For the emergency department staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital, today brought a welcome dose of comfort on four legs.
Lisa Farrall and her team from Therapy Paws marked International Dog Day by bringing all four of their therapy dogs into the ED at once, Labradors Chili and Louie alongside Brittanys Teddy and Yogi.
Normally the dogs visit one or two at a time across three days a week, but the occasion called for something special.
“We just thought we would bring the whole lot in today, being International Dog Day,” Farrall told Pulse.
The visits are part of a staff wellbeing program designed to give frontline workers a moment of calm in one of the hospital’s most high-pressure environments.
Farrall said the dogs spend an hour per shift and are there every week of the year.
“We’re even there on Christmas Day,” she said.
“We’re just there to try and make their day a little bit better being in such a high stressful environment.”
Some staff use the time to decompress after witnessing trauma, while others simply enjoy a lighter moment with the animals.
“Some of them have seen terrible trauma at times and they just need to sit and decompress,” Farrall said.
“The different dogs work differently as well. We’ve got some that pick up on that sadness and they’ll just literally sit or they’ll lean on the person.”
Patients occasionally benefit too, with staff sometimes asking the team to visit elderly patients who have recently lost a pet.
“It does make their day,” Farrall said.
Therapy Paws has been visiting the ED for around three years and has worked with Ambulance Tasmania for five.
The organisation has 12 to 14 dogs on its books, but only four or five have the temperament and resilience to handle the emergency department.
“We’re very privileged to be let into that sort of space to do that job,” Farrall said.
“We don’t take that for granted.”
