Konstantin Vengerowsky/Clarendon Citizen - John and Lee Belding (center) hope to save a pet?s life with their donations of oxygen masks to Clarendon County Fire Department and Manning Fire Department. The Beldings are pictured with MFD Chief Mitch McElveen and CCFD Chief Frances Richbourg.
Clarendon County residents John and Lee Belding have donated a set of pet oxygen masks to the Clarendon County and Manning Fire departments.
Lee said that they decided to donate the pet oxygen masks after watching a news segment about them and knowing that far too many pets die every year due to smoke inhalation during fires.
The specially designed animal oxygen masks can be used on both conscious pets that have suffered from smoke inhalation and pets that need to be resuscitated after losing consciousness from exposure due to dangerous toxic fumes.
The Beldings purchased the masks from the Wag?N O2 Fur Life Program, which, through donors like them, has provided pet oxygen masks kits for up to 3,400 fire departments and 600 EMS vehicles nationwide.?
Each package comes with three different sized masks that can be used on dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and other pets.?The package also includes three oxygen air tubes. Each mask can also be quickly attached to a bag valve mask, a hand-held device used to provide positive pressure ventilation to a someone who is not breathing or is breathing inadequately.
CCFD Chief Frances Richbourg said that these masks will help save pets lives.
?This will help to hold the mask on the pets as human oxygen masks are just too large for the pets snouts,? Richbourg said.
The cone-shaped masks are designed with enough depth to fit over an animal's nose and mouth, making oxygen flow more effectively than it would with masks made for humans? faces. The pet masks have a rubber seal that create a snug fit around the snout.
Manning Fire Department Chief Mitch McElveen said that in many instances pets will try to hide from the fire inside instead of running outside of the house.
?Pets can end up inhaling the same amount of smoke as humans or more,? McElveen said.
John, who is a former volunteer firefighter and volunteer fire chief, said that he had been on an calls where a pet had died from smoke inhalation.
Lee said that they were excited to make this donation as this may help save an animal?s life in the future.
?When I found out that our local fire departments did not have these masks, I knew that this was what we should donate,? Lee said.
For more information on the Wag?N O2 Fur Life Program, visit the website http://www.petoxygenmasks.org/.
Source: http://www.clarendoncitizen.com/article/saving-pets-lives-o2
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