Manatee County has a hound with a heart

There is not a workday that goes by without paramedic Lydia Wilkinson wishing for a dog to be around at her assigned EMS station.

That dream might not come to fruition, but she and her partner, Karleigh Alday, are thrilled to welcome a new member to the team for Manatee County’s Public Safety Division.

His name is Rucker, and he is a 2-year-old golden retriever.

“I think animals bring out a good side of people and can calm you down in the midst of things,” Wilkinson said. “Rucker, he’s such a sweet boy. He makes everybody happy. It’s so much easier to talk about things when you have an animal in front of you. They’re always happy to see you, no matter what. You can’t be mad.”

Rucker, a therapy dog from Tampa-based Valor Service Dogs, began work in Manatee County in January. He is a

post-traumatic stress disorder facility dog, which means he is a therapy animal trained for use at a facility rather than for one particular person. He recognizes anxiety and PTSD cues and can help calm or distract someone experiencing twitching, crying or fidgeting. He helps treat 911 operators, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and lifeguards who have worked through traumatic calls and rescues.

Jimmy Crutchfield, the chief of Manatee County Emergency Medical Services, serves as Rucker’s primary handler. Another handler, Melissa Colon, is in training, so the pair can share responsibility for his care.

Rucker will visit Manatee County EMS stations three days per week, visit lifeguards at the beaches and make rounds at the Emergency Operations Center, home to EMS offices and the 911 dispatch center.

Crutchfield said he has already witnessed the calming effect Rucker has had on staff members.

While doing a round in the 911 call center, an employee burst into tears on the floor. Rucker was working the room at the time and went to the employee, lay beside her on the floor and put his head on her lap.

Rucker is trained to respond to stress or other emotional triggers. For example, if someone’s knees are bouncing with nerves, Rucker puts his head on her lap. If someone is wringing her hands, he breaks them apart. If workers are covering their face with their hands, he uses his nose to push them apart.

Crutchfield said Rucker enjoys hugs — something he was not trained to do.

Crutchfield said employees have responded positively to Rucker’s presence, and many have even stopped by his home base at the Emergency Operations Center to visit with him before or after their work shifts.

“Everyone just wants him more often,” Crutchfield said.

East County resident Larry Luh, assistant chief of operations for the Emergency Medical Services Division, said that as soon as paramedics see Rucker, they are on the ground petting him.

“Having this dog that’s an emotional support dog for our staff is great,” Luh said. “I think any time you have an animal involved in our line of work, [it] gives us a sense of home. You kind of forget what’s going on in your life.”

Crutchfield said Manatee County paramedics responded to 57,000 calls in 2019. The stress of working in the emergency medical field can take its toll, and depression and other issues are prevalent among such providers.

Manatee County’s Public Safety Division started a peer support program in January 2019 to help employees deal with the stresses of the job, whether witnessing child abuse or arriving at the scene of a stabbing. Crutchfield said the effort emerged as a way to boost morale and improve mental health after a paramedic died by suicide in 2018.

Also in January 2019, Crutchfield attended a state emergency medical services conference in St. Augustine. While there, he met a flight nurse with a therapy puppy from Valor Service Dogs in Tampa. Crutchfield saw the dog, thought of his employees and soon began efforts to secure a therapy dog.

Crutchfield said he believes having Rucker will help improve morale for emergency services staff — and already has.

“He walks into an EMS station, and everyone is so happy,” Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield said adjusting to life with a therapy dog has been more difficult logistically he expected. For example, Rucker comes with 11 pages of commands, and Crutchfield must command him to walk through doors or into elevators.

“He only does what you tell him to do,” Crutchfield said.

However, Crutchfield believes the adjustments will be worth the effort.

“I think we can get there,” Crutchfield said. “It’s just going to take some work.”