II :1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EQUINE RESCUE

EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL HORSES

Alan Young, DVM

Summary

Equipment used to extricate and transport individual horses at horse trials and three-day events is reviewed along with procedures. Such equipment is practical in situations encountered in equine practice.

Introduction

Veterinarians are frequently asked to be on duty at horse shows, horse trials and three-day events. As a veteri- nary official you must be prepared to cope with any possible eventuality, quickly and professionally.

This may include extrication from a competition ob- stacle or transporting a recumbent or exhausted animal for treatment. Readily available equipment can be modified easily and economically to be prepared for these situations.

Before detailing equipment, let me discuss the role of veterinarians at equestrian competitions. Veterinary offi- cials must be proactive in equine welfare and uphold the ethics of horse sports. Remember, we are there to protect the horse as well as deal with emergencies.

Veterinarians should voice concerns over safety of horses, footing, stabling problems, ice requirements, heat and humidity to the Technical Delegate and the Organizer.

At horse trials and three-day events it is not sufficient to arrive as the competition starts. The veterinarian must be familiar with the competition site and, in particular, the cross country course. Routes for accessing all areas of the course with horse ambulance or treatment vehicles must be planned. Radio contact with the Control Center and maps for all personnel are essential.

Be aware that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, on certain occasions. We tend to get used to things running smoothly but when several horses are on course at once there is potential for more than one emergency to occur at any given time.

It is very important to hold a thorough briefing of all vets, ambulance drivers and attendants prior to the start of

Author's address: R.R.#1, Terra CoRe, Ontario, Canada LOP1 NO

NON-REVIEWED

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Figure 1, Screen detail.

competition. Mock-up situations help to ensure competent and professional management of crises. Be sure to stress the need for ambulance drivers and attendants to remain with their vehicle and to be ready for dispatch at any time. Planned access routes to all fences must be kept clear.

Remember you are dealing with the general public as well as the emergency situation. In most cases emergencies can be better dealt with out of the public eye. It is an F.E.I. requirement that screens be available to shield the horse from the public (or the public from the emergency) during a crisis situation. Acutely injured horses must always be screened or loaded for transport. Even three-legged, lame horses can be loaded and transported for treatment.

Equipment and materials

Ambulance For a three-day event you will require two or three

horse ambulances, a transport trailer and possibly a vehicle for highway transport. The ambulance must be low load- ing, preferably an extra-wide, two-horse trailer with a ramp. It should have no partition (or a moveable partition) and should have front unload. It is very difficult to back an injured horse off a trailer and front access is important for safety when loading a recumbent horse. In order to access all parts of the course in inclement weather it has to be pulled by a four-wheel drive vehicle or tractor. If a tractor is used, be sure that the hitch is interchangeable with that of a road vehicle if transport is required.

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Figure 2. Mat for loading recumbent horses.

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150 JOURNAL OF EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EQUINE RESCUE

Southern Pines, North Carolina. February 11-12, 1995

A useful item, either in the back of the towing vehicle J \ \ or mounted on the trailer, is a water tank. In strenuous

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competition a horse can be down, in shock and possibly ,,~wveh,~,,,\ exhausted. He may be in thermal overload (heat stroke). ' / __ ' _~" Ambulance i

Since you may be situated a long distance from water, even w in c il " ~ / ~ " ~ . . . . . a forty-gallon tank will provide a useful start to cooling an =/vehicle !

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overheated horse. With a clean muck skip, a bag of ice and "--/ forty gallons of water, much precious time can be saved while reserves are brought. Our tanks can also be pressur- ized using a compressor that plugs into a car cigarette lighter.

Contents of Ambulance 1. A knife or axe is necessary for dismantling cross

country obstacles. Do not count on the fence judge to have one.Cross country fences are generally fastened with rope so that they can be easily dismantled to extricate competi- tors. Remember, the horse is the patient, not the obstacle. The fence can be rebuilt later.

2. Tow lines and cotton ropes. 3. Bandage material, this can be soaked in ice water on

site even prior to transport for injured tendons, etc. 4. I.V. fluids and oxygen tanks must be on hand and a

useful addition to any ambulance trailer are hooks installed in the roof for suspending I.V. fluids. (Ten percent of competitors at major three-day events have metabolic crises - there is no need to wait to begin treatment.)

5. Screens, as mentioned before, are required by the F.E.I. We originally used tarpaulins, either held by volun- teers or mounted on poles with spikes on top. In this way a 12ft by 16ft tarpaulin can be folded to make a barrier 6 feet high by 16 feet long. You will need several of these and many volunteers who are not always available.

We now use a system developed over several years which consists of a series of lightweight, self-standing screens which can be assembled in almost any configura- tion required to shield the patient and on almost any footing from concrete to the side of a hill. A series of 5-foot square frames made of 3/4 inch CPVC pipe are assembled by the ambulance attendants on arrival at the site. As required, they are fastened together with plastic cable ties and configured around the patient zigzagged or in a circle. In windy conditions they may be supported by a volunteer or stabilized by tent pegs or staples. Using ten of these sections a 50-foot circle can be cordonned off in minutes. After use they can be folded while still fastened together or the ties cut and the screens dismantled in a matter of minutes.

6. The mat or Magic Carpet is for use with recumbent horses. It is a piece of conveyer belt that has been cut to fit

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Figure 3 . Vehicle configuration for loading recumbent patient.

in a horse trailer or ambulance. It has a metal reinforcing plate at the towing end and several holes for securing the patient (i.e., for towing up inclines, etc.). It is easy to transport. I often take it in my practice vehicle, when needed, to load a recumbent animal onto the client' s trailer or horsebox. It takes up little storage space and being a mat it has the ability to go around tight corners and through doorways. It can easily be placed under a recumbent horse in a box stall, in the back of a barn or, equally well, at any cross country obstacle. In fact it only takes four people to float a mature horse down a stable aisle if no winch is available.

This mat is also used, for aesthetic reasons, to load a casualty, covered by a tarpaulin, discreetly into the deadstock trailer.

7. Winches are expensive and are not easily mounted into an ambulance. For this reason we use the following system:

Loading recumbent animals The mat is slid under the horse. It is not normally

necessary to secure the patient unless there is a gradient to be negotiated. The ambulance and the winching vehicle are jackknifed to allow the winching vehicle to pull the mat onto the trailer. See Figure 3 for configuration of vehicles.

Conclusion

The equipment described is economically modified or fabricated from readily available materials. It has been well tested and with practice and experience can be used to extricate a patient from most practice or competition crises swiftly and safely.

Volume 15, Number 4, 1995 151