Pet first aid training comes to the rescue | Penn Today Skip to Content Skip to Content News from University of Pennsylvania Try Advanced Search One day last fall, Penn Vet student Alison Kowalski and her best canine friend, Kona, were enjoying a great game of fetch in a field near where they live. Kona was having so much fun, she didn’t want to stop. And since it was a temperate day, only about 65 degrees, Kowalski let the play go on. View large image Penn Vet student Alison Kowalski and her Lab mix, Kona, taking a break from play at a local park. (Image: Mo Icasiano) But on the walk home, Kowalski saw that something was definitely not right with her Lab mix girl. “She had a couple of weird steps where she seemed unsteady, and then just flopped down on the ground. At that point, I knew something was weird,” says Kowalski, a Class of 2026 student at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine Heatstroke struck her as the most likely culprit because they had been exercising. Quickly, she got Kona into her bathtub and turned on the shower’s cold water, her Penn Vet first aid training kicking into high alert. As the cold water continued to shower down on her, Kona began lapping up some of the water. Kowalski took Kona’s temperature. “It was 107, which is really scary for a dog,” she says. Kowalski called a friend, and they drove Kona to Ryan Hospital. By the time they arrived, Kona’s temperature was down to about 103. Her physical exam and blood work were both normal. Kowalski credits the 15 minutes Kona spent cooling off in the shower before they got her to the hospital. “I really do feel the water made a big difference,” Kowalski says. Read more at Penn Vet. Share this article Threads Credits Writer From Penn Vet More from School of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2026 Veterinary Medicine Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system Health & Medicine Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form. No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise Image: Sciepro/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Natural Sciences No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies. Studying Shakespeare through the lens of love In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted. nocred Arts & Humanities Studying Shakespeare through the lens of love In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love. Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion nocred Technology Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.