91直播

Aka, the 2-year-old bernedoodle, gets plenty of love and aloha across the islands as a therapy dog visiting hospitals, nursing homes, community events and 91直播 Life Flight crews who respond to some of the state’s most difficult emergencies.

On Thursday, National Therapy Animal Day, 91直播 Life Flight highlighted Aka’s role in helping air medical crews manage the stress, trauma and long hours that come with caring for patients in crisis once the crews return.

Aka is part of the Global Medical Response Therapy Dog Team, a national program under 91直播 Life Flight’s parent company, GMR.

A certified therapy dog, Aka works as the only active GMR therapy dog in 91直播 alongside Amanda Scott, her handler, flight nurse and 91直播 Life Flight Waimea base manager.

“I live on the Big Island so we travel to Honolulu, Maui and Kauai frequently for hospital visits and community outreach,” Scott wrote in a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Aka’s full name, Ho‘o Mino‘aka, means “to make people smile or bring them happiness.”

“I think that work just kind of encompasses her entire job,” Scott said.

The GMR Therapy Dog Team started in 2016 and includes about 40 dogs across the country, Scott said.

“All of our handlers are first responders,” Scott said. “They all work somewhere within the company and then kind of do this on the side.”

Aka is the second GMR therapy dog to serve in 91直播, though the previous dog has since retired, Scott said.

All other GMR therapy dogs are located on the mainland.

Aka joined the company about a year and a half ago, turned 2 in February and became fully certified last year, Scott said.

Selected from Big Island Doodles in Captain Cook, Aka was chosen for traits that would help her handle therapy work, including an easy-going temperament and comfort around loud noises.

“She’s very mellow,” Scott said. “She stays calm, she doesn’t get easily excited or agitated or irritated.”

Having patience matters when Aka visits nursing homes, hospitals, school events, training sessions and dispatch centers, where people may pet her, hug her or gather around.

“She just has to be willing to cope with that and not be irritated by it,” Scott said.

In nursing homes and hospitals, visits may take place in groups or in individual rooms.

“She’ll kind of go to each individual person and kind of spend time with them and get their love and cuddles that they need,” Scott said.

For 91直播 Life Flight crews, Aka’s work can include showing up during training, after a difficult patient call or during a long shift.

When Scott is flying, Aka stays home with Scott’s family and “gets to embrace the dog life,” Scott said.

Across the state, 91直播 Life Flight has fixed-wing and rotor wing, or helicopter, bases on Kauai, Oahu and Maui, along with bases in Kona, Waimea and Hilo.

At the Honolulu fixed-wing base, located at Lagoon Drive on the Diamond Head side of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, base manager and flight nurse Alan Agodong said Aka’s visits can brighten long stretches of work.

“Sometimes we’re here day in and day out,” Agodong said. “Sometimes we’re up all night going into the next day.”

During those stretches, even a brief visit from Aka can help lift the weight of a difficult day, he said.

“You might be in the middle of a hard stretch, but then you see Aka around the corner, it makes it all worthwhile,” he said.

Air medical crews can face traumatic calls, difficult patients and situations where responders never learn what happened to a patient after they were dropped off.

“We don’t really get that closure from a lot of our calls,” Scott said.

Agodong said some of the hardest calls involve children.

“Those kind of stay with you,” he said.

“I think it’s a vote across all of us that the kids are the ones that we struggle with,” Scott said.

After difficult calls, crews often debrief with each other and lean on one another for support, Agodong said.

“We talk amongst each other,” he said. “It’s just a way for us to get those feelings off our chest and on the table.”

With Aka, comfort does not always require a conversation.

“No words need to be exchanged,” Agodong said.

“She’s the silent treatment,” Scott said.

For dispatchers, Aka offers a short break from a high-stress environment.

“They sit in an office all day with no windows,” Scott said. “For her to come in and lighten the mood and kind of be able to give them a 5-minute break to just regroup and get that attention is nice for them.”

Aka also has limits, which has Scott watching for signs that the dog has had enough.

“If she kind of continuously jumps on me, because I’m the only person she can jump on, that’s my cue like, ‘Mom, I’m done for today,’” Scott said.

First responders need support systems because the work can affect them physically and emotionally, Agodong said.

“These calls, this contact with patients and their family members do take a toll,” he said. “So we need to take it seriously.”

Mental health support does not always have to look like formal therapy, Scott said.

“It’s not just talking to someone,” she said. “It’s something as simple as some cuddles for a dog sometimes.”

For crews who spend their days caring for others, Aka offers comfort without judgment.

“You didn’t even realize you needed that hug or that, you know, dog kiss,” Scott said. “You didn’t know you needed it at that day, but she came, she gave it to you and it was awesome.”