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Sentara teams with Mutts With A Mission to offer unique clinical experience
Sentara teams with Mutts With A Mission to offer unique clinical experience

Yahoo

time21 hours ago

  • General
  • Yahoo

Sentara teams with Mutts With A Mission to offer unique clinical experience

The Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake partnered Thursday with Mutts With A Mission to offer clinical training for veterans and eight newly trained service dogs. Based in Virginia Beach, Mutts With A Mission trains service dogs for disabled veterans, law enforcement and first responders at no charge to the recipients. Thursday's simulation marked the nonprofit organization's first opportunity to conduct this type of final-phase training for its dogs. The experience took place in a simulated hospital room, where the service dogs accompanied their handlers through each step of a typical visit — from check-in at the front desk, to the waiting room, to the doctor's office and finally back to the front desk for check-out. Jo Ofeldt, office manager and puppy raiser at Mutts With A Mission, said she was pleased to hear the dogs were attentive to their handlers and Sentara's staff during the simulation. 'It's the culmination of all the love and care we've poured into these dogs, and to see it all come together is just incredible,' Ofeldt said. The simulation was also Sentara Health's first clinical training partnership involving service dogs, Director of Clinical Education Jolene Dorrell said. 'The most important part to me is paying back to the service community, for the veterans and for first responders,' said Debra Gillis, manager of the Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake. 'It just really shows that there are so many aspects of healthcare and of the human being.' After spending three days at Mutts With A Mission's training facility, Kyle Cozad, CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation and retired two-star rear admiral, said the simulation was his first outing with his dog, Neo. Cozad highlighted the simulation's importance in preparing Neo for routine doctor's appointments. Mutts with a Mission service dog Vatra sits in a mock-hospital room at the Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) John McIvor with Virginia Beach Fire Department sits in a mock-hospital room with his Mutts with a Mission service dog Maple at the Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake on Thursday, June 5, 2025. The simulation was intended to recreate a realistic clinical experience in a simulated hospital room to aid in training of the service dogs. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) Brooke Corson, founder and director of Mutts with a Mission, walks with Mutts with a Mission service dog Vatra in a mock-clinical environment at the Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) Ramone Rivenburg, active-duty Navy, sits in a mock-waiting room with his Mutts with a Mission service dog Flynn at the Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot) Show Caption1 of 5Registered Nurse Bobbie Smith welcomes Kyle Cozad, a 35-year Navy veteran, and his Mutts with a Mission service dog Neo into a mock-hospital room at the Sentara Simulation Center in Chesapeake on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Kendall Warner / The Virginian-Pilot)Expand 'It's a tremendous partnership, and hopefully this can continue in the future for other transition camps,' Cozad said. Navy veteran Jamey Hebert said Mutts With A Mission's training effectively prepared his dog, Yeti, for the simulation. 'I really appreciate that more people are getting on board and understanding what a game changer these guys are,' Hebert said. Maddie Mohamadi,

Fallujah vet turns Medal of Heroism into a healing mission for fellow warriors with service dogs program
Fallujah vet turns Medal of Heroism into a healing mission for fellow warriors with service dogs program

Fox News

time26-05-2025

  • Health
  • Fox News

Fallujah vet turns Medal of Heroism into a healing mission for fellow warriors with service dogs program

Marine veteran Anthony Longo is acutely aware of the inner battles many veterans face long after leaving the combat zone. He has also experienced the healing that can come from having "man's best friend" as a companion. That is why Longo, who served in Fallujah, Iraq, and earned the Department of State's Medal of Heroism in Afghanistan, founded the Warriors Choice Foundation in 2016 with the mission of helping fellow veterans heal. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Longo explained that rather than relying solely on medications or a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment, his foundation tailors care to individual veterans through counseling, wellness retreats and a truly unique treatment called "cognitive K9 rehabilitation." Through Warriors Choice K9 rehabilitation program, the group matches veterans with Belgian Malinois breed service dogs specially bred and trained to help people suffering from PTSD and other combat-related mental health challenges. Since 2018, Warriors Choice has helped 72 veterans and matched 46 with their own service dog. The group has even bred a service dog named "Trump," who Longo said was "the best" and the hardest one to let go." "Trump," the service dog, is now the companion to a 20-year special operations veteran, and Longo said he feels "blessed" to be a part of "what that dog has helped that man through." "You're seeing complete lives transferring 180 degrees into a new direction," he said. "It's man's best friend for a reason. I can appreciate my dog sometimes a lot more than humans. And to have that connection and the ability to work through complicated issues together, it was a good fit." While the K9 treatment program is not for everyone, Longo said that he has seen incredible results, transforming veterans' lives. Sitting by him during the interview was his own K9 companion, "Bourbon," who he said has "set the tone" in his own healing journey as well as laid the foundation for Warriors Choice's K9 program. "That dynamic between handler and canine, I think it adds just a sense of more responsibility beyond ourselves," he explained. "There are times when I wanted to be just completely left alone and isolated and not have to do anything, but someone's got to take the dog out. Someone's got to put food on the table. There are things that have to be done, I have to go do the training, I have to go maintain a level or a standard that I've imposed on myself to essentially hold myself accountable for my actions and what I'm doing in my day-to-day." Beyond that, Longo explained that Bourbon has helped him gain a "true understanding of what I needed to do for myself." Though Longo said that fighting against issues like veteran PTSD and suicide can feel like "trying to move a mountain," he explained that the need could not be more urgent. According to Warriors Choice, veterans are 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide. "At the end of the day," said Longo, "you're here not for yourself, you're here for your brother." "You're here to provide somebody with an opportunity and a chance who's reaching out for help. And all you got to do is just grab on, hang on, and give your best effort in assisting them in a time of need because you've been there with them. You understand what it's like to be in those situations. You know the – I hate to say it – the cognitive fog of what it's like to be overseas and to be here and to be more comfortable overseas than you are at home." "I wouldn't be able to do it unless there was success involved with it. And that's seeing guys staying out of the ground." Longo urged any veteran struggling with PTSD to reach out, saying, "We'll be happy to communicate with you and assist you in mapping out what is going to be the best path and direction forward."

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