Hurray for Firefighter Odom!

According to an article by Stacy Temple in today's News Star in Northeast Louisiana, Firefighter Odom saved a pups life with CPR!

It's a dog's life: Firefighter's CPR saves pup

A Ouachita Parish firefighter went above and beyond the call of duty on Friday, performing CPR on a dog and ultimately saving its life.

Ouachita Parish firefighters responded to a mobile home fire at 12:16 p.m. at 523 Bawcom St. in West Monroe.

When firefighters arrived at the mobile home, they saw smoke coming from the house. A resident of the house then approached firefighter Stephen "Odie" Odom and told him two dogs were trapped inside the burning house.
Odom put on his air pack, and the family pointed to the room where the two small dogs were kept.

After searching through a smoke-filled bedroom adjacent to where the fire started, Odom located the two small terrier dogs in carriers underneath some blankets and got them out of the burning trailer.

When Odom removed one of the small dogs from the carrier, he noticed the dog was not breathing and his tongue was hanging out.

The firefighter then removed his face mask and placed the dog's head inside so the oxygen could blow in its face.

When this didn't work, Odom began doing CPR on the dog.

"I began doing CPR on the dog by cupping my hands around the dog's snout and blowing until I could feel his chest expand," Odom said.

"I then did chest compressions similar to that of infant CPR. After approximately one minute of doggie CPR, I noticed the dog trying to breathe on its own."

Five minutes later the dog, whose name is unknown, began looking around.

The dog was given to the owner of the house, Linda Lewis, and Odom returned to the fire station.

An oxygen tank was left with the pup just in case.

Fire Prevention Officer Curt Meachum said he is glad the dog's life was spared.

"We do not know the dog's name, but we could just call it 'Lucky,'" Meachum said.

The cause of the fire was determined to be en electrical short in a back porch lighting fixture.

Damages were estimated at about $3,000.

Mum and I are huge advocates for learning Canine CPR, read more in my Squidoo Lens on why learning canine CPR is soooo important!