In times of crisis, the Golden PAWS Crisis Care Canine program provides emotional support to those who need it most. This unique team of highly trained dogs and their handlers are from Collier EMS, Naples Comprehensive Health, Naples Police Department, and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
They are deployed to support both victims and first responders. Each dog has a special role in their respective agencies, and together, they offer support to the Collier County community.
Once a month, they get together at Golden PAWS in Naples.
“We form this relationship so that we could get together and know each other, but also so the dogs could get used to knowing each other and work together and be around each other. And also in the unfortunate event that if we were to have a mass casualty incident and we would need more than one or two dogs, that the dogs would be comfortable already working together and us working with each other,” said Officer Jeff Perry with the Naples Police Department.
After Hurricane Milton, Officer Perry and K-9 Max responded to a woman whose car had flooded. She was experiencing chest pains, and EMS was already on the scene checking her out.
“So I went back to my car, got Max, brought him over, placed him beside her, and she was petting him. She was being comforted. And what was interesting is that EMS said that as she was patting him, her vitals were improving and that she actually wasn’t having a cardiac event, but she was experiencing some sort of stress or anxiety,” Perry said.
The dogs also offer emotional support to the first responders themselves. Captain Thomas McColloch and Lt. Alexander Esteva from Collier EMS work with their K-9s, Leo and Batts, to help colleagues cope with the emotional strain of difficult calls.
“And the great thing about that is we're all big, tough men and women. Then, we don’t like to talk about our feelings. And the first time I saw Leo deploy with me, I was sold because he helps people open up about those things, which is healthy,” McColloch said.
K-9 Ubbie, handled by Naomi Garcia at NCH, helps relieve tension for hospital workers who experience stressful shifts. “I mean, they're still going to have to deal with that tragedy and having to deal with that difficult patient. But at least it was something that they could just leave that negative energy there and be able to take a deep breath and just relax,” Garcia said.
The dogs also make a difference for victims, especially children. Jackie Borchers, the handler for K-9 Readington at the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, remembered a moment when Readington helped a young victim.
“When she went in for her forensic interview, I told her that we would be there waiting for her. When she came out, she was very excited that he was there for her. And at that point, you know, I had her play with him. And it was a total transformation from being very closed down to being happy and smiling when she walked out the door. That right there to me shows that these dogs have the capability of turning a child's life around and as well as adults,” Borchers said.
All of the dogs in the Golden PAWS Crisis Care Canine program were donated by Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs . As these agencies continue to see the positive effects of the Crisis Care Canines, there’s hope that other agencies will adopt similar programs.