CPR saves cat rescued from fire

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091201/NEWS01/712019934

By Mindy Baker
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE
« Metro/Region

ALGONA, Iowa — In nine years on the Algona Ambulance crew, Cathy Penton had never performed CPR like this before.

Just before 8 p.m. Monday, a fire broke out at 517 W. State St. in Algona, at the home of Ali Rojohn and Steven Cram. The fire may have started when one of the couple's three cats knocked over a heat lamp for their reptiles.

“We had just got home, and we could smell the smoke,” Rojohn said. “Steven felt the door (to the house), and it was hot.”

Inside were Zoey, a 9-year-old LaPerm curly coated calico; Sabrina, a large Siamese mix; and Shadow, a 7-month-old black kitten adopted from Pet Kingdom; as well as a couple of snakes and bearded lizards.

Rojohn and Cram were able to find only Shadow before firefighters arrived. Firefighters found Sabrina in the kitchen and Zoey hiding under a bed. Both were suffering from severe smoke inhalation.

Zoey, the older cat, had suffered from the most inhalation and was not responding to rescuers when firefighters called the Algona Ambulance crew to the back of the home. Algona Ambulance responds to all fires, so a crew was on the scene.

“When they said to come around the alley so we could give oxygen to a couple of cats, I didn't know they really meant cats,” Penton said.

FULL story and photo at link.

A Sixth Grade Science Fair Project used mouth swabbing cultures in Petri dishes to see which mouth was ickier, human, canine, or feline.

Dogs: cleanest.

Humans: less so.

Cats: OMG- Rinse your mouth out!!!

:P

Human mouths contain plenty of bad stuff - human bites get more infected than dog bites or cat bites. Dog bites, while they get infected, do more tearing so drainage is better. Cat bites are deep punctures so they result in more serious infection than dogs.

J/K

They were the CUTEST kids, I was a guest judge, little N. California town named Paradise.

:P

They take the business of saving lives seriously.

Even the littlest lives.


Well done.

Algona is about 25 miles north of my hometown, Humboldt. Thanks for posting, Steve.