NEW ORLEANS — First responders see things you and I go a lifetime without seeing and some calls are harder to deal with than others. That's where Frank the EMS mental health dog comes in.
He's New Orleans EMS first comfort dog and Frank is helping EMS providers get through those tougher moments.
New Orleans EMS currently has 146 people on staff, but Frank is employee 147.
His handler, EMS Captain Brooke Christy told WWLTV, "It's a really heavy job that we do right, like we go on things that most people will never see in their lifetime."
The lovable, Labrador mix is the only mental health dog in New Orleans city government. Capt. Christy says, even quick interactions with him make a difference.
"What dogs will do is they will lower your anxiety, they will lower your blood pressure," she said.
She says her two-year-old pooch helps combat responder fatigue and depression. "We finish a call, we go to the next one and we just stack those things on top of each other we never sometimes realize that we have anxiety and we have some mild depression."
Our EMS providers see us at our worst and they see the unimaginable, so to have Frank here to keep them happy and mentally healthy, goes a long way.
Capt. Christy said, "If I can bring in something that can help my responders and my crews feel a little better or even on a random day."
Frank was there the moment those providers returned after being dispatched to the tragedy on America Street, where three children died in a house fire.
New Orleans EMS Chief Bill Salmeron said, "It does provide you a lot of comfort and calm, so that's the purpose of Frank right, is to kinda get in there, let your guard down, and provide that support that you need."
EMS providers answer our calls when we need them, now Frank is answering the calls of EMS providers when they need help too.
New Orleans EMS says the plan is to get Frank trained up so he can be a mental health dog for all government agencies.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News ,pp now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.