Service Animals; Rescuing Firefighters One Day At A Time.

Service animals.  It's a debate.  Some people love the idea, some do not.  The truth is they are incredibly popular because their effectiveness in providing comfort and relaxation to whom ever is in their path.  They are smart little buggers that get you to release Oxytocin when you see and start to interact with them.  Here are some reasons why a service animal might be what the fire service needs:
"Studies have also found that:

• Dog owners are less likely to suffer from depression than those without pets.
• People with dogs have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets. One study even found that when people with borderline hypertension adopted dogs from a shelter, their blood pressure declined significantly within five months.
• Playing with a dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax.
• Pet owners have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels (indicators of heart disease) than those without pets.
• Heart attack patients with dogs survive longer than those without.
• Pet owners over age 65 make 30 percent fewer visits to their doctors than those without pets."(Robinson,Segal,2018,https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/mood-boosting-power-of-dogs.htm/)

They can help you lose weight:

"Numerous studies have linked dog ownership to weight loss:

• One year-long study found that walking an overweight dog helped both the animals and their owners lose weight. Researchers found that the dogs provided support in similar ways to a human exercise buddy, but with greater consistency and without any negative influence.
• Public housing residents who walked therapy dogs for up to 20 minutes five days a week lost an average of 14.4 pounds in a year, without changing their diets.
• A third study found that people with a dog walked 30 minutes more per week than they did before.

-Harvard Publication"
(Robinson,Segal,2018)
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Lastly look at some of these Fire Departments who have already adopted this practice to help their firefighters:
www.firerescue1.com/therapy-dogs/articles/221622018-Happy-pup-is-comfort-companion-for-firefighters/

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671239/Firehouse-therapy-dog-helps-Pleasant-Grove-crews-unwind.html

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/therapy-dog-joins-snoqualmie-fire-department-as-stress-reliever/281-83240a85-4361-4606-b7f0-767cfdae9765

Credits:Authors: Lawrence Robinson and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. November 2018.
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/mood-boosting-power-of-dogs.htm/

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This little guy looks so thankful, he he :)