Digby the Fire Service Assistance Dog

Digby the Australian Labradoodle has a very special job as a therapy dog for firefighters based in the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

His job is to help in the diffusing sessions with the crews after major incidents. Interacting with Digby has a positive effect on the crew before breaking down the traumatic event which could leave them with long term psychological damage. Together with Digby and the diffusing sessions the firefighters can have healthier mental health and working environment whilst saving lives.

I met Digby and his handler Matt Goodman a couple of years ago as part of my Superdogs project because of his important and unique job role. Over the years and I’m sure very much so throughout the Coronavirus pandemic he has been hard at work down in Exeter boosting everyone's mental health and allowing them to process their job roles which although it may be hard to calculate I believe he will have saved many lives from doing this and preventing fire officer’s trauma from going unnoticed.

His most recent efforts have been shared far and wide online after the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service released a statement online:

“This is Digby. Today he did something amazing and helped save a young woman who was thinking of taking her own life near Exeter.

We were at the incident as part of a multi-agency response. Police negotiators were speaking with the woman but the situation was becoming increasingly worrying.

One of the fire crews had the idea to bring along Digby, our ‘defusing’ dog. Digby helps crews who have been exposed to trauma during talking therapy ‘diffusing’ sessions.

When Digby arrived, the young woman immediately swung her head round to look, and smiled. This got a conversation started about Digby and his role at the fire service. She was asked if she would like to come and meet Digby, which we are pleased to say she did.

We wish the woman involved all the best in her recovery.

If you need someone to talk to, contact Samaritans on 116 123 or visit http://orlo.uk/bZpAR”.

Personally I believe dogs have such an important role in the mental health and well being of our lives. Even if they do not have an official job title or are trained for the role there are many people that will say how their dogs have saved their lives from their emotional and physical support every day. This highlights just how important dogs are within society and hopefully will lead to more dogs being trained to work in similar roles within the emergency services as well as schools and other big companies.

Digby really is a Superdog and such a special boy, I’m sure he was treated to all the best biscuits that night.

Megan x