Safe Pets Safe People As part of its campaign to get groomers first aid trained, the iPET Network is sharing some case studies of pet professionals who saved pets in their care thanks to their medical pet training:
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elen Storer, 55 is a dog groomer and runs Jango’s grooming parlour in Northampton. She did a dog first aid course with qualified veterinary nurse Rachel Bean, which was soon put to the test when her beloved cockapoo Jasper, 12 began to choke. Helen said: “We were at home and Jasper was chewing on a rawhide chew as he did every evening. “All of a sudden he just hunched over, he was standing still but I could see that he was struggling. “I could see that he wasn’t breathing, I tried to put my hand in his mouth but he got distressed, I kept thinking of Rachel’s training, and what she says ‘doing something is better than doing nothing’. “So I kept trying, and tried the abdominal techniques that we were taught too, my husband Paul, 58, was on the phone to the vet but Jasper was losing consciousness. “By the time we were in the car though the first aid had helped to dislodge the chew and get air into his lungs again, the chew went down into his stomach.” Jasper had to stay overnight at the vet following his ordeal but is now fighting fit. Helen credits the dog first aid training with saving his life. She said: “The training has been invaluable and I have the knowledge to use at work too, particularly when we get elderly dogs who may become unwell while they are having a groom. “I think it gives my clients faith in me, and it definitely gives me faith in myself and the confidence to step in when things go wrong.”
26 | Total Grooming Magazine
Helen Storer
