GILBERTSVILLE PA – Two security K-9 officers – a male black Labrador retriever named Dexter, and a female springer spaniel called Cisco – are scheduled to be publicly introduced Monday (March 31, 2025) by the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN).
The network is part of Jefferson Health, and operates Lehigh Valley-Gilbertsville Hospital. The hospital opened last June at the corner of Grosser Road and Route 100.
The K-9s are capable of detecting firearms. They are part of what the network calls “a leading-edge, proactive strategy that aims to increase the safety of patients, colleagues and the community.”
The dogs’ “scent detection capabilities are so precise that they can often detect a firearm simply when walking into a room,” the network adds.
Making Their Rounds
Dexter and Cisco have been in training for some time, working with handling officers and Ryan Hay, the network’s administrator of Emergency Operations and Public Safety. They recently began making rounds at Lehigh Valley hospitals, and major health network and community events.
Members of the media and the public will meet them officially Monday during an 11 a.m. news conference at Cedar Crest Hospital in Allentown.
Network representatives, in a notice issued Friday (March 28) to the media, say the hospital system acquired the dogs from Stapleton Security. The business specializes in “detection and security services across the country,” and runs a K-9 training facility in East Stroudsburg PA, the network reports.
Dexter and Cisco “were handpicked and trained by Frank Reda, who has more than 30 years of K-9 experience,” according to the network.
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