Remembering Charlie: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Pays Tribute to Fallen K9 Hero

Charlie, a greyhound therapy dog based at the Miami-Dade (Florida) Fire Rescue department that had rendered emotional support to firefighters and paramedics in the wake of the 2018 Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shootings in Parkland, Florida and the Surfside condominium building collapse in 2021 passed away on Monday, April 8.

Charlie died of hemangiosarcoma, a malignant tumor originating in the cells lining blood vessels. The fast-growing, significantly invasive cancer almost exclusively occurs in dogs and is more common in large breeds.

In a statement released by the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, they write, “Rest in peace, Charlie. You will be greatly missed. Our collaborative family joins Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Captain Shawn Campana in mourning the loss of this most beloved mental wellness team member."

The statement shared more about working with Charlie, with Charlie and Captain Campana becoming the first team to join the Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative. According to the statement, they've been an integral part of building the department's K9 Crisis Response Team class.

“Charlie set the compassion bar for canine response, becoming a registered Certified Therapy Dog and attaining the highest certification in National Crisis Response. His handler, Captain Shawn Campana, has been with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue since 1997. With Charlie ever by her side, Captain Campana started the initiative as a pilot program with the pure intention of supporting her brothers and sisters on duty but because of her heart and compassion, the MDFR Crisis Response K9 Team became a leading team in the state.”

Charlie Joining the Response K9 Team

Dogs are utilized in three ways. The Response K9 team – a component of the department’s peer support team – accompanies their handlers in peer-support defusing. Station-based dogs serve as crew therapy. And Campana also trains service dogs for personnel battling mental health issues.

Charlie had started as Campana’s pet, as noted in this previously published story in EMS World.

“I had him for about two years before I needed a service dog with the symptomology I was having and was fortunate enough to find a trainer who could train a greyhound to be a service dog,” she adds.

Within six months in Charlie’s company, Campana did not have any more anxiety attacks or fainting spells.

“I was so confident that it would work for others because I knew there were a lot of people in my department with PTSD,” says Campana.

Campana had already been a member of the peer support team and introduced the idea of canine therapy. She got the green light based on evidence of the success of the approach and soon Charlie became certified.

Campana recalls numerous examples of Charlie giving comfort to firefighters and paramedics at work.

One time, he approached someone whose friend in law enforcement had just committed suicide. Another colleague of Campana reported, “The day Charlie came up to me in the parking lot was the day that I failed my paramedic test.”

“I realized then it was very discreet,” Campana says of Charlie’s approaching people. “Nobody else in the station knew anything that anybody was going through. but Charlie knew. That discreteness was actually a big deal. You didn't have to talk to anybody. A lot of these guys are private. They didn't tell us what was going on but Charlie just went and hung out with them.”

Campana says she came to realize the firefighters and paramedics loved having him in the station for various reasons.

“Somebody told me they liked that when they were coming back from bad calls that they could hang out with him. Another person wanted the same thing. That’s when I realized we can start getting a team together – that this would work for our peer support team as well – instead of just having them hanging out at the stations as therapy dogs, they could play active roles in the peer support team.”

Charlie's Deployments and Accomplishments

Charlie’s first deployment was after the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shootings when the peer support team was on hand to serve the responders.

After Charlie provided support during the Surfside condo collapse where dogs were stationed at the pile for the Urban Search and Rescue, the medical examiner’s tent, and the homicide tents until the incident was finished Campana was asked to build a program as part of a peer support state response.

“There’s a mental health component now in every command structure for every incident going forward,” she says. “They're concerned about the responders’ mental health, so canines are now part of the state response. Charlie went on multiple deployments.”

Campana has pointed out that there is solid medical evidence to back up the effectiveness of therapy and service dog programs.

“We’re still using words like comfort, relief, and connection,” she notes. “That’s where the response canine certification comes in. Now we’re using words like resiliency and post-traumatic growth.”

Campana says in contemplating what fire-rescue personnel went through on the scene for two weeks in the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse.

“There’s the effects of numbing and ruminating. The dogs are like a circuit breaker that gets them out of their head and back to the present so they can continue doing the hard work that they have to do.”

Campana says every time she’d go into the headquarters building with Charlie, it wouldn’t be a quick visit.

“It would take me at least 30 minutes to go down one floor and out the building because anytime we saw people in the hallway, they would always want to stop and pet Charlie,” she notes. “Those people barely even know my name, but they knew who he was.”

Campana describes Charlie as a “very stoic, gentle, but confident dog. He was an empath. He knew how to read people, especially hurting people. It floors me to hear so many stories about how he helped people. He was so happy. He loved going to work and he made going to work a lot easier for me.

“He was a natural at it. You can’t train for that – they just do it. He loved people – especially people in uniform.”

When Charlie was off duty, his favorite activity was running on the beach, Campana notes.

“The first time he ever ran into the ocean, he did a like a 12-foot leap. He always loved to run on the beach. He would run around then he would circle the lifeguard station, get on the shady side, and dig himself a nice big hole and lay in it.”

Empathetic in Nature

Not only was Charlie an empath toward people, but to other dogs as well.

“All of the team’s canines would walk in the classroom and lick him on the muzzle like a sign of respect, peace and love,” Campana says.

Campana has three other dogs at home for whom Charlie also provided emotional support: Navouu, 6; Yukii, 12, and Frankie Bones, nearly two years old.

“His little brother Navouu is very depressed right now,” she says. “He was a rock to Navouu. His sister – my Chinese Greyhound – gets anxiety. She’d be panting on her bed and Charlie would just stand over her and she’d lean her head into his belly and his chest. I said, ‘Dude, you’re a service dog to other dogs. It was amazing.”

Campana knows Charlie loved her as well.

“We were so bonded,” she says.

Charlie had worked until the day he died.

Campana says she appreciates the support she’s gotten from crew members in the wake of Charlie’s death.

“Everywhere in the department, they loved him,” she adds. “There’s been an overwhelming show of support and love for this dog.”