Lt. Brandon Curry and Officer Brian Sparks of the Minden Police Department recently completed specialized training designed to enhance their ability to provide emergency medical care to police canines injured in the line of duty.

“Providing advanced training opportunities for our officers is a key priority for this department. Our police dogs play a vital role in law enforcement efforts, helping remove drugs from our streets and protecting officers during high-risk situations involving violent suspects. They protect us, and it’s our responsibility to ensure we can do the same for them,” Chief of Police Jared McIver said.

Life Air Rescue sponsored the K-9 Casualty Care Course (K9CCC) led by instructors George Tarver III, Kristin Uhlin and Aaron Young from Memorial Hermann Life Flight in Houston, TX. 

Launched in 2020, the K9-CCC provides K9 handlers with life-saving skills in canine-specific emergency care, including both basic and advanced life support, skills that were once reserved solely for human patients.

Memorial Hermann Life Flight is the first air ambulance service in the U.S. to offer a comprehensive program for the training, treatment, and air transport of injured police, fire, and rescue K9s. Its medical teams receive specialized instruction from leading Houston veterinarians and bring that expertise into the classroom for every K9-CCC course.

Recognized by the Texas Operational Canine Committee, this program represents the first privately run, protocol-based initiative in the nation dedicated to the emergency care and transport of working canines.