New Lenox fire district hires its first comfort dog

Gina Cortez, director of dispatch operations for the Orland Fire Protection District, said she witnessed a 911 telecommunicator physically relax and let go of stress by petting the department’s comfort dog after answering a call where an infant died.

Years later, Cortez worked with her coworker Gayle Enright and the Orland Fire Protection District to raise funds to bring a comfort dog to the New Lenox Fire Protection District.

Willie, the district’s first K9 facility service comfort dog, was sworn in at the Village Board meeting Monday in the fire district’s headquarters as part of an initiative to improve the mental well-being of firefighters and enhance community outreach.

During his swearing-in, Willie formally signed his oath with his paw print and was presented with his K9 Badge.

The golden retriever will serve as a source of comfort for first responders and the community, said Marisa Tomich, Willie’s handler and owner. Tomich is also the public information officer and fire and life safety educator for the New Lenox Fire Protection District.

Cortez attended Monday’s ceremony along with Tomich and the members of Healing Hearts Comfort Dogs, the organization that raised and trained Willie and dozens of other dogs.

“I’ve seen that time and time again,” Cortez said about the dog comforting the 911 dispatcher. “It’s watching someone’s emotional response, like the emotional burden, the heaviness of the job that they’re doing, just lift from literally their whole physical being and create comfort, somehow the dog absorbs it.”

Tomich received ownership of Willie in mid-June, along with some funding from the village to support taking care of him.

She said she has already been bringing Willie to work, where he started making rounds visiting officers in the morning, Tomich said.

“There’s just so many stressors, things like that, that firefighters and paramedics go through,” said Tomich. “So it’s just kind of nice to have an animal like Willie, who’s our comfort, who’s here and they can sit and love on him for a bit and hopefully help ease some of these stressors a little bit too.”

Fire Chief Adam Riegel said Willie visits him first thing every morning. He said he’s already noticed a difference in attitudes at the department, that firemen get “happy and smiley when he comes over, does his thing and lets them pet him.”

“Its nice to have that pickup, especially, you know, luckily we don’t have a lot of bad calls but when we do it’s good to have that, just to give them time to decompress,” Riegel said. “Over the career of a fireman, you see so much tragic stuff and to be able to have a way to deal with that is the key thing.”

Willie will also join Tomich at community events, presentations in schools and organizations, and providing support during critical emergency responses.

In a statement, Tomich said the New Lenox Fire Protection District is committed to promoting emotional resilience within the department and the community, and said Willie will play a pivotal part.

“We’re incredibly proud of Willie and look forward to seeing the positive impact he will have on our fire personnel and the residents of New Lenox,” said fire district President Joe Levey. “This program is a testament to our commitment to fostering mental well-being and providing holistic support to our first responders.”

Willie will be the third K-9 to work for the district. Last year, Bo, a bloodhound, was sworn in as a search and rescue K-9. Red, also a search and rescue K-9, was sworn in in 2012 and worked until he retired several years later.

Willie was chosen by Healing Hearts Comfort Dogs for his calm nature, intelligence, and strong sense of empathy, according to a fire district statement.

He began training with his puppy raiser, Pam Drust, at 2 months, which included working in various environments, including schools and 911 dispatch centers, providing emotional support and interacting with a wide variety of people.

Drust, who has trained facility service comfort dogs for more than seven years, said she brought Willie to the grocery store, doctor appointments and even to a steakhouse as part of his socialization training.

Willie also attended therapy visits, where Drust said he knew to instinctually “snuggle” with people.

“As a matter of fact, out of all the dogs we’ve trained, he was the best one that’s ever done the work,” said Drust.

Drust also trains dogs for schools, courts and other environments. She said these dogs can help students find calm before talking with a counselor or even bring down anxiety and anger after school fights.

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In one situation, Drust said a trained dog helped a high school student to calm down from “hysterically crying,” even though the dog was not trained to do so yet.

“She was just crying and crying and crying, and all of a sudden the dog jumps up on her lap,” Drust said. “She slowly started petting, and the tears started stopping, and the dog kind of snuggled into her and now she’s hugging the dog.”

Drust said Healing Hearts Comfort Dogs needs more people to train dogs, which requires a one-hour weekly training in Frankfort. She said more information can be found on the organization’s website.