On a busy Tuesday morning inside Paoli Hospital's emergency department, Lincoln and his buddy Axel are on duty. The dogs are crisis response canines. Simply put, both are in search of belly rubs and are looking to engage hospital staff and help them keep calm and take a breather. Their mission is to melt away the stress of long days and weeks.

"A lot of people don't realize they have very challenging nights," John Hunt of Crisis Response Canines said in reference to the busy hospital workers in Chester County, Pennsylvania. "The problem is, in some worlds, that ends. In their world, it's one after the other."

Hunt's four-legged helpers stopped these hard workers in their tracks.

"It breaks the tension in the room, just seeing the dogs everywhere," Justin Jenkins, a behavioral health clinician, said. "It breaks up the monotony of the horrible things that we see."

Hunt says his working service animals have extensive training to help people decompress.

"The dogs are going to sit in front of them, that's deep pressure therapy. They're going to either sit right on their feet [or] they're going to sit and lean against them. The whole concept there is there's going to be a touch that makes them feel that they have that sense of comfort right next to them, and that helps people decompress," Hunt said. 

Emergency department charge nurse Laura Marshaleck, who was instrumental in bringing the dogs here, said a 2024 horrific child abuse case is what motivated her to do something.

"I was part of a team taking care of her. She did not survive," Marshaleck said. "For our team and myself, afterwards, I felt so broken, so lost and didn't really know what I needed for support. But I knew I needed something."

These crisis response canines were in Uvalde and at the deadly Texas floods in July, and they were delayed in coming to Paoli Hospital because of their work in Minneapolis following the Annunciation Catholic School shooting.

"As soon as they walk in the room, everyone's faces light up," Marshaleck said. "And my face lights up."

These front-line workers are grateful for the support from furry friends. The twice-monthly visits, paid for by a donor, were borne out of a tragedy but are spreading comfort today. 

"Every moment, everything has been in memory of that little girl, and I carry that with me every day, as do probably many other people here," Marshaleck said. "And this is for us; this is to support our staff here."