WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The Wilmington Fire Department added its fourth and fifth crisis response facility dogs to its program with paws4people.

Jethro and Clyde are the two newest additions to the team. The dogs help reduce stress for firefighters and de-escalate traumatic situations for victims.

“When you get to come back to the station every day and have a dog in the firehouse it’s really a special thing. You don’t even realize what they are doing for you honestly, they are just there they are hanging out and their job is to distract you from what you may be stressing about,” said Lt. Josh Baltz.

Jethro, with handler Lt. Josh Baltz at Station 3 on C Shift, and Clyde, with handler Captain John Greene in the training division, will join the rest of the dogs. As with the first three dogs, they will go to their fire station during their shifts and go home with the handler while off-duty.

“The program currently utilizes Crisis Response Facility Dog RHYS at WFD Station 8 on C Shift, Crisis Response Facility Dog HEART at Station 2 on A Shift, and Crisis Response Dog AXEL at Station 2 on B Shift,” a WFD announcement states.

Lt. Baltz says the dogs can be taken care of through funds that are raised by the Wilmington Fire Department. He says he is happy to see more dogs be added to the program because of the positive impact they have on all firefighters.

“When your body releases a stress hormone you know they are sensing it and detecting it. They are bumping and nudging you and just asking for a pet and just kind of distracts you from all of the stuff we see out there and just makes the environment a lot lighter,” said Baltz.

“We’ve used him to help deescalate motor vehicle collisions that involve young children and they were really upset and we’re able to bring the dog out of the vehicle and it completely just deescalate the scene and we were able to kind of make sure that they were okay,” said Baltz.

“RHYS, HEART, AXEL, JETHRO, and CLYDE are part of a larger Mental Health and Wellness program the department is pushing. The goal of the program is to aid in the de-escalation of stress post-call, ease tension at the station, lower anxiety, reduce the long-term effects of PTSD, and improve cardiovascular health. In addition, the Facility Dogs provide comfort in emergency situations, both at the department and at the scene of an emergency in the community to ease the distress of anyone affected by the trauma,” said WFD.

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