The Bothwell Foundation’s fundraising campaign to add a K9 officer to Bothwell Regional Health Center’s Security team has surpassed its goal. The foundation launched the campaign last summer by educating the community on the alarming trend of increasing violence at the health center.
In 2022, employees made 13,735 calls to Bothwell’s Security team for assistance. There were 49 incidents of violent patients or visitors, 274 combative patients, 54 weapons confiscated, 30 employees assaulted, and the Sedalia Police Department was called 29 times for support.
Todd Nappe, Bothwell Security director, said it’s these statistics that prompted leadership to pursue adding a K9 officer. The highly trained dog will improve employee, patient and visitor safety and help de-escalate volatile situations.
“The violence occurring in medical facilities these days is growing and happening here and across the country,” Nappe said. “I have seen firsthand what a trained K9 can do when they are on scene. Some people won’t hesitate to kick, punch or bite another person, but when a trained K9 is there, the behavior and attitude changes dramatically.”
Last year, Nappe was part of a team that visited CoxHealth in Springfield to research that health system’s K9 team and brought back valuable information, including the name of the trainer who selected their dogs and trained their handlers.
Al Gill, owner of Von der haus Gill German Shepherds in Wapakoneta, Ohio, was a K9 handler/trainer for 17 years working in large law enforcement agencies. Since 1984 he has trained or helped train over 2,000 dogs and selected or imported more than 3,000 police working dog candidates.
Gill and his team will train Bothwell’s dog and handler during a six-week training session starting in early April. Before training starts, Gill will select one or more dogs that he may already have or that arrive from Germany, Slovakia or the Czech Republic before training begins. Because this dog will be working in a hospital, Gill said he’s looking for specific characteristics.
“We want a strong searcher, yet social and clear-headed,” he said. “He or she must be very social as a lot of what they will be doing is therapy-based work. They have to be comfortable on slick floors and protection/bite work needs to be normal or better. That just means they can do the work when called on but that their main focus is on therapy.”
Bothwell’s dog will also be trained in explosive detection, which means it will be available to assist local, county or state law enforcement agencies if needed.
“With the addition of this dog, we will be the only local explosive detection K9 team,” Nappe said. “The next closest is at Whiteman Air Force Base, so having the ability to provide that service will allow for faster response times when area agencies need help during searches or at events.”
Training for Bothwell’s dog will include patrol, obedience, tracking, handler protection and explosives. The handler and dog will be exposed to live gunfire, water work, and, if possible, public demonstrations and real search work. In addition to skills training, Gill said the desired outcome is for the handler and dog to bond.
“We put in long days, sometimes 10 to 12 hours a day, and training is intense,” he said. “The handler needs to be highly motivated and put in the required extra work.”
After training and the K9 has been established with a local veterinarian, the dog will be introduced first to the Bothwell employee community in June and then to donors who supported the campaign. More than $52,000 was raised to pay for the dog, training, and a specially equipped vehicle, as well as health care, food and equipment costs. Donations for additional and ongoing costs are still being accepted by the Bothwell Foundation.
“We’re really grateful to the foundation and to everyone who has supported this project, and we’re super excited for the dog to get here,” Nappe said. “The safety of our patients, employees and visitors is a high priority for us. I believe the sheer presence of a K9 in the hospital will benefit everyone.”
