LARGE ANIMAL RESCUE SKULL SESSION
July 22

  DRAFT HORSE IN THE LAKE

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 a large lake and recreation area managed by the State Parks department. The lake has a sandy bottom that includes strata of unstable lake bed that can entrap animals and people alike. The adjacent beach has a great deal of loose sand beyond the wake line that tends to get vehicles stuck that try to drive over it.

Date and Time

Mid-afternoon on the Labor Day holiday.

Incident Details

You receive a call from State Parks stating that a Belgian Draft Horse is bogged in the water in the lake. Parks personnel and bystanders have tried unsuccessfully to extricate the horse for nearly four hours.

Equipment on-scene includes a couple of State Parks vehicles, a State Parks brush fire truck and a citizen's 4-wheel drive pickup that has an electric winch parked at the water's edge.

Upon arrival you see the horse in the water, surrounded by civilians, with its head being floated on an inner tube. It becomes immediately clear that the horse's legs are stuck fast in the lake bottom sediment and he can't simply be pulled free.

The scene on your arrival.

Skull Session Questions

  1. What are your priorities?

  2. What are the safety issues?

  3. What resources do you need?

  4. 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.

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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.