Firefighter Saves Claws the Cat With CPR

[April 03, 2008]  McCOMB, Miss. (AP) -- Thanks to firefighter Jared Brister, Claws the cat has an extra life. The firefighter used cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 5 minutes after the cat passed out due to smoke inhalation.

Barbara Simmons had already lost one cat, Booger, during the Monday morning house fire and thought for sure Claws was a goner.

"He was not breathing," Brister said.

But Brister used the regulator from his air tank to feed the cat oxygen and started doing chest compressions with fellow firefighter Donnie Hodges assisting.

After a stay at the animal hospital, Claws, still smelling of smoke, was returned to Simmons on Tuesday.

"I can't thank him enough," Simmons said of Brister. "It's one thing to lose your possessions, but my animals are like a member of my family."

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Information from: Enterprise-Journal, http://www.enterprise-journal.com/

[Associated Press]

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