The Wiltshire Air Ambulance has made history by becoming the first air ambulance resource to employ a Critical Care Dog to assist in emergencies.

The charity said on Saturday that it has teamed up with Doghouse in Bradford-on-Avon to recruit their Dachshund Maude to attend incidents and bring comfort, relief, and distraction to patients during their treatment and transfer to hospital.

Doghouse owner Ruth Warren said: “It is widely documented that simply stroking a dog can immediately lower blood pressure and stress levels, so we feel very privileged that our Doghouse Dachshund Maude has been selected to train for this role.

“We look forward to seeing her Air Ambulance career take flight over the weeks ahead.”

Maude’s slender size ensures she won’t take up valuable space onboard the charity’s Bell 429 helicopter.

Although she will often land with the crews, she can also be easily lowered into emergencies as a first responder to bring calm to the injured if the aircrew need to find a safer landing spot further away.

A Wiltshire Air Ambulance spokesman added: “People may think we’re barking mad but it’s something we’ve been looking at for some time to enhance our service and patient care.

“We do think Maude’s involvement will lead to a much-improved experience for our patients.

“We can’t thank the Doghouse enough for allowing their trusty Dachshund to work with us and the people of Wiltshire and Bath will soon see Maude joining our aircrews for shifts in the weeks ahead, once she has been put through the relevant training.”

Wiltshire Air Ambulance provides helicopter emergency medical services to Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas.

The charity needs to raise £4 million a year to continue its lifesaving work and receives no regular direct government funding or National Lottery grants.

Doghouse is a destination store combining a pet shop, dog grooming salon and café, with a flagship store at 1 Lamb Yard in Bradford-on-Avon (BA15 1PR) and its newest premises in Clifton, Bristol (BS8 4JH).

Oh hang on, what day is it today? Oh, right... April Fools!

No, the air ambulance is not actually going to recruit a critical care dog.

A spokesman for the charity (but really this time) said they would like to thank the wonderful staff at Doghouse in Bradford-on-Avon for lending them their Dachshund Maude for this prank.