Vancouver Fire's newest recruit: Lola the trauma dog

News1130.com
June 11, 2018
Hana Mae Nassar

The Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services family has welcomed a new, very special member to its team -- and she has four legs, a tail, and a whole lot of fur.

“Lola is going to be working with myself in this department as a trauma therapy dog,” explains Captain of Occupational Health and Wellness Steve Fraser.

Fraser does a lot of work to help deal with trauma and mental health with department members, and believes his new partner is going to be a big help.

According to the VFRS, studies have shown nearly half of emergency services workers show significant symptoms of at least one mental disorder.

“Just in general, we know that… they use dogs, especially trauma dogs, more and more now with first responders than they ever have before. And we wanted to sort of see ‘well how would Lola look as just another sort of tool in the toolbox?’ for us in our department.”

He says so far, so good. Over the past four to six weeks Lola has been exposed to fire trucks, sirens, large groups and gear to ensure she was ready. In that time, Fraser says she’s already proven to be a hit.

“In that group setting, she’ll just kind of walk in the room and work the room a little bit, and you can just see the calming effect that she has when she sort of comes and puts her head in your lap and forces you to pet her,” he says with a laugh.

The department says the addition of Lola to the team is helping the VFRS “lead the way to provide training, treatment, and interventions for staff dealing with occupational stress.” Fraser also points to the increased use of dogs in therapy with first responders.

“We know the calming effects, especially a dog with the right temperament, the right demeanor, can have,” he tells NEWS 1130. “And Lola definitely fits that… She’s quite a mellow dog. She’s about two and a half but she’s very sort of, she loves to be pet and she’s very sort of caring and calming with everyone she meets.”

Fraser says the results have been “unbelievable,” even when it comes to his own stress and behaviour.

“She lives with me, and she’s had a big impact on my life. I’ve noticed a big difference in the last six weeks just having her around on my stress levels, and how much they’ve gone down. So that’s been beneficial as well.”

Recent news of public figures struggling with mental health issues and dying by suicide have reopened conversations around the stigma that surrounds mental health. Fraser says if Lola is able to help even just one firefighter open up, having her around is worth it.

“I like to think that she will be able to, if she hasn’t already,” he says. “I mean I’ve had some great conversations with firefighters with Lola here and present, and whether they would have been as open and forthcoming or not, it’s hard to say.

“But I know that anecdotally, the feedback that I’ve had from our members of this department… they’ve all kind of shared the same thoughts and that is that they love having her around. They love being able to talk to me and have the dog with us in the room while that conversation is happening.”

The province announced in April that chances were in the works to help quickly compensate first responders and emergency workers recovering from job-related mental trauma.

Changes include expanding services already provided under the Workers Compensation Act so other first responders, like firefighters, paramedics, and police, don’t have to prove their illness is caused by the job.

Lola lives with and is cared for by Fraser, who says he has no issues covering the costs.

If you want to keep up with the Golden Retriever’s day-to-day, you can follow her on Instagram.