Medics get guidelines for treating warrior dogs - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Medics get guidelines for treating warrior dogs

Panting is normal. That advice is among several new guidelines issued to battlefield doctors called on to treat dogs injured in the line of duty in Afghanistan.

“Canines differ in anatomy and physiology,” the guidelines say. “Knowledge of key differences will assist the physician in resuscitating and stabilizing ... prior to transport to veterinary care.”

About 650 dogs — mostly German Shepherds, Labradors and Belgian Malinois — are in Afghanistan to sniff out explosive booby traps for U.S. troops on patrol. A dog was with the SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden last month.

Since May 2010, 14 dogs have been killed in combat, six wounded and three are missing, said Army Maj. T.G. Taylor, spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

There are seven teams of military veterinarians in Afghanistan and two veterinary hospitals. But dogs wounded by roadside bombs or gunshots may first arrive by helicopter at field hospitals along with human casualties — hence the need to know about dog anatomies.

Among the differences noted by the Army Institute of Surgical Research: Normal heart rates are 20 beats per minute faster than humans; body temperatures are two to three degrees higher. Blood pressure is the same, and dogs can suffer a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The guidelines, distributed in April, alert doctors about fine distinctions. Pulse-rate monitors people wear on a finger should be attached to a dog’s ear or tongue; electrodes for electrocardiograms can be placed on foot pads where fur will not interfere with a reading.

Most important: the handler should be bedside. “Handlers are very attached to the dogs, and the dogs are very responsive to their handlers,” said Col. Kelly Mann, an Army veterinarian.