February 2020 Issue

Page 4 February 2020 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Horse Ambulance Headquartered at Fair Hill Available for Emergencies By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Accidents and emergen- cies with horses involved can’t be scheduled for convenient times and places where help is immediately available. Thanks to ERA (Equine Rescue Ambu- lance), a horse ambulance with trained personnel is on standby at Maryland steeplechases and other equestrian events. ERA was founded in 2002 as a standby for steeplechase meets by Rachel Westerlund, Jean Class, Danielle Class, and Renee Townsley. Based in the Balti- more area, the group broadened its focus and became an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization at the beginning of 2008. Now, a new branch of ERA has opened, operating from Fair Hill, Maryland to cover the needs of that area. Training for volunteers with the Equine Rescue Ambulance, Central Division, was held at Unicorn Farm in Chesapeake City, MD. The organization, which serves events and responds to emergencies, uses a 900 pound horse dummy that replicates the size and weight of the animals they rescue to train volunteers. “The Central Maryland Division is mainly transport and standby at races and horse events,” Fair Hill Division Team Leader Jo Ann Bashore said. “I was more experienced with tech- nical rescue of horses so that’s what we were working with up at this end of the state.” Bashore is well known in the Fair Hill area for her work as a park ranger at Fair Hill Natural Resources Center. She has long been a source for help and infor- mation when an equine rescue situation arises. “When I retired, I was getting calls but did not have equipment,” Bashore said. “We had the basic horse rescue equipment at Fair Hill but the equipment could only be released to a 911 call. It could not be released to the general public.” The horse ambulance from Fair Hill is available to provide coverage for events, plus they are also able to respond to emergen- cies and rescue situations. Not limited to the state of Maryland, they can respond within any feasible travel distance in the tri- state area of Maryland, Pennsyl- vania and Delaware. It might be a buggy horse involved in an accident on the road, a horse cast in its stall and unable to get up, or an animal in need of immediate transport to an emergency medical facility when there is no conventional trailer available. It is not just horses that ben- efit from the ambulance. Rescues are also made when cattle and other large animals are trapped or injured. To train volunteers to staff the ambulance and provide training for other first responders, the organi- zation holds educational sessions on how to respond and how to use equipment. Participants work with 900 lb. horse dummies so that they get practical experience with something that replicates the size and weight of the animal. “We’re getting a broad spec- trum of people. We make them aware that there are technical ways to extricate a horse from dangerous situations without making a human another victim,” Bashore said. Just as important as learning how to rescue a trapped horse is training the volunteers to keep themselves safe. They also must have the proper equipment to work with as well as proper training. “Often the horse owner is in an emotional state where they rush in and there you have your second victim,” Bashore said. “We look at it as an emergency medical sit- uation for the equine and possibly for the human. There’s a whole scene safety scenario.” Already Fair Hill ERA has received a donation to cover the cost of a rescue glide. This is an important piece of equipment that is the equivalent of a stretcher for large animals. With it a down horse that is too weak to stand can be moved, or it can be pulled with a gator to transport a horse from a location that is inaccessi- ble to a truck and trailer. The next fundraising goal is funds for the purchase of a trailer. “It’s going to take money and training and that’s what we’re asking the community to help us with,” Bashore said. The first day for Fair Hill ERA was Nov. 2, 2018. “Within 36 hours we had our first call for a large Percheron mare that was down and could not get up,” Bashore said. She explained that the horse owners had tried their best to get the horse up using lead shanks tied to the legs to try to pull the mare, but the shanks were not strong enough for the weight and broke after tighten- ing around the legs. “What they thought they were doing to help had not been productive.” Sometimes the ERA is called to the scene when there has been a traffic accident involving a horse. In these sit- uations, the first step is to have law enforcement respond to the scene. If the owner of the animal is not present, the rescuers have no authority to act. “We have no legal authority to treat animals or even touch them in the case where there’s no one present. A law officer or animal control officer can official- ly take possession of the animal, and they direct us,” Bashore explained. That need to work closely with law enforcement is so im- portant that Bashore is working to let area emergency responders know about the new resource that they have available. “We’re try- ing to get the word out and make everybody aware,” she said. Depends on Donations As a non-profit organization, ERA depends on donations to stay in operation. “We do not charge for our services. We do ask for donations to help with the cost of Email: eschfence@gmail.com - Fax: -- WHOLESALE & RETAIL Phone -- (Continued on page 21)