
Special thanks goes out to San Pedro Saga Humane society for organizing the CPR seminar. The team will also have first aid kits for sale at the Saga office located in Sea Star Street.
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