K9 Trauma Course

BY VINCE BATTAGLIA

A recent Tactical Medical K9 Handler Course for Law Enforcement Officers conducted by Valkyries Austere Medical Solutions & Consultants LLC located in Anniston, Alabama had 15 law enforcement officer K9 handlers who participated. The course consists of three days of training and is Georgia Post credited. The course focuses on the officer, the K9 and providing tactical medical Life Saving Interventions (LSIs) that officers may encounter while on tactical missions. The course provides education and training on the use of Individual First Aid Kits (IFAK) in the three phases of care in the Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) response model currently being taught in the United States for public safety rescue task force response to tactical situations. The M.A.R.C.H.E. recommended treatment pro- tocol is the foundation of training the officers in LSIs in both treat- ing themselves, other officers and their K9 partner at the point of wounding. Other topics included health & wellness, poisonings, heat related injuries, bloat, and snake bites that K9 officers en- counter during their deployment.

These officers came from Georgia Hospital Coalition Region N which encompasses Paulding, Cobb, Douglas and Cherokee coun- ties. The training conducted for these officers was paid for by the coalition grant funding. Each officer that participated in the course received a K9 IFAK providing them with not only the education but the tools in which to be more survivable in the event of being injured in the line of duty.

Data collected was:

• 97% feed dry food.
• 60% feed twice a day.
• 82% used male K9s.
• 30% of the working dogs were microchipped.
• 8% of the microchipped k9s were reregister with the AKC CAR program.
• 0% of the Law Enforcement K9s had any DNA collected.
• 0% of the Narcotic K9 handlers carry Narcan for their K9s.
• 100% of the K9s did NOT have gastropexy to prevent GDV (gastric dilatation and volvulus), commonly called “bloat”.
• 8% of the officers are without a Car Unit with temperature monitoring devices.

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=146999

Posted by Alex on Jul 15 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.