Sumter Fire Department outfitted with oxygen masks for pets

On Thursday morning, Pet Oxygen Kit Project Inc. provided 24 oxygen masks specifically designed for pets to Sumter Fire Department.

Phil Leventis, former South Carolina senator and director of development for South Carolina Firefighters' Foundation, said the oxygen masks will help empower Sumter's firefighters.

They already do so many things to save lives, and the masks will give them an extra capability, he said.

He also said the success of the project shows how much of a difference a few individuals can make.

Mary Ellen Tobias, project coordinator, said all of the money to purchase the kits that were provided on Thursday was donated by Midlands Gives, a public charity with the goal of improving the quality of life in South Carolina's communities.

She said the pet oxygen mask nonprofit started two years ago after she watched firefighters resuscitate a kitten on the news.

After partnering with her friend Nena Sinclair, another project coordinator for the nonprofit, the women founded Pet Oxygen Kit Project Inc. and provided 24 masks to Richland Fire Department after one week of asking for donations.

Tobias said the next goal was to outfit the entire state with pet oxygen masks.

Since its start, the project has provided about 330 pet oxygen masks to fire departments in Richland, Lexington, Kershaw, Berkeley, Dorchester, Charleston and now Sumter counties.

Tobias said the nonprofit receives financial donations from veterinary offices and other interested parties in the areas to receive the oxygen masks.

She said the next areas to receive oxygen masks may be Aiken or York counties after businesses in those areas have shown interest in making financial donations for the masks.

Each mask costs about $85, Tobias said.

Sumter Fire Department Battalion Chief Joey Duggan said the department has not been able to purchase the masks on its own because of budgetary restraints.

The department may not have been able to get the oxygen masks without the help of donations, he said.

Sumter's firefighters rescue animals from fires a few times a year and have had to use oxygen masks designed for humans to resuscitate them, Duggan said.

The human masks work, but obviously not as well as the masks designed to fit an animal, he said.

Duggan said the masks will give firefighters a good feeling knowing that they can save more lives, even if they are not human lives. Some people love their pets as if they were their children, he said.

For more information about Pet Oxygen Kit Project Inc. or to donate, visit www.petoxygenkit.com, or contact Tobias at maryellen.tobias49@gmail.com or Sinclair at nenaloveshorses@live.com.