Photo: Kim Tunnicliffe / WBZ NewsRadio
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — After former Governor Charlie Baker signed Nero's Law, hundreds of firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians trained to learn how to care for an injured K-9 partner in Foxborough on Tuesday.
The training is required under Nero's Law, which passed after Yarmouth Police officer Sean Gannon was killed and his K-9 partner Nero was critically injured while assisting with an arrest five years ago.
Veterinarians and vet techs taught 400 first responders at the Putnam Club at Gillette Stadium how to perform first aid and CPR on dogs. The Cummings School of Veterinarian Medicine at Tufts University had a canine mannequin named "Diesel" in tow to demonstrate how to treat a partner that has a severed leg.
Foxborough Firefighter Harry McComb practiced applying a tourniquet to Diesel.
"This mannequin has a lot of lifestyle traits to it, like it breathes, and it moans, it [has] a pulse. It was cool to get hands-on with it and it actually simulates a real-life situation," McComb said.
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Mother of Sean Gannon, Denise Morency Gannon, attended the event and said her late son would have been one of the first in line for this type of training.
"To see all these volunteers, do something like this who care, you can't help but think that something terrible has happened but something good has emerged from the event," Gannon said.
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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