Fire safety and equine rescue under the spotlight
Fire safety and equine rescue will be the focus of a new international conference in Prague.
The British Animal Rescue and Trauma Care Association (BARTA) will hold its first animal rescue conference later this year (3-5 December).
The conference aims to bring together vets, fire and rescue professionals and those with a professional interest in livestock and horses.
“Rescuing trapped or injured horses is not something that is confined to horsebox and trailer accidents,” said Jim Green, director of BARTA and an animal rescue specialist for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
“With Rio 2016 on the horizon, the conference will explore how incident management procedures, coupled with safe animal handling techniques, are being increasingly utilised in equine sport.”
One of the topics under discussion will be fire safety on yards, as well as the evacuation and management of horses in the event of a fire.
Equine behaviour and modern horse ambulance design are also included in the programme.
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“90% of UK fire and rescue services now have formal large animal rescue capabilities and there are trained first response vets across the country,” added Mr Green.
“This model is now being adopted by countries across Europe and beyond and emergency responders from Belgium, Norway, Austria, Australia and Turkey have already benefitted through the UK initiative.”
BARTA was set up in 2012 by Mr Green and Prof Josh Slater, professor of equine clinical studies at the Royal Veterinary College.
It develops training, rescue equipment and emergency protocols for the management of equine and agricultural events and emergencies.
For more information visit: http://registrations.senatortravel.eu/barta
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.