In a unique collaboration with local veterinarians,
specialized animal hospitals, and public safety agencies, Intermountain Life
Flight, one of the nation’s premier medical transport programs, is launching a
specialized operational K9 transport service.
This new service will provide transport for operational K9’s
needing emergent medical care or who are injured in the line of duty in Utah.
Representatives from Intermountain Life Flight,
participating veterinarians, and law enforcement and public agency dog handlers
and officers unveiled the new Intermountain Life Flight Operations K9 Transport
Program on Tuesday at a press conference where they talked about how this new
air transport program aims to save these animals who are injured while serving
the public.
Dog handlers and their animals from more than a dozen public
safety agencies joined the announcement. It’s estimated that there are more
than 100 operational public safety K9s working in Utah.
“Operational K9’s are essential to our public service
community,” said Tammy Bleak, director of clinical operations for Intermountain
Life Flight. “These animals are involved in EMS, search and rescue, law
enforcement, fire rescue, FEMA, narcotics detection, and TSA. Training for one
of these K9’s can range from $40,000 to $70,000 and take four to five years to
train. When one of these operational K9’s is injured, it is a potential loss to
the community and that agency. Until now, there has been no formal process to
help these animals when they need medical care.”
The Intermountain Life Flight Operations K9 Transport
Program is the first air medical program of its kind in Utah – and only the
third air medical program in the nation that is designated to care for and
transport public agency service animals for medical care.
Intermountain Life Flight will be transporting any
operational K9 needing emergent medical or surgical services.
The new program is designed to serve the entire state. If a
working K9 is injured (for example, gunshot wound, impalement, or automobile
accident), the agency or handler can contact Intermountain Life Flight
directly.
Intermountain Life Flight will transport the K9 and handler
(human partner) to one of several pre-designated veterinary hospitals. These
hospitals are advanced specialty/emergency veterinary hospitals which are open
24 hours a day, have board-certified surgical and/or critical care specialist
veterinarians on staff, and have advanced life-support equipment such as
ventilators and banked blood for transfusions.
“This is analogous to human medicine where a severe trauma
victim might be diverted to a Level I Trauma hospital rather than transported
to a closer or smaller medical facility,” according to Laura McLain, DVM,
veterinary medical director for the Intermountain Life Flight Operations K9
Transport Program.
The designated vet hospitals are: MedVet Salt Lake City; 2)
MedVet in Sunset; and Mountain West Veterinary Specialists in Layton.
“These working dogs are awesome,” said Dr. McLain. “They
save lives and serve our community. They can find a survivor buried under six
feet of rubble concrete and rebar in a matter of minutes. As a veterinarian, it
is an honor to care for these dogs.”
Law enforcement officers with the West Jordan Police
Department agree.
The department lost their police K9, Maya, when she was shot
and killed in 2022 by a fugitive who was being pursued by police.
“This is a terrific program and vital resource for our
officers and their K9s,” said Sgt. Kendall Holt, with the West Jordan City
Police Department. “The loss of Maya was an immeasurable pain that we felt
from that day, and we are still trying to recover from it.”
Box Elder County Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy Kennedy says
having a medical K9 program to provide care for his 20-month-old narcotics dog,
named Elvis, is comforting, in the event he’s ever injured.
“He lives with me, he goes to work with me every day,
he eats lunch with me — he pretty much goes everywhere with me,” said
Kennedy. “Knowing that there is quality medical care available to him like
there would be for you and I is a very big thing for us.”
