Articles

MERS responds to incumbent horse on July 07, 2010

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:23:46 GMT

MERS responded to an emergency call from a veterinarian for a horse that was down, in a pasture, and was unable to get up. The horse was thrashing about violently, trying to get up, but with no mobility in it's hind quarters. The veterinarian feared that there may some serious pelvic injury, but could not properly evaluate unless the horse was in a horizontal position. The horse was 18 hands, and weighed 1,500 pounds. While we were responding , we also requested a heavy equipment boom truck to respond, that we have access to.

Upon our arrival, the horse was being given fluids via IV, was still thrashing around, trying to get up. We immediately placed our MERS Head Protector on the horse, placed 2 short webbings on the dorsal side of the incumbent horse, and rolled the horse over onto the webbings . We then hooked our webbings up to our spreader bar that was already attached to the boom truck. Upon lifting the horse up, the horse was lifeless in it's hind quarters. Through a specific process that we train for, after several minutes, we were able to get the horse to put some weight on it's hind quarters. After several more minutes of massaging the horse's muscles, the horse began to put all of it's weight on all four legs. We then began walking the horse back and forth, still attached to our equipment. After 20 minutes, we released all of our equipment, walked the horse out to a pasture, and continued walking the horse until we finally put the horse in it's stall. We continued on standby while the veterinarian performed his evaluations, and continued giving the horse fluids and medications. After approximately 30 minutes, we were released by the veterinarian.

As of 9:00am Thursday, July 8th--The horse is doing great, has had breakfast, and is enjoying the blowing breeze in the stall!

Raising an Overturned Horse Trailer on May 22, 2010

Thu, 27 May 2010 15:44:04 GMT

All Photos are courtesy of CJM Photo

1-877-256-3686

www.cjmphoto.com

MERS BENEFIT-Saturday, May 22nd-Double Eagle Ranch

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:25:17 GMT

Thank you very much to Double Eagle Ranch for hosting another Fundraiser for MERS. We can't say enough about Carrie and her crew for the very professional job of organizing this event. The weather cooperated, making for a beautiful day. MERS had a great time, and the show of support by the participants was very heart warming. We look forward to doing it again next year!

A special thanks goes out to the many, many businesses that donated items to make this happen, from JnL2 Market in Owensville, Mo., Crystal Ice Co., Union, Mo., Golden Horse Shoe Tack Shop, Eureka, Mo. ....and list goes on & on. Thank you very much!

For more information on Double Eagle Ranch, go to www.doubleeagleranch.net

MERS Call out 04-16-10

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:48:34 GMT

MERS Responds to Draft Horse Down

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:41:11 GMT

On Wednesday, March 24th, 2010, MERS responded to their 6th call of the year for a Draft Horse, estimated to weigh approximately 2,200lbs.,that was down in a field, and could not get up. We requested that the owner have a veterinarian meet us at the location. Upon our arrival, the veterinarian had just shown up, and had completed some evaluations. We securely packaged the the incumbent horse onto our Rescue Glide, and transported the horse out approximately 1/2 mile to the closest road, where we had already procured a boom truck. We then released our equipment from the horse, placed our raising equipment on the horse, and along with the boom truck, lifted the horse up into a horizontal position. After several minutes of rubbing the horses muscles and continued evaluation, the exhausted horse was able to stand on her own. After several minutes, and with instructions from the veterinarian, we released the horse from all of our equipment, and walked the horse over approximately 1/4 mile to the owners barn, and into an awaiting stall. The veterinarian has given the horse a good prognosis for a full recovery, and has scheduled a follow up visit.M ERS responded @ 4:50pm, and arrived back home @ 11:30pm, traveling 96 miles round trip. (A special thanks to Keith Collier of Wright City for his time and use of his boom truck)

MERS Responds to call in Cattawissa, Mo. on February 06, 2010

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:55:29 GMT

MERS received a call @ 2:50pm from a veterinarian who was on the scene of a downed horse in Cattawissa, Mo. Upon our arrival, the horse was down in a very narrow , confined stall. Although the horse was blanketed, the horse was cold, shivering, and appeared to be very weak. The veterinarian had already administered some medictions to the horse, and was still on the scene evaluating the situation. We immediately placed our MERS head protector on the incumbent horse, then managed to get two short webbings under the horse. With that, we got the horse into a sternal position, and lifted the horse up. The horse did not want to stand on it's own intially. After a few short moments, the horse began to stand on it's own, although very unstable. After a few more minutes, we then walked the horse out of the barn, and continued walking the horse for approximately 20 minutes. We then placed our MERS heated blanket on the horse. This immediately began to speed up the horses recovery. After having the heated blanket on the horse for approximately 30 minutes, and with the veterinarian continuing to evaluate the horse, we then released the heater, and our equipment from the horse. We were released by the veterinarian, while we debriefed, the veterinarian continued to care for the horse, which was quickly on the road to recovery.

MERS & Golden Horseshoe Tack Shop

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:08:03 GMT

On many of our call outs in the winter, we arrive on the scene of a downed horse that also has a very low body temperature. After we get the horse up, it is very essential to get the horse's body temperature up to normal, but under a controlled condition. It is very important that we have a veterinarian treating the horse, giving the horse medications and other IV's. With our help, we have always placed one of our horse blankets on the horse, and also trained our torpedo heater in the direction of the horse, assisted by our portable generator.

Now, thanks to two very generous MERS supporters, we have an additional aid to help bring the horse along. Dave Wick, a very generous supporter and active member of MERS, donated a new electric heated blanket (the household type).

Due to Golden Horsehoe Tack Shop's continued support of MERS, they donated their time and material to custom tailor this blanket to fit a horse, including heavy duty straps placed in the proper locations. In addition, Golden Horseshoe donated a horse sheet to place on the horse prior to placing the heated blanket on the horse. Because this heater has a regulator, it will allow us to control the amount of heat to the horse, under the supervision of the veterinarian who will be on the scene. This is now in our inventory, ready to help the next horse!

When you visit Golden Horseshoe Tack shop, please tell Lynn that you saw this on our website, and please tell her thank you very much for her ongoing support of MERS, and helping us to provide this very valuable service that is provied to the community.

Golden Horseshoe Tack Shop

319 N. Central

Eureka, Mo. 63025

636-938-4309

MERS Training on January 16, 2010

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:18:39 GMT

MERS trains on a regular schedule, rain or shine, snow or ice. With MERS having the great reputation that it does, we must be trained and ready to go when called upon.

All MERS members are proficient with specific Rescue Knots:

Figure 8

Figure 8 On a Bight

Figure 8 Follow Through

Butterfly Knot

Double Fisherman

Prussik Loop

Water Knot

Emergency Rope Halter

In addition, all members are proficent with setting up and understanding how to use a 9:1 mechanical advantage system through a series of carabiners and pulleys.

Anderson Sling-placing injured horse in sling on December 07, 2009

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:53:47 GMT

MERS Responds to 2 Call Outs on Christmas Eve 2009

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:26:11 GMT

MERS received 2 call outs within 15 minutes of each other on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2009.

The first call came in @ 1:55pm for a horse down in a stall in the Hillsboro, Mo. area.

The second call came in @ 2:10pm while we were responding to the first call. This was for a horse down in a muddy pasture in the Troy, Mo. area.

Even though it was Christmas Eve, was raining, and MERS had many of it's members out of town, the 7 members that were able to respond, were willing to leave their Christmas Eve dinner on the table for awhile, walk away from their very understanding relatives, and assist some people in dire need of getting their horses rescued. This truly did make a difference for somebody's Christmas.......

MERS-Horse Down in Frozen Pasture-December 20, 2009

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:06:00 GMT

MERS received a call @ 12:18am for a horse that was down in a frozen pasture. It was not known what caused the horse to go down, so we requested that a veterinarina respond as well. Upon our arrival, it was told to us that the horse had been down for approximately one hour prior to our call. MERS arrived on the scene at 1:38am.The outside temperature was 27 degrees, and the ground was frozen. We placed our head protector on the down horse. Using our long webbing, and placing it under the horse's torso using our Bill Hook, we were able to get the horse up and standing. We then blanketed the horse, and took vitals. We were advised that the veterinarian was still about 2 hours out, and was working another emergency. We walked the horse out for a short amount of time, and it became obvious that the horse just wanted to rest. We allowed the horse to lay down, kept the horse blanketed, and placed our torpedo heater close by to keep the horse warm. We stayed on the scene until the veterinarian arrived. We responded to this call @ 12:18am, and arrived back to home base @ 5:00am.

Photo Gallery

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:59:50 GMT

MERS-Anderson Sling-Horse Down/Transported December 07, 2009

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:01:54 GMT

MERS received a call on December 07, 2009 from a veterinarian, for a horse that was down and needed urgent attention to be transported to a veterinary hospital for in depth evaluations and urgent care. Upon our arrival, we immediately placed our head protector on the incumbent horse, went through all of the procedures to place the horse onto the Rescue Glide, and packaged and secured the horse for transportation to the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital, we off loaded the horse still packaged securely on the Rescue Glide. We transported the horse into a stall, removed all of our equipment, and made one attempt to lift the horse up. When the horse made no attempt to want to assist us, we then placed our short webbings under the horse, attached our specialized spreader bar to the equipment, and manually lifted the horse up into a horizontal position using our rescue equipment. Once the horse was up, he immediately began standing on it's own. After the veterinarian performed a serious of evaluations and administered fluids to the horse, the veterinarian requested that we place the horse into an Anderson Sling, which we have access to through a partnership. An Anderson Sling is a specific piece of equipment designed to assist a horse into staying up for extended periods of time, without creating any discomfort or health issues to the horse. It has many contact points that spreads the contact throughout the entire horse, eliminating any stress points. We removed all of our equipment from the now standing horse, and installed the Anderson Sling on the horse. Now that the horse is in a controlled environment at the hospital, it will receive the best possile care available.

MERS-Horse Down in Barn Labadie, Mo. December 06, 2009

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:37:53 GMT

MERS responded to a call from a veterinarian who was on the scene of a horse that was found down, and out in the main aisle of a barn. Upon our arrival, the veterinarian was administering IV fluids to the horse. The horse had been down for several hours. We immediately placed our head protector on the horse, placed our long webbing on the dorsal side of the horse, and rolled the horse over onto the webbing. Once the webbing was evened out, we placed an equal number of MERS members on each side of the incumbent horse, and placed the horse up into a sternal position. We then physically lifted the exhausted horse up into a horizontal position, and after a few short moments, the lifeless horse was standing under it's own power. After the veterinarian did some additional evaluations, we then led the horse out of the barn into an adjacent enclosed arena. After walking the horse out for approximately 10 minutes, the veterinarian then continued giving the horse IV fluids. After approximately 20 more minutes, we were released by the veterinarian, and the horse was on the road to recovery.

MERS-Horse Down in Pasture-St. Jacob, Illinois December 03, 2009

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:17:32 GMT

MERS responded on Thursday December 03, for a horse that was was down in a pasture, and could not get up on it's own. We were called after 2 different veterinarians had evaluated the horse, and requested our services to get the horse safely transported to a hospital. Through their evaluation, they decided against getting the horse up on the property, in that the horse needed more urgent care at their facility. We responded @ 6:30pm, the outside temperature was below 30 degrees, and the horse had been down for 2 days. Upon our arrival, we immediately placed our head protector on the horse, rolled the horse over onto the Rescue Glide, safely strapped the horse down, hobbled the horse, and had the horse safely packaged for transportation. This entire process took 18 minutes, then we were off the the veterinarian hospital in Pacific, Missouri. Upon our arrival at the hospital, we immediately transported the horse into an awaiting stall. We released all of our Rescue Glide equipment from the horse while the veterinarian evaluated the horse. Per the veterinarians request, we then hooked up our equipment to the horse, and raised the horse up into a horizontal position. Within approximately 4 minutes, the horse was standing under it's own power. After approximately 30 minutes of being hooked up to our equipment, receiving fluids and additional evaluations, we released all of our equipment from the standing horse. As we were loading our equipment back into the rescue trailer, the veterinarian led the horse to an outside area and continued walking the horse. We were released by the veterinarian at 11:10pm. As of the next morning, the horse is still doing very well, and has a positive prognosis for recovery. MERS traveled 155 miles round trip on this mission.

UPDATE: This beautiful horse was released from the hospital on Saturday, December 05, and his going home where she will celebrate her birthday on December 25th, Christmas day! (Her name is Joy)

October 14th, 2009-Rockwood Valley Middle School

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:44:03 GMT

On Wednesday, October 14th, MERS was invited to attend Rockwood Valley's Community Service Day. There were 4-15 minute sessions with 35 students in each session. MERS explained what we are all about, our training, how we provide a very valuable service to the community, and what the requirements are to be a MERS member. We had many photos to share 'on the big screen', which initiated alot of excellent questions from the students.

July 8th, 2009-MERS Responds to Mount Vernon, Illinois

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:13:24 GMT

On Wednesday, July 8th, 2009, MERS responded to our 28th call of the year for a horse that was found down in a pasture. MERS responded @ 3:30pm. This was 110 miles from the MERS home base to the scene. The owner had erected a portable tent, and had run long extension cords out to the pasture with a fan on the downed mare until we arrived. A veterinarian had already been on the scene, and administered some drugs, and suggested that if someone could get the horse up, it could possibly have a good outcome. Upon our arrival, we immediately placed our head protector on the incumbent horse, placed our webbing around the horse, secured it to our spreader bar, and were able to immediately lift the horse up with the assistance of a neighbor's back hoe.

This 220 mile round trip was further extended time wise due to the fact the the MERS Rescue Trailer had a tire blow out on the journey back home. MERS arrived back home @ 12:05am.

The last 4 calls that MERS has responded to have all required us to travel great distances, and put in many long hours. In the last 4 call outs, MERS membership has logged 2,927 miles.

June 25th, 2009-MERS Responds to Knox County

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:10:01 GMT

On Thursday, June 25th, MERS responded to Hurdland, Mo. in Knox County at the request of The Knox County Sheriff's Department and The Humane Society of Missouri. Due to the fact that this is a very serious and on going investigation, we can only release few details and and limited photos.

MERS responded to rescue a 3 year old horse that was down in a pasture and out in the sun on a 98 degree day. The Knox County Sheriff had been on the scene as a result of an investigation, and had constructed a cover for the downed horse to keep the sun off the horse. Among other issues, the horse was seriously malnourished in the opinion of MERS President Roger Vincent. MERS responded, was able to immediately get the lifeless horse up and into an awaiting horse trailer, and on to a veterinarian hospital, where it's prognosis is very good.

MERS traveled 350 miles round trip, and although it only took us 8 minutes to get the horse up, we spent 8 1/2 hours on the road. This beautiful , helpless animal was spending it's last day alive until MERS arrived on the scene. Because 8 MERS members dropped what they were doing and responded, because the Knox County Deputy Sheriff refused to walk away from this helpless animal, and with the tireless efforts from Carmen Skelly with The Humane Society of Missouri, this beautiful horse has now received a second chance, and will hopefully go on to live a pampered, spoiled life in a new home.

Local ABC affiliate Televison station KTVO, out of Kirksville, has additional coverage of this rescue : www.heartlandconnection.com

July 24th, 2009-Belgian Draft Horse Is Trapped In Mud

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:48:05 GMT

On July 24th, 2009 @ 8:40am, MERS responded to a call for a Belgian Draft horse that was stuck in mud. When the owner first noticed the trapped horse, it was stuck up to it's neck in mud. It is theorized that something frightened the horse, and forced it into this situation. The horse was actually in a deep, mucky, sewer field. MERS received a call for assistance from a veterinarian that was on the scene. The horse had been thrashing around trying to get out, but just kept getting deeper in the mucky area.

When MERS arrived on the scene, we immediately placed our Shank Head Protector on the horse. Prior to our arrival, the owner had been throwing down shavings in an attempt to make the area a little more solid, and the veterinarian administered some medications to calm the horse down. We placed our long webbing around the incumbent horse's torso, using our special Bill Hook to accomplish this. Once it was in place, we were able to safely pull the horse out of the muck with the assistance of the owner's tractor. We had our Mud Rescue Kit on standby, just in case it was needed. Once the horse was safely out of the muck, the horse immediately tried to get up, but the horse was just too exhausted. We then removed our long webbing, placed our two MERS short webbings around the horse, connected our spreader bar to the webbing, and lifted the horse up into an upright, horizontal position. The horse was now being supported by our equipment, but the horse was still too unstable to stand on it's own. After several moments of massaging the horse's muscles, we were then able to release all of our equipment, and walk the horse out.

The horse was washed off, examined by the veterinarian, and was expected to have a speedy and full recovery.
MERS debriefed, then traveled back to homebase, where all of the equipment was thouroughly cleaned and decontaminated.

June 8th, 2009-4 Year Old Pregnant Mare Down in Edwardsville, Illinois

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:44:58 GMT

At the request of a veterinarian, MERS responded to a call at 12:28 pm for a 4 year old pregnant mare that was down. The incumbent horse had been being treated by the veterinarian for some time, and he was requesting that MERS rescue the horse out of the stall, and then get it transported to a veterinary hospital. Although MERS does not transport, we have a resource number for medical transportation that we call.

Upon our arrival, we immediately went to work placing our MERS Head Protector on the incumbent horse. We then placed our long webbing around the front torso of the horse, in order to do a forward assist onto the Rescue Glide. Once the horse was secure on the Rescue Glide, we then moved the horse onto the awaiting horse trailer. Within minutes, the horse was on her way to a veterinary hospital to be placed into an awaiting Anderson Sling.

We were advised that this horse may have one of four diseases. Although it was not confirmed at the time, we had to treat it as such, and had to decontaminate all of the equipment that we used with Rocal, and had to give our clothing special attention.

As of late that evening, the horse was reported to be resting in the Anderson Sling, and periodically standing on her own.

This was the 24th request for MERS services this year, and the 99th since January , 2006.

June 05, 2009 MERS Responds to Horse Down @ Innsbrook Village, Mo.

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:02:23 GMT

MERS responded to their 23rd call of 2009 @ 2:19pm, on Friday, June 5th. We responded for a horse that was down in a dry lot area, and could not get up. Upon our arrival, we placed our MERS head protector on the horse, and then quickly placed our MERS spreader bar onto the special webbing that we had already put in place around the horse. With the assistance of the property owner's tractor, we raised the horse up to an upright position. With our specialized equipment, this entire process took less than 10 minutes. The horse was walking in the pasture as we were leaving, and their veterinarian was notified.

March 7th, 2009-Horse down and trapped in creek bed--Ballwin, Missouri

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:43:54 GMT

March 7th MERS was called into action on their 9th call this year for a horse that was trapped in a creek bed. While we were responding, we were notified that the horse was shaking and sweating. We immediately requested that the owner have a veterinarian respond as well. Upon our arrival, the horse was laying on its side in the creek bed, and was pressed up against a large tree that was down. We had to first remove the tree. Using our specialized Rescue Equipment, we then were able to roll the horse over onto our Rescue Glide, transport it out of the creek into an open field. We then checked the horse's vitals, and using our Rescue webbing, we were able to successfully get the horse up and standing. After a few moments, we walked the horse out , and he was on the road to recovery. We called the veterinarian who was still on another emergency call, found out that he was in transit to further evaluate the horse. We placed the horse into a stall. As we left, he was happily waiting for his Doctor to show up!

February 21st, 2009-MERS receives Re-Certification on Advanced 1st Aid

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:42:46 GMT

On February 21st, 2009, MERS received re-certification on Advanced First Aid with CPR & AED through The American Heart Association. MERS feels that it is very important to keep this up to date for many reasons. Although in our over 100 Rescue/Trainings, MERS has never had a member get injured, but we do recognize that what we do on rescues can be inherently dangerous without the proper training and rescue equipment. In addition, all of our members feel that having this training can be very helpful to have in our every day lives to help others.

MERS would like to thank our Trainer Warren Westrup for his very professional approach to this class, for his valuable time that he donated for our training, and to the Cintas Corporation (www.cintas.com), who did this class/ re-certification pro bono.

May 17th,2009-Horse Down in Muddy Ravine-Washington, Mo.

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:41:40 GMT

On Sunday, May 17th MERS received a call @ 4:28pm from a veterinarian for a horse that was down and in a muddy ravine. The horse had been down for some time, and they could not get the horse to respond.

Upon our arrival, MERS used their specialized rescue equipment, and got the horse up. It was not without a challenge, due to the fact that the horse had been down for so long, it's muscles were extremely stiff. Once we released the horse from our equipment, we walked the horse out for about 30 minutes, and we were then released by the veterinarian. When we departed, the horse was well on it's way to recovery!

September 27th, 2006--A DATE WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER

Tue, 19 May 2009 19:21:43 GMT

This date will always be remembered by MERS. MERS received a call on September 26th, 2006 @ 3:40am for a Tractor Trailer accident on Interstate I-44 with 42 horses on board. At the time, this was the single largest highway accident involving horses.

Many horses perished upon impact when the double stacked tractor trailer rolled over onto it's side, but with the combined effort of many dedicated veterinarians that arrived to the scene, and along with The Humane Society, The St. Clair Fire Department, Sullivan Fire Department, Chuck's Towing, and many other volunteers, 26 horses were successfully saved. These horses were sent to various veterinarian hospitals to recover from their injuries, and many have now been adopted out to loving new owners.

As these terrified horses were being taken out of the mangled trailer, the looks in their eyes were indescribable. You could truly look in their eyes and tell that these horses knew that we were there to help them.

When MERS finished working the accident scene @ 11:20am, many of our members went to the triage area, and worked into the night transporting the injured to various veterinarian hospitals in the area.