We all, of course, hope that we will never find ourselves in an emergency situation with our pets.  Unfortunately, emergencies creep upon us when we least expect them and it’s important that every pet owner know how to respond.  The worst situation you and your companion animals can find yourselves in is an emergency with no 24-hour veterinary facility near and no one with animal emergency training present.  At the very least, I recommend you take a course in pet first aid.  Oftentimes your local fitness center and/or community college will offer courses in pet first aid, for a small fee.  I encourage you to take a course where there are animal props because the (albeit basic) hands-on training can be life-saving in a future emergency.  The American Safety & Health Institute offers a Pet First Aid program that has the ASPCA seal of approval.  Here you can locate the ASHI training center nearest you.  Please be sure to check with the training center as not all of them offer the Pet First Aid program.