CPR and First Aid for Companion Dogs and Family Pets

This class is designed for anyone with an interest in “pawtecting” the safety and wellness of animals. Training is geared towards Pet Parents, Pet Care Professionals (Groomer, Sitter/Walker, Kennel Staff, Vet Tech) and Animal Rescue Volunteers (NO prior training/experience required). Taught by a 30+ year seasoned pre-hospital emergency medical care provider and educator, this highly interactive training (no slides or video) features an emphasis on hands-on skills practice to ensure proficiency in the life saving skills taught.

Hands-on Skills Practice

• ​Emergency Muzzling and Restraint Techniques
• Vital Signs Assessment
• CPR (Canine and Feline, all size pets)
• Choking Management (Conscious and Unconscious)
• Bleeding Control Techniques

Lecture Portion

• Proactive Safety and Wellness for Pets
• Scene Safety/Hazard Mitigation
• Medical Emergencies
• Seizures
• "Bloat"
• Poisoning Emergencies
• Environmental Emergencies

What makes Tom Rinelli’s training vastly superior is that it offers HANDS-ON skills practice (no boring slides or video) presented with a "real world" approach gained and tested by his 30+ years field experience as a seasoned medic and educator in high crime, high call volume response areas in New York (including New York City). Tom provides every student with demo animals and training props for maximum skills practice time as well as a 25+ page detailed handbook, Certificate of Completion (valid for two years) and an emergency muzzle.

“When teaching CPR & First Aid be it for humans or pets, I am often told by students of an experience where they encountered an emergency situation (person choking, a pet having a seizure) and felt helpless not knowing what to do to help. As an experienced pre-hospital emergency medical care provider, I too felt this sense of helplessness when my dog Jake developed life threatening thyroid cancer in 2008 and required surgery (which was beyond my scope of practice). With this in mind, I established Paws N Claws 911 to educate, train and empower pet parents, pet care professionals and those charged with the care of pets so that you WILL know what to do in an emergency and will NEVER feel helpless again. On a positive note, Jake successfully recovered from the surgery (and a subsequent bout with cancer in 2015) and enjoyed "the good life" happy and healthy until crossing  "The Rainbow Bridge" at age 15 in 2016.”

About Tom Rinelli

Tom Rinelli, a thirty plus year seasoned veteran of pre-hospital emergency medical services. Serving as a New York State certified emergency medical care provider, Tom has extensive field experience in both urban and suburban settings having been assigned to high crime, high call volume response areas in the New York City and Long Island regions for over twenty years.

With a background providing training in the classroom setting as well as a field training instructor and preceptor, Tom has received numerous life-saving awards, commendations, and other accolades. In 2012, he was honored by the Suffolk County Regional EMS Council with the "EMS Leadership Award for 2011" for the creation, development and moderation of an innovative in-house training program that trained over sixty new field providers in a two year period while maintaining a 100% pass rate for those who sought certification as a New York State Emergency Medical Technician.

Tom, as a lifelong dog lover/owner has taken his vast education, training and field experience as a seasoned pre-hospital emergency medical care provider and educator treating two legged patients to four legged patients by adapting his highly interactive, hands-on teaching style to educate pet parents and pet care professionals in the techniques of Pet CPR and First Aid. To date, Tom has trained over 5,000 students around the world including pet parents, pet care professionals, animal rescue volunteers and emergency service personnel (including members of the United States Coast Guard's Maritime Safety & Security Team).

Experience the difference being taught by an instructor with thirty plus years field experience both administering and teaching these life saving skills in an emergency. There is no substitute for real world experience!

Disclaimer: This training is not intended to replace veterinary medical care in the event of an emergency or regularly scheduled care. Please consult your primary veterinary medical care provider for guidance regarding your pet's health.