Drug abuse is a major concern in many countries worldwide. When it impacts a large swathe of the working population, the economy takes a hit. Opioids have been among the most abused drugs since the Victorian opium wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Today, working sniffer dogs also suffer from K9 opioid overdose in the line of duty.
Police dogs usually go through a lot during field work. As they are naturally curious creatures, they like to sniff out drugs in all manner of places and sometimes inadvertently ingest drugs such as heroin. In such cases, emergency assistance should be given lest death sets in.
Fortunately, there are a plethora of training programs that handlers can take advantage of to ensure their dogs stay safe at all times in the field. Training primarily revolves around emergency response methods. There are several tools used in emergency situations.
The key treatment drug for humans who get admitted for overdosing is Naloxone. As an antidote, its core compounds reverse the damage that heroin does to the body. Emergency responders administer it by spraying it on the nose or through injection. For long, the antidote has also been used successfully on dogs.
When a dog overdoses, the drug that will most likely kill it is Fentanyl. This is a drug that has long been abused and is 50 times more potent than heroin. When a dog inadvertently ingests it, it may collapse and die within minutes. With such a short treatment window, the most advisable thing to do for officers is to carry the antidote during field missions.
If you are a handler, there are some symptoms that you should easily spot to know whether your canine has overdosed. Immediate observable symptoms are weakness and staggering. Your dog may collapse or seem to find it difficult to stay upright a few seconds after ingestion.
When these symptoms manifest, proceed to check the heart rate. A vast majority of abused drugs slow the heartbeat to a crawl, eventually leading to cardiac arrest. From your emergency response, you should be able to help the canine avoid slipping into a cardiac arrest.
You should also know that most overdosed dogs react aggressively when attempts are made to treat them. As such, you should muzzle it before you administer Naloxone. The most prudent thing to do is to have someone to help you restrain the dog as you undertake the emergency procedures.
Responding to respiratory failure is often the trickiest bit of handling an overdose. Once this phase kicks in, the dog stops breathing. The first thing you should do is administer CPR. However, you should not put your mouth in the snout directly as some drug residue may be left over in it. You do not want to ingest that.
Your treatment kit should have a face mask and CPR tube for this purpose. Once you put the tube in place, give the dog 10 to 12 breaths per minute. Once it gets it consciousness back, monitor it for about 30 minutes. If the condition worsens, administer Naloxone till everything normalizes.
Police dogs usually go through a lot during field work. As they are naturally curious creatures, they like to sniff out drugs in all manner of places and sometimes inadvertently ingest drugs such as heroin. In such cases, emergency assistance should be given lest death sets in.
Fortunately, there are a plethora of training programs that handlers can take advantage of to ensure their dogs stay safe at all times in the field. Training primarily revolves around emergency response methods. There are several tools used in emergency situations.
The key treatment drug for humans who get admitted for overdosing is Naloxone. As an antidote, its core compounds reverse the damage that heroin does to the body. Emergency responders administer it by spraying it on the nose or through injection. For long, the antidote has also been used successfully on dogs.
When a dog overdoses, the drug that will most likely kill it is Fentanyl. This is a drug that has long been abused and is 50 times more potent than heroin. When a dog inadvertently ingests it, it may collapse and die within minutes. With such a short treatment window, the most advisable thing to do for officers is to carry the antidote during field missions.
If you are a handler, there are some symptoms that you should easily spot to know whether your canine has overdosed. Immediate observable symptoms are weakness and staggering. Your dog may collapse or seem to find it difficult to stay upright a few seconds after ingestion.
When these symptoms manifest, proceed to check the heart rate. A vast majority of abused drugs slow the heartbeat to a crawl, eventually leading to cardiac arrest. From your emergency response, you should be able to help the canine avoid slipping into a cardiac arrest.
You should also know that most overdosed dogs react aggressively when attempts are made to treat them. As such, you should muzzle it before you administer Naloxone. The most prudent thing to do is to have someone to help you restrain the dog as you undertake the emergency procedures.
Responding to respiratory failure is often the trickiest bit of handling an overdose. Once this phase kicks in, the dog stops breathing. The first thing you should do is administer CPR. However, you should not put your mouth in the snout directly as some drug residue may be left over in it. You do not want to ingest that.
Your treatment kit should have a face mask and CPR tube for this purpose. Once you put the tube in place, give the dog 10 to 12 breaths per minute. Once it gets it consciousness back, monitor it for about 30 minutes. If the condition worsens, administer Naloxone till everything normalizes.
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