Pet 911: Handling emergencies

Posted: March 12, 2009

"Pets are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole." Any animal lover can relate to this quote, and Howard Schwartz said it even earns some applause when he uses this as his closing line for his pet first aid class that he teaches monthly at the Humane Animal Welfare Society in Waukesha.

Schwartz, who is a certified instructor in first aid, CPR and basic life support, began teaching the class about nine years ago when the Red Cross cross-trained its instructors in pet first aid. However, the Red Cross later decided that pet first aid didn't fit with its mission so Schwartz took it upon himself to continue teaching the class.

"I thought there was a good community need for this and created a class of my own," Schwartz said. He created his own syllabus and even wrote his own text book with the careful help and editing of three veterinarians.

Schwartz was right on his hunch for a need throughout the community for a pet first aid class. He stays busy with his monthly class at HAWS and also travels to Chicago and Madison to teach, and is planning classes in Sheboygan and Minneapolis. His class is open to everyone and he says the make-up is usually 50 percent pet owners and 50 percent people involved in some sort of pet-care business.

"I have it as an elective training course for all my staff," said Kerry Krienitz who owns two Central Bark Doggy Day Cares in Brookfield and Wauwatosa. Krienitz offers the class as an elective for her employees and said she thinks the class is good for pet owners too. "It's definitely a good class to take."

Schwartz said he also enrolls humane officers and has a K9 police officer attending his next class.

Schwartz's class is thorough; he covers 46 subjects related to the care and treatment of dogs and cats. He says it's important to remember is that what he teaches is the immediate and temporary care of animals; long-term care should be done by a veterinarian.

"I think he has a real nice class with basics for first aid and some of the basic first aid things he makes people aware of could certainly save the life of their pet," said veterinarian Scott C. Fellenz of Family Pet Clinic in Menomonee Falls. Fellenz helped edit Schwartz's book and said Schwartz continually comes to him for advice on anything he's teaching or writing.

"He also has good information on toxicity and a lot of that information isn't really out there. I like Howard's style for teaching; he is very clear and concise," Fellenz added.

Executive Director of HAWS, Lynn Olenik, said the main benefit from the class is being able to assess an emergency situation with your pet or another animal and know how to calmly and correctly react.

"If you have an injured person, there is an ambulance but if your cat is hit by a car or stung by a bee, you are the ambulance and you should have the confidence to do it," Olenik said. She said she has had veterinarians sit in on Schwartz's classes and approve of his teaching method. She also has had people who have taken the class at HAWS tell her afterward they encountered an animal emergency and were able to know what to do.

"His whole idea behind it is to make sure people know," Olenik said.

Students get to pick out their own stuffed "pet" to take care of at the beginning of class which Schwartz said adds a little fun. They use the pet to learn how to administer different types of first aid. The class is open and fun Schwartz said and he leaves plenty of time for discussion and questions.

Schwartz said he even had two 7-year-olds take his last class. "Parents always ask if kids can come and my first question is 'how old are they,' and if they are an appropriate age, they are certainly welcome," he said. "And they pick it up fast," he added about his younger students.

Everyone who completes the class walks away with more confidence on how to help Rover if he gets hurt and they also receive their own certificate of completion. Schwartz said he recently had a lady call the day after she took his class to tell him that she had encountered an accident where a dog had been hit by a car.

"She told me she was confident enough to take the dog's vitals and assess him," Schwartz said.

Schwartz's next class at HAWS is 1 p.m. April 18. Part of the registration fee is donated to support HAWS Schwartz said.

"It's the only class of its kind in the area I'm aware of," Schwartz added.

For you info

What: Pet first aid class

When: 1 p.m. April 18

Where: Humane Animal Welfare Society, 701 Northview Road, Waukesha

Info and to register: (262) 879-0165

Text book

• Howard Schwartz's book, FIRST AID FOR PETS: Care and treatment of common medical emergencies, is available at amazon.com