Local fire department has first trauma crisis K-9 in county

MEDINA, Ohio (WJW) – First responders often work through extremely stressful situations. Most of the time they’re responding to an accident or worst-case scenario event for residents. Those bad days often stick with them, and those emotions stay bottled up.

To counteract that negativity, the Erhart York Township Fire Department is hiring an expert in happiness. A four-month-old puppy named Hank.

“He is a Bernese Lab mix, four months old, and he is going to be our new trauma crisis canine for first responders,” his handler Monica Zieja said.

Zieja is a 29-year firefighter and paramedic at Erhart, who said this is a first-time thing for her department – something they desperately need.

“Unfortunately, there’s been a rise in suicide with first responders, police, fire,” she said. “And there was one not too long ago in Wadsworth. And that one really hit home. And I started thinking, you know what? We need to do something.”’

First responders often view the worst of the worst when responding to emergencies, and it’s easy to harbor those experiences.

“Fires, obviously, but also emergency medical calls, car accidents, rescue situations, all sorts of different situations,” Captain Daniel Sparks said. “But it’s almost always a bad thing for somebody in our community.”

Hank is just getting started, and is still in training, but he’s already making a difference.

“Just always lighten the mood,” he said. Just brings everybody down a notch. Really allows people to open up. Just makes us all happier.”

“I have young guys that, you know, macho guys, and they just melt,” Zieja said. “They melt. They lay on the floor, they play with him, they roll around with him.”

Hank is going to be a very big boy once he’s fully grown and will officially be sworn in on September 11 at 7 p.m. at the Fire Station. The community is invited to welcome their newest public servant.

“I really hope this builds, and we get it out to the whole state,” Zieja said. “There’s only certain areas right now that have them. And fortunately, Hank will be the first one in Medina County.”

Hank will also respond to crisis intervention calls within the jurisdiction.

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