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Woman saves newborn puppy’s life with CPR

Puppy CPR

Alicia Pederson's extensive CPR training with the American Heart Association (AHA) helped her save the life of her newborn puppy.

"As a CPR instructor, I always tell my students that this is something I'm glad that you're wanting to learn," she said. "And just to help drive that home, I’ll say, 'It could be a friend or loved one's life you could be saving.'"

In early March, the Talty, Texas-based AHA employee and CPR instructor found one of her dog Izzy's newborn puppies appearing lifeless.

"I'm trying to see if there are any signs of life, but it's limp and cold and my heart's breaking," she said in an interview with the AHA. "So I tried to stimulate the puppy. I cleared its airway. I'm even giving it little back blows. And then I start thinking, 'I am a CPR instructor, I've got to try this.'"

Pederson had only performed CPR on manikins in the past, and had to quickly adjust her technique for the small Boston terrier-bulldog mix. After clearing the airway by aspirating its mouth and snout, she performed about five minutes or so of chest compressions with her thumb.

The tiny canine gasped.

"Once I heard that sound, I stopped and cleared the airway again," Alicia said. "As soon as that happened, I could literally see pink returning to the puppy's face. I was like 'Oh my gosh, this is working.'"

Pederson and her family named the puppy Miri. And while three of Izzy's other pups will be adopted by new families when they're old enough, Pederson isn't letting Miri go:

"After all of that, she's going to stay with us."

"Though I'm not trained in pet CPR, I never doubted the technique I've learned and taught. Still, to see it actually happen, it definitely reassured me that I could do it on a person, and that I know enough to apply those skills to help someone," Pederson told the AHA.