Paramedics... from a dog's perspective

Here's a humorous look at how paramedics administered first aid to my mom... from the perspective of Emma, my pet first aid demo dog, whose job is to show everyone the correct way to administer pet first aid.
 
Please note: this article is in no way meant to imply that any of the surgeons, doctors, nurses, paramedics or staff were negligent in any way. In fact, we are very grateful for the excellent care they provided to my 89-year-old diabetic mother.

My Nana had surgery on her face this morning to remove some skin cancer. She seemed okay when she came home, but later on I knew something was up when daddy quickly sent Molly, Charger and myself into the backyard, especially as it had been raining and I love to play in the mud. Then I heard this loud howling  sound coming from a vehicle. I think they call it an ambulance. It stopped just outside the front of our house. I could see our front door by looking through the patio doors that open from my Nana's room.

There were three people, two ladies and a man. I couldn't believe it. They made direct eye contact with my Nana and they immediately approached the front of her. You would never do that with a dog. Dogs can act unpredictably when they're hurt. They were asking her all sorts of questions - probably checking to see if she was responsive. Then they put this thing on her finger. That was weird. That's not where the muzzle or mouth tie goes, and it's sure not going to stop her from possibly biting them!
 
The next thing they did was to put this thing on her arm and start pumping it. It looked a lot like the one we use on our CPR dog and cat to check for a pulse, but that's just pretend. So I don't know if they were just practicing. Even if they were, they still didn't check her femoral artery! Maybe they didn't know where it was? After that, they put a thermometer in her mouth. That's not right - it's supposed to go in the other end. After all, Nana could chomp down on that thing and break it.
 
At least they kind of got the bandaging right. They didn't remove the old bandaging, which was good. Instead they added gauze on top of it, and wrapped even more gauze around her head tightly to try to stop the bleeding. But they forgot to use her ear to anchor the gauze, and put a nylon sock over it so the bandage didn't slide off her head. Lastly they put her on a stretcher and covered her with a blanket. I'm so glad they didn't forget to treat for shock, because shock is life-threatening for dogs - and any injury can result in shock.

I'm surprised that my mom didn't say anything to the paramedics about the way they administered first aid to my Nana. Maybe it's done differently for humans? In any case, Nana was much better when mom finally brought her home from the emergency clinic. I love my Nana, and I'm sure glad she's going to be okay. 

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