Madison Hts. Fire Dept. Gets Donation of Oxygen Masks for Pets
(Paws for Life, April 8, 2016)
Madison Heights, MI – Paws for Life Rescue recently donated two pet oxygen masks to the Madison Heights Fire Department.
“Industry sources estimate 40,000 to 150,000 pets die each year in fires,” said Courtney Protz-Sanders, executive director of Paws for Life Rescue. “Most succumb to smoke inhalation because, in most cases, emergency responders lack the equipment to resuscitate and save pets.”
These specially designed oxygen masks are used to resuscitate an unconscious pet suffering from smoke inhalation, or on conscious pets exposed to dangerous fumes. Most first-responding agency budgets do not permit purchasing equipment that is not for use on humans, which means the community must step up to provide such life-saving equipment.
Protz-Sanders says raising funds to purchase pet oxygen masks is especially important to fire departments in the Metro Detroit area because most stations do not have any at all.
“In most areas, we are starting from scratch,” Protz-Sanders said. “Too many times First Responders have told us, ‘if we’d had oxygen masks for pets, we could have saved them.’ There’s a simple solution to this problem: awareness of the problem and community involvement to provide what’s needed.”
With this donation, Paws for Life hopes to raise awareness about the importance of fire departments and First Responders having pet oxygen masks on their trucks in Metro Detroit.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
Contact your local fire department to find out if they have pet-saving oxygen masks on each truck
If they do not, direct them to Project Breathe to request donated pet oxygen mask kits for the department at this link:  http://www.invisiblefence.com/why-invisible-fence/project-breathe#requestkit
Project Breathe is a pet oxygen mask donation program designed to provide oxygen mask kits to fire departments and other first responders. Each kit includes a small, medium, and large mask; fire departments are eligible to receive one kit per station.
To learn more about how you can help save the lives of homeless pets, please visit www.pawsforliferescue.org.