Chagrin Valley Dispatcher Credited With Saving Choking Dog's Life

SOLON, OH — Marra Wargo may have never anticipated that her prior experience working at a veterinarian clinic would ever pay dividends in her current role as a Chagrin Valley dispatcher.

But it’s not every day that a local resident calls 911 saying that her dog is having difficulty breathing after choking on a bone. Enter Wargo, who was recently lauded by Chagrin County officials for her quick thinking and for going beyond the call of duty for her assistance in helping the woman who called seeking help for her dog last month.

Wargo, a pet lover who worked at dog kennels and a vet clinic for seven years beginning at age 15, is calling what happened on Feb. 17 involving a 911 call involving a French bulldog in Chagrin Falls just another day at the office. Like any other call she takes, Wargo's go-to move is to immediately try to calm the caller down and to better understand the situation and then try to de-escalate what's happening if she can , Wargo told Patch.

But given the fact that the woman's dog was choking, Wargo — who says she runs a "mini-zoo" at home — can certainly understand the caller's frantic demeanor.

"I can imagine where she was coming from," Wargo told Patch in a telephone interview. "I would be just as terrified, too.

"I just wanted to make sure the dog was OK and that (the caller) was OK, too."

Wargo walked the caller through how to administer the Heimlich maneuver on her dog. According to a post on the Chagrin Valley Dispatch’s Facebook page, the dog was back to breathing on his own after a few minutes and was “back to his normal self", which Wargo said brought relief to both the caller and to the 911 dispatcher who took the call.

Many people do not realize that using "the doggy Heimlich" is even possible, Wargo said. But in this case, it is a similar procedure as would be used on a baby or small child. It's one that is important for pet owners to know should anything similar happen to them, Wargo said.

Wargo, who has worked for Chagrin Valley Dispatch for six years, said that she has fielded 911 calls involving animals before. But in most cases, they involve sick pets or baby deer. This was the first choking dog call she can recall taking.

"Dispatcher Marra went above and beyond the everyday call of duty for a dispatcher, and truly did what she could to help the caller,” the post read.

“While dispatchers are trained to handle human emergencies, most are not trained to handle animal emergencies. On that day, the caller reached just the right dispatcher.”

To mark the occasion, Wargo was presented with a gold paw print pin to honor her accomplishment of helping the caller with their pet emergency. While Wargo is honored to be recognized by her peers, she says she was just trying to handle the situation in the same manner she would with any other caller.

"It is one of those things that in dispatch, you just never know what you're going to get when you pick up the phone," Wargo told Patch.

"We get all these crazy calls and it's just another day at work for me. It's exciting that I'm getting honored by work, but it's my job. It's what I do — I help me. So for me, it's just another day."