If your house catches on fire or a flood strikes your neighborhood, you probably feel safe knowing that the fire department and other emergency services will immediately be on their way to help you escape safely. But what about your pets? Do paramedics, firefighters, and police officers have any official protocol for rescuing cats, dogs, and other animals in emergency situations? In the past, this has been something of a case-by-case situation. Emergency responders do often try to save family pets when they can. However, a new bill in the Colorado senate is aiming to establish an official set of protocols dictating how to care for animals involved in human emergencies. After a few Colorado fire departments took the initiative and invested in special gear and training aimed at saving pets, other emergency responders expressed interest in establishing similar programs. The senate’s bill will let EMS organizations volunteer to participate in pet-related emergency training. Organizations looking to join in will need to establish rules for when animals should be saved and the circumstances that will allow employees to deliver emergency pre-veterinary care. The bill, if passed into law, does dictate that EMS employees do not have to provide veterinary care to animals before providing emergency care to a human. One thing is for sure -- responders with basic pet emergency training will have a better chance at saving your pet pal in the event of a house fire or other disaster.   About the Author: Craig Davis is VP of Vet Organics, a company which produces effective and safe natural remedies for dogs and cats.