Hero firefighter saves pup with mouth-to-snout

Hero firefighter saves pup with mouth-to-snout
By Catherine Hardy with AP
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A team of firefighters in California are being hailed as heroes after performing mouth-to-muzzle resuscitation on a much-loved dog to bring it back from the dead.

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A team of firefighters in the US state of California are being hailed as heroes after one of them performed mouth-to-muzzle resuscitation on a much-loved dog to bring it back from the dead.

The crew from Santa Monica spent 20 minutes resuscitating the animal, who had been given up for dead by her distraught owner.

“There’s a fire!”

35-year-old Crystal Lamirande had just got back to her apartment in Santa Monica on Friday when a neighbour shouted “there’s a fire!”

She tried to save her 10-year-old Bichon Frise/Shi Tzu called Nalu who was inside, but the smoke was too thick.

Firefighters arrived moments later and got the blaze under control.

Firefighter Andrew Klein searched the apartment on all fours while colleagues sprayed water on the building to keep the flames at bay.

He found Nalu and spirited him out of the building.

“He was totally lifeless, I picked him up and ran out of the apartment because time is key, especially with a small dog. Failure was not an option,” Klein told reporters.

“His eyes were glazed over and he was not breathing and I assumed he was dead,” Lamirande, a radiology nurse, said. “The firefighter said ‘I’m a positive person, let’s just get him back.’”

What happened?

Firefighter Klein spent 20 minutes working on Nalu to bring him back from the brink.

He was given intensive mouth-to-snout resuscitation and extra oxygen.

When his condition stabilised, he was taken to a veterinary clinic where he spent 24 hours in an oxygen chamber and is now doing well.

“He’s been coughing but right now he’s fine and he’s so happy and smiling,” says his relieved owner.

“He was essentially dead, so to see him kissing people and walking around wagging his tail was definitely a good feeling,” said Firefighter Klein , a self-confessed dog-lover. “He’s very happy and we are very happy too.”

How the doggy drama unfolded – in tweets

Yesterday, santamonicafd</a> responded to an apartment fire, found an unconscious pup inside & FF Klein successfully revived him! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoodNews?src=hash">#GoodNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/7YRJwhFcdy">pic.twitter.com/7YRJwhFcdy</a></p>— City of Santa Monica (santamonicacity) 22 mars 2017

Firefighters work to revive the pup after responding to an apartment fire and finding him unconscious inside

The santamonicafd</a> resuscitated a dog after it was rescued from an apartment fire Tuesday.<a href="https://t.co/KXBWkTdkG5">https://t.co/KXBWkTdkG5</a></p>— Santa Monica Next (SaMoNext) 22 mars 2017

The kitchen fire was put out – but the apartment’s smallest occupant was overcome…

Sharing another heartwarming photo from santamonicafd</a> saving a pooch yesterday. TY FF Klein and crew! <a href="https://t.co/RJXu39RKWr">pic.twitter.com/RJXu39RKWr</a></p>— City of Santa Monica (santamonicacity) 22 mars 2017

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