A police dog critically injured hundreds of miles from East Lansing can now be flown to Michigan State University for specialized emergency veterinary care through a new statewide air transport program for canine officers.
Michigan State University’s Veterinary Medical Center partnered with Corewell Health Aero Med and North Flight Aero Med, a joint venture between Corewell Health and Munson Healthcare, to develop Spartan Shield, Michigan’s first emergency air transport program designed to connect critically ill or injured public safety working dogs with advanced veterinary care.
The 24-hour service provides a new option for on-duty dogs working in law enforcement, the military and other public safety organizations when an injury or medical emergency requires care that may not be available nearby.
The effort places MSU among a small but growing number of veterinary and air medical teams nationally that are developing dedicated emergency transport options for working dogs.
For MSU, preparation can begin before the aircraft reaches East Lansing.
“At the push of a button, a robocall goes to our team saying, ‘Hey, you need to get to the hospital.’ There’s no question about it,” said Matthew Beal, an emergency and critical care specialist at the MSU Veterinary Medical Center. “So, if it’s 11:00 at night, two in the morning, Sunday, we hit the button. And our teams from surgery, anesthesia, emergency medicine, critical care, blood banking, imaging — everyone’s going to flood into this place and we’re going to be ready when that canine arrives.”
Depending on the dog’s condition, MSU can assemble specialists from across the Veterinary Medical Center to respond to the emergency. That ability to bring multiple areas of veterinary medicine together quickly is especially important for patients experiencing severe trauma or other life-threatening conditions.
The flight service is designed to support canine patients with injuries and illnesses including severe bleeding, heat illness, airway emergencies, cardiac arrest, burns, poisoning and other critical conditions.
But before the first canine officer could be transported, veterinary and flight medicine teams had to determine how to safely care for a very different kind of patient aboard an aircraft.
MSU clinicians worked with Aero Med and North Flight Aero Med teams to develop training, protocols and operational procedures for canine transport. The teams completed specialized training, communication exercises and a live transport drill before the program officially launched.
“Our mission is to provide critical care transport when every minute matters,” said Leslie Schutte, manager of clinical flight operations for Aero Med and North Flight Aero Med at Corewell Health. “When we identified a gap in access to specialized emergency care for canine officers, our teams committed to learning new skills, developing protocols and training alongside veterinary experts to safely provide this service. This program creates a new option for agencies across Michigan and helps connect these highly trained animals to the care they need during an emergency.”
Canine officers serve alongside law enforcement officers and other public safety professionals in communities throughout Michigan. Because those dogs may be working far from a specialty veterinary hospital, getting them to advanced care quickly can be difficult when a serious injury occurs.
