LARGE ANIMAL RESCUE SKULL SESSION
August 12

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT

This problem is based on a real scenario and is presented for a "Skull Session" discussion in the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue Facebook Group. Location The incident has occurred in an Eastern Sierra valley that catches a great deal of rain and snow runoff. Date and Time January 2nd, AM Incident Details An unseasonal subtropical wave has blown in from the Pacific Ocean with heavy rains that significantly eroded the snow pack. You have been called to a neighborhood that was flooding and contained various forms of livestock. The location is accessible via flooded paved roads. The water current is not swift but it is moving steadily and is very icy. Traveling on foot requires at times walking up to your waist in moving, muddy water. Upon arrival you find stranded animals. A group of goats are perched on an overturned stock tank. Some donkeys are standing in a corral with water up to their chests. A horse is standing in a corral with water up to his belly. Pot bellied pigs are standing in a shed with their heads barely above water. There are some fowl present. To get to the animals you have to walk up a flooded driveway that crosses a ditch. The water in the ditch and over the driveway is moving significantly. You have on hand the usual animal evacuation supplies (lead ropes, halters, long ropes, etc.) and whatever you can find in the water on the flooded property. This incident has occured in a wide-area emergency where other resources that would otherwise be available are being held in other specific areas due to the potential of roads and bridges being closed. As a result, no additional resources are available to you. This is a location where septic tanks are required to be mounded and you can see that there is a relatively stable mound showing above the water line that is accessible behind the house. The scene on your approach. The scene on your arrival. (The animals are in the back.) Skull Session Questions What are your priorities? What are the safety issues? What resources do you need? Describe your action plan. Please post your answers to the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue group. Skull Session rules. Please post your answers independently of the answers posted by others. Please also recognize that there can be varying perceptions as to what these scenarios involve since these problems are being solved using limited information. The values of these sessions include the various approaches the participants may suggest based on their varying perceptions of the problem, so it's not a matter of someone being right and someone being wrong. Please read, think, and post your answers to the TLAER Facebook group based on your perception of the problem presented. Continue to How the Incident was Resolved Go to Skull Session Index Return to the Strike Team LRTC Page

This material is intended for the use of the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER) Facebook Group. TLAER is a trademark of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue.