Medical Alert Respond Animals

Some of the common titles of Medical alert / respond Animals are Diabetic, Seizure and Psychiatric just to name a few.

The first Seizure Alert Dog was introduced in the late 1980's. These Animals are trained, to respond during and / or after such episodes, corresponding to the titles mentioned above. They give minimum protection to their partner in various ways, until help arrives. This maybe taught by tugging on a sleeve or pants, licking ones hand, or laying his / her head on their partners lap, etc. But most importantly they are taught to call 911 or to get help as do, most Service Animals as soon as possible.

The Psychiatric Animals assist those with severe conditions. There are many types of disorders that falls under this category! Majour Depressive, Bipolar (a.k.a. manic depression), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as Panic Attack Disorder. They carry with them a risk of losing consciousness due to hyperventilation.

These specially trained animals are taught to relentlessly wake their handler by nipping, licking or even breathing heavy in the persons face, bring daily medication and try to keep them calm in stressful situations that maybe normal for others. They are also taught to pick up clothing especially dirty clothes and place in a hamper, washer as well as the dryer along with other types of mobility training.

Many of these wonderful animals also have the natural ability to alert to oncoming medical disorders such as a seizure as far as 1 hour before hand.

Scientist cannot agree as to why this national phenomenon happens. Some have stated it's because of a chemical change in the person. Others says its just an unknown reason.

UPDATE:
Just like Seizure alert dogs, Diabetic Service dogs are taught to sniff/recognize odors. This, through the schools, are usually done with various urine samples, only one with the disorder. When a dog comes to that particular sample he would sit in front of it sniffing or licking like no tomorrow. That way when a persons level drops their dog will recognize this drop and alert the individual. Again like all medical alert/respond dogs as they smell the chemical changes in the persons body. These changes could be life threatening therefore having a service dog that could sniff out a specific odor in the beginning will alert the individual to take meds. or whatever they may have to do. Seconds counts.