Texas A&M trains first responders to treat and airlift injured working dogs

Working dogs injured in the line of duty may soon receive faster treatment in Washington County, Texas, under a new partnership between emergency responders and veterinarians at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The collaboration brings together personnel from the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital and Washington County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to train first responders to treat injured police and service dogs and transport them quickly for advanced veterinary care. The effort includes aircraft landing drills and hands-on casualty care training designed to prepare responders to stabilize and evacuate working dogs injured during emergencies.

“We’re glad that we can provide care and rapid transport in the event these K-9s get injured,” Ricky Pena, aviation lieutenant with Washington County EMS, said in a Texas A&M news release.¹ “We want to do the best we can to support the team.”

Washington County EMS’ Special Operations Division supports law enforcement and regional emergency response teams, including special weapons and tactics units and disaster response groups. Because many of those agencies deploy working dogs, EMS crews must be prepared to treat canine injuries that occur in the field.

Pena said the agency recently developed a protocol to transport injured working dogs using its multimission aircraft, allowing responders to reach veterinary care more quickly in rural areas.

“We’ve always had protocols to treat K-9s, but a lot of times, our operations are in the middle of rural counties where it would take hours to get that K-9 to a medical facility,” Pena said.¹ “Now with the aircraft, we have implemented a procedure to transport those dogs if they get injured.”

The agency partnered with staff at the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital to test the system during a transportation drill in which responders landed an aircraft near the hospital and practiced transferring a simulated patient to the facility’s intensive care unit.

“The purpose of the drill was to work out the kinks of communication, because there are several steps involved,” Pena said.¹ “It went great; everyone was very happy, and we got great feedback.”

Veterinary specialists from the hospital’s Critical Care Service also worked with EMS crews to provide training on tactical emergency casualty care for working dogs. About 15 first responders participated in the training, which included classroom instruction and rotating stations focused on canine anatomy, wound bandaging, hemorrhage control, and emergency procedures such as intravenous catheter placement.

“Working dogs are incredible assets to our first responders and are exposed to the same dangers as their human counterparts,” Thomas Edwards, DVM, MS, DACVECC, an associate professor in the hospital’s Critical Care Service, said in the university report.¹ “It is essential that handlers and paramedics are trained and equipped to respond to medical emergencies for every team member—whether they’re human or canine.”

Pena said that many emergency care techniques used for people can also be adapted for canine patients with additional training. “There’s actually a lot of overlap between treating humans and dogs,” Pena said.¹ “During the training, we were tying in what we already know for human treatment and ironing out the specifics for how that relates to K-9 treatment.”

The exercises were conducted in collaboration with Texas A&M veterinarians, Washington County EMS personnel, physician medical directors, and members of the US Army.

Edwards said the goal is to ensure injured working dogs can receive immediate care and rapid transport to advanced veterinary treatment. “This multifaceted group of people came together to provide first responders with as much ability to care for these dogs as possible and get them back to the veterinary hospital,” Edwards said.¹ “Working dogs are going to continue to be an integral part of caring for society, and we want to give them the best outcome possible if they are injured.”

Pena said he hopes to repeat the training and aircraft drills annually to ensure emergency responders remain prepared to treat working dogs in the field.

Reference

1. Texas A&M, Washington County EMS partnership on new working dog treatment efforts takes flight. News release. Texas A&M. March 2, 2026. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/press-releases/texas-am-washington-county-ems-working-dog-treatment-training/