Here at EARS we provide a lot of education to animal owners through our programs, but one thing many may not know about our organization is that we also provide training to emergency services throughout Connecticut. On Saturday, February 24, we worked together with Wolcott Animal Control to organize an important training for town first responders in dealing with large animals. Like many towns in Connecticut, Wolcott has has a few farms, and is also in an area that horse traffic (riding trails, horse shows, and trailer traffic) can be high at times, so it was important to get responders acquainted with the different aspects of dealing with large animals. Our first responders are awesome men and women, and many of them are pet owners themselves, so they will go to great lengths to help animals in need. But dealing with a dog or a cat at the scene of an emergency is much different than an 1,800 pound horse, so giving them the knowledge and the opportunity to do that can be extremely useful.
We were happy to have such a great interest and response from Wolcott emergency services, and welcomed nearly 30 people for the training. Responders first attended a multimedia presentation which included photographs and overviews of actual large animal responses from here in Connecticut that the EARS Team has been involved with. We discusses the procedures for approaching these situations, logistics of working with large animals, and some of what they could potentially see on their own emergency calls. It gave everyone a chance to see the "real life scenarios" that involve large animals, from dealing with barn fires and traffic accidents, to injured horses or horses stuck in situations, to barn collapses. In addition the presentation about details on specific situations allowed responders to have a sense of what tools, setup, and other aspects may be needed for specific incidents.
After the presentation, the class from discussion aspects to "practical" aspects, as the main goal was to get responders some hands-on experience. That portion started with an introduction to horse trailers, and the many differences they may face on responses in regards to the type of trailer construction, tools needed to access, internal layout, and more. Responders had the chance to walk around a trailer, open doors, examine the ways to get access if doors were unavailable, and also see the types of hazards that trailers present in accidents. From there it was on to horse handling, where horses were brought in to the group and everyone was taught about horse behavior, signs of stress, and how to work around and with them at emergency scenes. Each member of the emergency services had the opportunity to take the lead of a horse and learn how to properly lead them, work around them, and other important aspects of dealing with large animals with hands-on aspects.
Check out the gallery below for some great pictures from the training! And if you are part of a department that would like to learn more about arranging a training in your area, feel free to contact us at info@earsct.org.
We were happy to have such a great interest and response from Wolcott emergency services, and welcomed nearly 30 people for the training. Responders first attended a multimedia presentation which included photographs and overviews of actual large animal responses from here in Connecticut that the EARS Team has been involved with. We discusses the procedures for approaching these situations, logistics of working with large animals, and some of what they could potentially see on their own emergency calls. It gave everyone a chance to see the "real life scenarios" that involve large animals, from dealing with barn fires and traffic accidents, to injured horses or horses stuck in situations, to barn collapses. In addition the presentation about details on specific situations allowed responders to have a sense of what tools, setup, and other aspects may be needed for specific incidents.
After the presentation, the class from discussion aspects to "practical" aspects, as the main goal was to get responders some hands-on experience. That portion started with an introduction to horse trailers, and the many differences they may face on responses in regards to the type of trailer construction, tools needed to access, internal layout, and more. Responders had the chance to walk around a trailer, open doors, examine the ways to get access if doors were unavailable, and also see the types of hazards that trailers present in accidents. From there it was on to horse handling, where horses were brought in to the group and everyone was taught about horse behavior, signs of stress, and how to work around and with them at emergency scenes. Each member of the emergency services had the opportunity to take the lead of a horse and learn how to properly lead them, work around them, and other important aspects of dealing with large animals with hands-on aspects.
Check out the gallery below for some great pictures from the training! And if you are part of a department that would like to learn more about arranging a training in your area, feel free to contact us at info@earsct.org.
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