WHITEHALL, Ohio — It's a day our nation will never forget. The terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. That includes the lives of 412 first responders.
First responders face tragedy regularly, and it's no surprise how stressful their jobs can be. Departments are finding new ways to combat that stress in a healthy way with a furry friend.
“I've had people tell me they have come off a bad run, they come downstairs, they pet him, they make over him a little and it brightens things up a bit,” said Whitehall Division of Fire Battalion Chief Dave McBride.
Ramsey, a 6-month-old red fox lab, is a peer support dog for Whitehall fire personnel.
While he keeps Whitehall firefighters on their toes, he also helps them release stress.
“We got him because originally it was a peer support team thing where we wanted to have people who were under stress have the ability to talk to peer support team members and have an outlet for that stress with our peer support dog,” McBride said.
Ramsey is also being trained to detect high levels of cortisol.
“Cortisol is our stress hormone. It prepares the body for fight or flight,” said Professional K-9 Veterinary Technician, Jessica Koch.
Koch is training Ramsey.
“He will learn different types of alerting to different types of people in different situations, which will help him with those people,” Koch said.
Koch will train Ramsey for the next six to 12 months, teaching him to detect high cortisol levels in people and help lower those levels.
“For me, my mission is to impact the lives of others and impact the lives here in our community. Seeing Ramsey's story unfold has been really good. It feels good to be a part of for sure,” Koch said.
Ramsey will be a resource to show love to first responders who may not step up and ask for help.
“If he triggers on you because of the cortisol that you secrete all day every day, maybe it's time you start listening to your body and say maybe I do need some help,” McBride said.
Ramsey was donated and grants pay for his training.