By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
LACONIA – “Winni” the Department of Safety’s first comfort dog was introduced Tuesday.
She will help support the state’s Emergency 9-1-1 telecommunicators and staff in their high-stress work, as part of a public-private partnership praised by Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
The young female has just completed a year of comfort training and was wearing her own mortar board to celebrate graduation with handler, Abby Rider at a celebration at the dispatch center.
With the help of AT&T FirstNet and the organization Hero Pups, Winni has been trained and is going full-time at the communications center, located on the site of the former Laconia State School. She will also go to help staff at the Safety’s Concord facility and work a variety of shifts.
“Winni” passed the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen test and is trained to comfort in emotional situations.
The costs associated with her care and training, at more than $7,000, was AT&T FirstNet’s contribution in bringing this program to fruition for this portion of the Department of Safety.
Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn has been focusing on mental health safety for his staff who face some of the state’s most emergent needs and who are there between the witnesses and victims to relay vital information to those who need it.
It is a high stress environment that could only benefit from a wet nose and a wagging tail, Ayotte noted.
She thanked the communicators for their hard work and noted the work is difficult.
“You deal with the most difficult things that anyone experiences. Whether it is a health emergency or a criminal situation…”
She said when she came in one of the telecommunicators was in the process of helping someone in Cheshire County with performing CPR while the first responders were being dispatched, “to be so calm. To know exactly what to say,” she said that Winni will be there for you doing one of the most important jobs in the state.
Ayotte also thanked AT&T for “awesome awesome cooperation.”
In addition to Ayotte, those there to celebrate Winni’s achievement and recruitment were Department of Safety Assistant Commissioner Steven Lavoie, Division of Emergency Services and Communications Director Mark Doyle, Supervisor and Comfort Dog handler Abby Rider, and officials from Hero Pups, and AT&T FirstNet.
Kate McCarty, who works as a telecommunicator for E-9-1-1 posted on social media that she and her colleagues are that much better in the first few weeks that the dog has been on duty.
“I don’t know how to describe the feeling I get when I’ve had a horrifying or tragic call and I spin around in my chair and see ‘Winni.’ My smile happens as naturally as my breath. What an incredible way to begin processing that call in your head- with a smile having just now broken over your face.
“Dispatch agencies who do not have comfort dogs? Begin the process. I’m telling you, we’re so much the better for it. 10/10 recommended!”