HALDIMAND — In collaboration with Autism Dog Services, Haldimand County’s Community Paramedic Program (CPP) has welcomed its latest K9 medic, Esther, into their ranks.
Esther, like K9 medic Tanner before her, is a Facility Dog that works in tandem with the CPP team on a variety of daily tasks including house calls, hospital visits, and community outreach.
Her handler, Henny Van Tuyl, has been working as a community paramedic for two years. She said Esther has already found her place in the program: “Being able to work with Esther on a regular basis has been rewarding. The comfort that she brings to the people within our community, as well as our staff, is amazing.”
Tanner and Esther both began their training for autism service, but Vicky Spadoni, Executive Director for Autism Service Dogs, said, “Not all of our dogs are meant to be service dogs for children and youth with autism. We need to find other working jobs for them if that’s the case, because they’re too good to adopt out and they want a working job.”
Spadoni noted the Facility Dog program has been operating for a couple years, with the first dog placed in Niagara Police Services and two dogs now placed with Haldimand paramedics.
“It’s a perfect partnership to be honest. We’ve had nothing but smooth sailing with Tanner and now Esther,” she said. “Tanner has taken over a lot of hearts. Esther will do the same in the program as she grows and develops.”
Preparatory training for the dogs involves exposure to several high-pressure scenarios, including visits to schools and daycares, ambulance rides, and more.
Esther, like Tanner, is skilled in interpreting, engaging, and interacting with clients as directed or interpreted by her handler, with a primary focus on recognizing when someone is in crisis and providing comfort to them.
“The research is now finding that engaging with a dog like Esther can decrease the onset of PTSD after exposure to a trauma by 80%, re-engage neuropathways that have been damaged or difficult, and even improve physical health by decreasing pain, lowering blood pressure, and more. These service dogs have much to add to our medical treatment and we are excited to be on the leading edge of pioneering that role,” said Van Tuyl.
In her role with CPP, Esther will work a 42-hour week. When on shift, her days will consist of client home visits, staff support visits to first responders, and providing supportive care in conjunction with existing programs, as well as providing crisis support when requested by 911 Operations.
“Many of our patients are isolated, have complex medical conditions both physical and mental, and cannot leave their homes. We bring many aspects of medicine directly to them at home, improving their quality of life and reducing the financial impact for these individuals to access care,” explained Van Tuyl. “The K9s really complete the circle of medicine by providing social connection, physical engagement, by decreasing anxiety and stress, which assists with reducing pain along with many other benefits.”
The K9 program partners with existing programs, such as through CAMH and REACH, for mental health and addictions support, among others.
Van Tuyl added, “They will also be part of new programs such as education delivery to the schools, libraries, and more as part of our Community Paramedic initiative to increase awareness of our physical and mental health.”
CPP Supervisor John Ellis spoke about the K9 program’s successful expansion since first being introduced two years ago, noting that while the program couldn’t exist without Provincial funding and support from Haldimand County, “The program has evolved to what it is today because of the dedicated Community Paramedics and Supervisory Staff who work tirelessly to review and revise the Community Paramedic Program and in my opinion is exceeding the expectations of the community.”
He said that since its introduction, the program has reduced the overall use of 911 and Emergency Room services and has “helped provide and support individuals with the appropriate care they need.”
Spearheaded by local paramedic Nicole Selby, Spadoni said Haldimand’s team should be proud of the research and work that has gone into establishing the K9 medic program, adding, “It really is a program to be shared because the value they have gotten out of (it).”
Ellis said that Haldimand’s Community Paramedics continue to train and educate themselves to increase the services they can provide: “The feedback from the patients and families has been overwhelmingly positive. The Community Paramedic Program has developed a stronger relationship with the Family Health Teams and the Primary Care Physicians to provide the best care plan for the patients.… We will continue to identify ways that we can support the physical and mental health of our residents, staff, and programming in Haldimand County.”
Spadoni noted that, inspired by the success found in Haldimand, Autism Dog Services is in the process of strengthening their Facility Dogs program, encouraging all appropriate local organizations to reach out to her if interested in bringing a service dog into their fold.
She concluded, “It really is a truly great partnership. All of my staff feel like proud mamas. It’s the fruits of all of our volunteers and staff.”
