A firefighter in Santa Monica, California, has been hailed as a hero after reviving a dog that was rescued from a house fire using mouth-to-snout resuscitation. The dog, a 10-year-old Bichon Frise/Shih Tzu named Nalu, was found unconscious in a back bedroom of the blazing apartment.
Firefighter Andrew Klein discovered the dog while crawling on all fours through the smoke-filled home. 'He was totally lifeless,' Mr Klein told the Associated Press. 'I picked him up and ran out of the apartment because time is key, especially with a small dog... Failure was not an option.'
As the dog's owner, Crystal Lamirande, knelt nearby in distress, Mr Klein and his crew spent 20 minutes administering oxygen and performing mouth-to-snout resuscitation. The Santa Monica Fire Department confirmed that after this effort, the dog began breathing on its own and regained consciousness, eventually able to walk around.
Nalu has since made a full recovery after spending 24 hours in an oxygen tent. Ms Lamirande, a radiology nurse, expressed her gratitude: 'His eyes were glazed over and he was not breathing and I assumed he was dead. But the firefighter said, "I'm a positive person. Let's just get him back."'
