The central Ohio hospital network is the first in the state to deploy a dog trained not only to comfort sick patients and calm stressed-out employees but also to protect them. The health-care industry has long used dogs for one purpose or the other, but it’s highly unusual for a single animal to serve both functions.
Bear — a 16-month-old, 75-pound German shepherd — began making the rounds at Mount Carmel’s four hospitals last month, his official employee ID (full name: Major Bear) dangling from his collar.
“He was trained on what’s called a ‘light-switch response,’” said Dan Jones, the animal’s handler. “So he’s able to go from an aggression-management type of scenario to hopping in bed with a pet-therapy scenario — just on command.
“It really is amazing.”
Bear, who also goes to the bathroom on command, went to Mount Carmel after undergoing intensive training in Michigan — at one of just three facilities in the country offering dual instruction in the seemingly incompatible specialties of animal-assisted therapy and ordnance detection. The others are in Colorado and Texas.
Jones, a supervisor in Mount Carmel’s safety and security department, said his new, four-legged partner is also well-schooled in search and rescue, personnel protection and “crisis de-escalation.”
Translation: Chances are, if you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing, Bear can make you stop.
“He has a pretty full plate,” Jones noted.
One minute, Bear is nuzzling a frail, gown-clad patient in the hospital’s cardiac unit; the next, he’s patrolling the emergency room, his head bobbing back and forth, his eyes — and nostrils — scanning constantly for signs of trouble.
If his ultrasensitive nose detects any type of explosive — gunpowder, for example — the dog immediately sits down, alerting Jones to the potential threat.
Bear’s reward: the chance to chomp on a favorite red ball.
The Mount Carmel Foundation paid for the dog and his training — about $12,000 in all.
“The dog is a preventive measure,” said Mike Angeline, Mount Carmel’s director of safety and security. “It’s not in response to any sort of incident.”
Angeline pointed out, however, that society’s ills don’t stop at the hospital door. Ambulances regularly deliver victims of domestic violence or gang activity, both of which can fuel lingering hostilities and even attempted reprisals.
Mount Carmel officials said that if Bear continues to perform as well as he has in recent weeks, they’ll probably try to acquire a second multipurpose dog next summer.
“The way society is nowadays,” Jones said, “it’s an enhanced security measure not just for our system but for the community, as well.”
~Via The Columbus Dispatch
Tags: animal-assisted therapy, comfort dog, dual instruction, hospital dog, service dog