Geisinger security canine fills unrealized community need

Feb. 7—DANVILLE — When Geisinger's security department began talking about bringing a canine to the Danville hospital, they didn't realize just how well-received their program would be throughout the community.

Aria, a German shepherd born in the Czech Republic, graduated from explosive detection training in February of 2021 and went on duty at Geisinger with her handler, Vicki Housner. Since then, the two have been called upon not only in the hospital setting, but by local law enforcement departments as well.

The concept of bringing a canine to Geisinger Medical Center was born in the workplace violence committee, according to Sean McGinley, now associate vice president of security operations for Geisinger, who was involved with the committee as the chief of police for Mahoning Township at the time.

When he officially joined the team at Geisinger, McGinley and Housner, who has been with the security department for more than 17 years, started having more serious discussions about a canine program.

The two decided to pilot the program at Geisinger and said they have seen great success.

In order to choose the perfect canine for the hospital setting, McGinley and Housner traveled to Shallow Creek Kennels, near Sharpsville, to take a look at their dog selection at the end of 2020, Housner said.

"They had chosen three dogs for us that they thought would fit in a hospital setting," Housner said. "Needless to say, Aria chose me."

Once Aria was selected, McGinley told the trainers at the kennels exactly what the Geisinger team wanted from their canine and they began training Aria from there.

Training a dog to track down explosive materials is actually a simple process, according to Housner.

"There are numerous chemicals used in explosive and the dogs are trained on those certain chemicals," she said. "So they'll start with one chemical, and the dog will learn that odor. They'll hide the odor, and when the dog finds it, they get rewarded."

The process was repeated with Aria until the canine was familiarized with all scents the Geisinger department wanted her to be able to track, Housner said.

Housner said she traveled to train with Aria for about six weeks in December of 2020. "She was 90-percent trained," Housner said. "The other 10 percent was just her and I training together."

Housner and Aria graduated from training in February of 2021 and went on duty. Aria is a certified explosive detection dog and is trained in tracking. The two continue training monthly to maintain the certification for explosives, Housner said.

For the past three years, Aria's skills have been utilized not only in the hospital setting but by local law enforcement departments as well. McGinley said this was something he didn't expect.

"I was thinking of it from an internal perspective at Geisinger, which is where we didn't want a drug-sniffing dog, we wanted to focus on safety," he said. "There was really a need throughout the entire region where sometimes you had to wait 2.5 hours to get a bomb dog to your location when you needed it."

Once this regional need was filled by the Geisinger program, local law enforcement called upon Aria to fill the gap.

"I really underestimated the need local law enforcement would have. Just within the last three weeks, I had two chiefs of police contact me about the program," McGinley said. "We didn't realize what we were getting into with the need outside of the Geisinger footprint, but it's something we feel strongly about."

It's important to Housner to be able to timely resolve an issue when local departments call on her and Aria. "When I see people being evacuated from homes, businesses being shut down and everyone's lives are at a stalemate until they get a dog there, it's about getting them back into their everyday life," she said.

Housner said she has even offered services at events like concerts at Spyglass Ridge Winery in Sunbury or for bomb sweeps prior to commencements at nearby universities like Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield.

Housner and Aria have also traveled to give presentations on their program. Officer Shawn Williams, chief of the Shikellamy School District Police Department and a retired state trooper, said the two have visited his law enforcement club at the district high school.

"Having a resource like Officer Vicki Housner and K9 Aria in our area is extremely valuable. They have been wonderful partners with the Shikellamy School District and are very dependable," Williams said. "They have visited our high school to conduct demonstrations for our students and when it is time to get down to business, there is no better pair to help keep us all safe."

McGinley noted that as Geisinger Philanthropy funded the program, it's important for them to give back to the community in these ways.

Housner definitely agreed.

"Community donations got me my program through the Geisinger Foundation," she said. "Why shouldn't I give back to the community that gave me my program? The more we can do, the better."

Also trained in social skills, Aria is a light throughout the Geisinger community itself and has her own fan club of staff and patients, Housner said.

"Staff will reach out if their unit is having a bad day. It boosts morale," she said. "We have a kiddo here quite frequently and he just loves her and calls upon her all the time."

Geisinger's canine program is now regional and covers the health system's entire central region, north central region and western region, according to McGinley. He encouraged patients to say "hi" if they see Aria and Housner making their rounds.

"Don't be afraid to say 'hello' when you see them," McGinley said. "They do routine rounds, there's nothing unusual about seeing them out patrolling the floors."