Fire and Vet Liaison Evening

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) hosted a veterinary liaison evening in conjunction with BARTA this month. Hosted at Winchester Fire Station and sponsored by Vestaplas, Farm and Stable, the evening attracted 18 members of 8 large animal veterinary practices that support the Hampshire Animal Rescue Team at large animal rescues.

The purpose of the meeting was to build relationships, understand each other’s capabilities and discuss ways to support each other in dealing with animal rescues as efficiently and safely as possible.

During a panel discussion, useful topics such as escorting vets to reach the scene of a road incident, creating a patient handover record for the owners regular vet and how to manage people at the scene of an incident were discussed, along with other questions that arose from past experiences.

Hampshire’s experienced animal rescue team demonstrated some of the techniques used to move or lift large animals with the focus on carrying out a casualty centred rescue with the right equipment to provide options at each and every rescue they attend.

As well as gaining an understanding of HFRS capabilities, Hannah Buteux (BARTA Regional Veterinary Lead) explained what support and training is currently available from BARTA for veterinarians in this emerging area of veterinary medicine.

Initial training is delivered in the practice and covers everything necessary to support a veterinarian in providing their professional service within a multi-agency environment.

Further training is available, for instance managing recumbent large animals. This course can be part of a wider qualification, or stand alone, appropriate for anyone who might to deal with recumbent animals in their role.

For those who would like to further their rescue and trauma skills, BARTA is working to provide a suite of modules capturing the specific requirements of a vet when working in the rescue arena, or when their skills are required in a challenging environment.

BARTA would like to thank all who attended and made the evening a resounding success.

It is expected that this template will be replicated throughout the UK with BARTA supporting other Fire and Rescue Services to strengthen the resilience of other counties in their response to incidents involving animals.