It's a fight against the clock for emergency medical responders as they work to get trained in Nero's Law before the February deadline.

"We have a big push in January to get the remainder of our staff trained," Sean Mangan, director of operations with Arlington-based Armstrong Ambulance, told WBZ's Shari Small in a Dec. 22 report.

Gov. Charlie Baker signed Nero's Law in April, allowing medical responders to tend to wounded K9 partners. Before the law was signed, Massachusetts law did not allow EMT's to treat or transport critically injured police dogs. The law is named after K-9 Nero, the retired partner of the late Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon, who was killed in the line of duty in 2018 while serving a warrant.

Sean Churchill is in charge of implementing the protocols for Nero's Law at Armstrong Ambulance. He is happy to be a part of this training, as he considers K9s to be part of the overall first-responder family.

"We're in the job because of compassion and caring for living beings, and it does take a little bit of that pressure off saying like, 'darn, we can't do anything about it,' but now we can," Churchill said. "I mean, they are part of the team, and they are providing care, and they're here for the well-being of others, which is why we're there as well."

Since the law was signed, veterinarians have been training EMTs to perform CPR and other life-saving techniques on K9s.

"It's very good to be able to have that ability to help these other team members," Churchill said.

Small has more in a podcast included here >>   

July 10, 2022: Armstrong Ambulance hosts K-9 first-aid course after passage of Nero's Law

This news summary was published Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, based on information from WBZ News radio.