Mary Ann Land
On November 7th, 2007, St Croix EMS Chief Eric Christensen arrived at a fully engulfed house fire in Hudson, Wisconsin and was handed a lethargic, burned puppy that had been pulled from the flames. Remembering his BART training, Eric checked the puppy’s vital signs and bundled the wet and cold animal into a blanket, placing him in his vehicle to protect him from the freezing weather. Eric then used the equipment in his BART emergency medical kit to treat the puppy’s second-degree burns and administer oxygen, until the pet could be transported to a local veterinarian. The puppy’s owners were injured in the fire and had been taken to the hospital.

“After BART training, I was confident on my assessment of the puppy whereas in the past I was not sure of what to do.”- Chief Eric Christensen, St Croix EMS

The puppy revived considerably due to Eric’s care on the scene and was alert and responsive when Kathi Pelner, the Animal Warden for the Hudson area, arrived in response to Eric’s call. Kathi transported the puppy from the home fire to veterinarian Dr. Nelson in North Hudson. Dr. Nelson declared the puppy’s lungs clear of smoke inhalation, and provided further treatment for his burns.

Eric did an excellent job in assessing and stabilizing this dog, even though it was his first time doing Basic Animal Rescue. He also knew where to get further help, which is an important goal of BART training. Kathi attended the BART training in Hudson and the relationships developed from that class helped make this rescue a smooth team effort.

What happened next? Kathi took the puppy to the Woodbury Humane Society for sheltering until his owners could take him home. Kim Barrett, manager of the Woodbury Humane Society, received the puppy. Kim is not only a dedicated veterinary technician, she’s also one of our BART volunteers who trained St. Croix EMS! She was very proud to learn that this puppy was rescued by people she had helped train. She taught the pet assessment and first aid station with her dog Hunter, who sadly passed on soon afterwards. Kim has fond memories of her time with Hunter at the Hudson training.

This success and rescue would not be possible without the generous support of our donors. Dr. Brenda Bray of the Animal Care Center of Hudson was kind enough to donate the full cost of training the St Croix EMS department. Dr. Bray also came to the training to meet her local first responders, observe the class, and be an ambassador from the Hudson veterinary community. We can’t thank her enough for making this training possible!

The St Croix EMS BART training empowered and equipped Eric, Kathi and Kim to do what was needed for this puppy to be saved. Stories like these show that the BART mission works, one community at a time.

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