January 11, 2015 - We were dispatched for a horse trapped on the ice in Stafford County at 11:22 hours. While responding we connected with the on scene Incident Commander for a briefing. We requested a water rescue team, Vet, animal control officer and a tractor to lift the animal. Upon arrival we found that George had gone out on the ice and fell on his side. Exposure time was unknown. Stafford Fire and Rescue units had managed to extricate George from the water. The owner and concerned neighbors had warmed blankets and towels and laid them on him to help maintain body temperature. We assessed the situation and decided to wait for the vet to assess George before we moved him further. We did not want to risk him getting up and going back into the water. The vet arrived and found that his body temperature had dropped to around 95 degrees. She immediately administered warm IVs and medicine. After waiting for an effect we decided to move him up the field and away from the water. He had made no attempt to stand after several attempts of encouragement. This became a major concern. We placed George on our glide, (he did not do well with the life preserver head protection) so we left it off but monitored his head while moving him. After moving him we turned him over onto his favorite side to stand up and waited. The vet advised that if he did not stand on his own the use of our Becker sling would probably not have been viable due to his hypothermia. Just as we began to gather our equipment to leave, George rallied himself and stood on his own!! As we left George was drinking, eating and standing. Thanks to the Stafford County fire and rescue units, animal control officer, vet and backhoe operator for your assistance!!
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 22:34:46 +0000
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