Inside an emergency room bay, a cacophony of mechanical beeps filling the air, a woman breaks down crying. Doctors have just declared there is nothing else they can do for her father. As she veers back and forth between despair and anger, between screaming and crying, a cold wet nose pushes its way under her hand. The nose is followed by a fluffy head, and the woman’s body visibly relaxes, her hands rubbing the soft golden fur. “This is Mabel,” a calm voice says. “She’s a crisis response canine and we’re here to help.”

Although it all felt real, the woman in this scenario was a volunteer, her “father” was a simulation manikin, and the ambulance bay was inside the Simulation in Motion–Iowa (SIM-IA) mobile simulation unit. The scenario, part of quarterly training hosted by Crisis Canines of the Midlands (CCM), was designed to give crisis canines and their human partners the opportunity to train in real-life scenarios.

Crisis canines are specially trained dogs who work side by side with first responders to provide a calm, comforting presence to those in need during times of crisis. Each team of first responder and canine partner trains together for one year, after which they certify as a team and are deployable by their agency, says CCM co-founder Rebecca Smith. Once certified, these teams provide peer support for other first responders and respond to critical incidents within their communities or across the state. “That’s the difference in this type of a dog versus a civilian therapy dog—the handler is trained in critical incident stress management and peer support techniques,” says Smith, adding, “and the dog is trained to be calm in every sort of situation you can imagine, which is why we partnered with the SIM-IA truck.” The truck offers a unique opportunity for the partners to train in high distraction environments without interrupting care in the community. In this training, canines were challenged to ignore distractions and focus on the person who needed their support, as well as provide calming support while navigating the cramped space of an ambulance.

For Mabel, a ten-month-old Golden Retriever just starting her crisis canine training, the high distraction environment was a new experience. “Having all of that chaos going on at the same time was really helpful because she’s never been in a situation that was that loud or with so much stuff going on,” said her handler Mandy Bieber, emergency management coordinator for Delaware County, Iowa. “She’s a pretty tired girl now, she worked hard.” Although Bieber was familiar with the SIM-IA truck, having brought it to Delaware county for EMS training, this training experience was new and helpful for her as well. “I’ve never interacted with patients like that before,” she said. “[Mabel is] a natural—she just goes in and loves on people—but for me to know what to say in those kinds of situations was very helpful.”

Mabel and Bieber became a fully certified crisis response K9 team in April 2025. You can find them on Facebook here. 

Find Crisis K9s of the Midlands on Facebook here.

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