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For much of our lives, the nation s soldiers are out of sight and mind.
It s just the way it is because we are busy, and as one current soldier told me, it is the way it should be.
He reasoned that he serves so that U.S. citizens don t have to worry about the problems happening around the world.
That all changes on patriotic holidays, when our soldiers come front and center, and Memorial Day is one of those.
With Memorial Day approaching, Lakewood Ranch Community activities is hosting the Tribute to Heroes Concert 5-7 p.m. May 22 at the Greenbrook Adventure Park in Lakewood Ranch. The concert is a replacement for the Tribute to Heroes Parade, which commonly is held on Memorial Day weekend. The parade had to be cancelled because Lakewood Ranch Community Activities felt the safety of the community, due to the pandemic, was still in question when it came to squeezing thousands of people along Lakewood Main Street.
UpdatedTue, May 4, 2021 at 11:10 am ET
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Buffy the COVID-sniffing dog, trained in a Southeastern Guide Dogs pilot program, has a 95 percent accuracy rate in detecting COVID-19 in a person. (Shutterstock)
SARASOTA, FL The Doctors Hospital of Sarasota has a furry addition to its team of medical professionals on the front line battling the coronavirus pandemic: a COVID-sniffing yellow Labrador retriever named Buffy.
The sweet-tempered 2-year-old pup is a highly trained scent-detection dog from Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, according to a news release from the hospital.
She greets visitors at the hospital s entrance and, if she detects COVID-19, she ll lie down at the visitor s feet and wait for a treat. Visitors will be asked to get additional testing, which can be done free of charge at the hospital or elsewhere if the person prefers.
By Christopher Spata and Tampa Bay Times •
Published May 1, 2021 •
Updated on May 1, 2021 at 10:20 am
Three days a week, Buffy greets visitors at the entrance to Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. If they grant permission, she sniffs their feet seeking a whiff of active COVID-19 infection.
Few decline the offer when they see the yellow Labrador retriever with a wagging tail. People generally don’t love going to a hospital, said CEO Robert Meade, but, “Who doesn’t love labs?” Be prepared for the 2021 hurricane season! Download our
our mobile app for iOS to get the latest forecasts and alerts.
Buffy was trained by Palmetto-based Southeastern Guide Dogs as part of a four-dog pilot program for scent detection. Southeastern Guide Dogs has for years trained service animals and provided them for free to disabled veterans and people with vision loss. Scent detection, however, was new territory.
The original plan for 2020 was to train dogs to detect heightened levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. That could let the dogs know when to wake up military veterans suffering night terrors, or get them out of a stressful situation before a panic attack strikes.
The coronavirus pandemic derailed that plan, but opened the door to another. Small, early studies on dogs trained to detect COVID-19 in Europe - though still unproven - showed promise. Southeastern decided to give it a shot.
The four dogs selected were not the top of their class. In fact, they’d flunked out of Southeastern’s guide dog training.