Florida police K-9 units and EMS teams trained in K-9 emergency medical procedure

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — On Wednesday in St. Johns County, Police K-9 handlers were trained in how to care for their K-9 officers in case of a medical emergency.

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After the passage of “senate bill 388″, or the “EMS Transport Bill” in 2021, “K9′s United”, a local non-profit, says they started offering training for EMS teams on caring for an injured dog, on top of training they already provide for K-9 handlers. They’ve partnered with triad medical training.

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The owner of the training organization, Matthew Casey, told Action News Jax that they will cover a variety of medical scenarios.

“We are going over the biggest causes for K9′s in the field, anything from gunshot wounds to traumatic bleeding, and ‘bloat’ which is an illness that a large breed dog can have. Heat exhaustion, heat injuries and down the list,” Casey said.

Knowledge of emergency procedures for a wounded K-9 was a factor last year when JSO K-9 officer “Huk” was shot. Officers were able to bandage his wounds in the field, which saved his life.

Casey says proper training is all about repetition.

Read: K-9 Huk, who recently had leg amputated, will be honored at 9K for K9s event

“You do not want to have the injury occur and think you’re going to rise to the occasion that day, we don’t rise to the occasion, we fall back on the level of training that we’ve mastered. It comes down to repetition,” Casey said.

According to the “Officer Down Memorial Page”, there were 25 K-9 officers killed while on duty in 2022. Eleven were killed by gunfire and 6 were killed by heat stroke. So whether K-9 officers are carrying out a command, or simply out working on a hot day, Casey says it’s necessary for not only their handler to be prepared but for EMS teams that aren’t trained in canine emergency procedure, as well.

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“We send them into harm’s way where most of the time we wouldn’t send a human in, and it’s risky. We owe it to the dogs to be able to in return pay them back by being able to save them,” Casey said.