First Aid for Four-Legged Operators: Caring for RAID K9 Unit Dogs
The next Cyno-Ops exhibition which will be held from September 24 to 26, 2025 at ROCHEXPO in La Roche-sur-Foron, Haute-Savoie, France, is a key event for the international K9 community. One of the lectures will explore first aid for K9 unit dogs. Cyno-Ops will present an exciting programme of lecture sessions, providing insights to law enforcement officers, military personnel, customs agents and government officials who use dogs as working tools.
Nicolas KRUMEICH is a veterinary surgeon at the ADVETIA Veterinary Hospital centre in Vélizy-Villacoublay, near Paris. He and Laurent GOUARDO will speak at the Cyno-Ops show, during a conference on the theme “Treatment of RAID dogs injured in operation, operational needs and evolution of first aid and veterinary support”. In this exclusive interview, we spoke to him about his work caring for dogs injured in service and the partnership established with RAID, an elite tactical unit of the French National Police specialising in search, assistance, intervention and deterrence.
1. Can you tell us about your role with the RAID dog technical units, and how this collaboration came about?
Following the injury in intervention by a RAID attack dog in 2021, I was required to provide surgical care in the Veterinary Hospital centre where I work. This injury made the RAID dog operators realize that they were poorly prepared to deal with injured dogs, both in terms of training and in terms of their relationship with a veterinary care structure. We have set up an initial training programme in operational canine first aid, then refresher courses, and established a long-lasting and solid partnership, also allowing for better knowledge on a human level as well as on a procedural level.
2. What types of injuries can attack dogs sustain during interventions, and under what circumstances?
The main injuries and anomalies that attack dogs can suffer during intervention are penetrating wounds caused by both stab wounds and bullets with internal or external hemorrhagic phenomena that may result, polytrauma which can be secondary to a fall, significant shock or blast, as well as heatstroke during intervention in a hot environment.
3. To what extent does anticipation (prevention, protocols, training) play a role in the care of these dogs?
The training and protocols taught above all allowed for a better awareness of RAID canine operators of the risks incurred by their attack or explosive search dogs, but also of the consequences that would result from them. This allows them to better analyse the risks, to identify, if necessary, a suitable veterinary care structure ahead of the intervention, and in the event of an operational injury, to be better able to react as canine rescuers “in combat”. This is part of the concept of the golden hour, aiming to reduce the probability of death and irreversible injuries through simple but immediate first aid actions.
4. How have canine first aid practices and equipment evolved, and are dog teams today systematically prepared to manage an injury in the field?
The RAID canine operators are now all trained in both initial training and refresher courses in operational canine first aid (management of hemorrhages, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, wound care, immobilization of the spine or a limb, etc.). They are equipped on their tactical vest with a tactical first aid kit aimed mainly at stopping hemorrhages, and then have access to a canine rapid first aid bag in the dog vehicle. If necessary, the RAID doctor, having attended dog first aid training, is also able to support the rescue action.
5. What does the canine first aid training provided within the RAID consist of?
Training in operational canine first aid at RAID consists of a first 10-hour module, over one day of initial training, which includes theoretical and practical components for a group of 6 operators. Important anatomical and physiological concepts are explained, then the technical actions are detailed, before putting them into perspective according to the situations that may arise in the field. At the same time, once the technical gestures have been acquired on a practical level, the RAID canine operators are put in a situation with realistic scenarios either on the unit's dog, or using a mannequin allowing different gestures to be simulated, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Refresher modules of 5 hours are then carried out on the same principle, lasting 5 hours, allowing reflex gestures to be obtained, the decision-making trees to be integrated and the support to be progressively deepened.