Now this is taking improvising to the (life-saving) extreme. When Kim Carlson returned to her home in Wausau, Wis., earlier this month she was met with the sight smoke and the sound of fire trucks. The distress of seeing her home on fire was made worse by the realization that her 7-year-old yellow Labrador, Koda, was still inside. Carlson told NBC’s “Today Show”:

“My first reaction was to go upstairs and check upstairs, but it was just entirely too smoky. It was so black you couldn’t see anything in front of you.…I wanted to cover myself in water and cover my face and mouth and go up and get him myself, knowing that’s not the right thing to do.”

Instead, firefighters searched the home, finding the pooch huddled under a rocking chair in a second-floor bedroom. They carried him to safety on the front lawn. Koda, having inhaled a considerable amount of smoke, was struggling to breathe, but responsive. That’s when firefighter Jamie Giese stepped up. He told the “Today Show”:

“I have never been trained in [mouth-to mouth resuscitation on an animal]. I’ve seen it on TV and pictures in the newspapers and things like that. We could tell [the dog] was trying to breathe, and our training for humans in airway, breathing and circulation. We had no tools handy, so it was mouth-to-snout.”

After receiving CPR, Koda was given an oxygen mask, then taken to a veterinary hospital. He's now back at home and doing fine. Carlson told ABC News:

“He’s perfect, he’s absolutely wonderful. He’s got a little bit of cough, and we’re assuming it’s phlegm from the smoke, but he did real good.”

A few days later Giese and the Wausau fire department were awarded the Compassionate Fire Department Award from animal rights group PETA. As well as receiving a letter of appreciation and certificate, the department was also given a supply of oxygen masks specifically designed for animals. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does that firefighter rock? Do you think firefighters should be trained in animal CPR?