Planning for emergencies

Ami Sawran, Westpoint Farm Vets, outlines a basic first aid kit and details how to make it easy for an attending veterinarian to assess the situation if they are called to an emergency on your farm.

Asituation that nobody wants to find themselves in, yet one we should always plan for, is the veterinary emergency. Certain situations such as minor wounds may be dealt with quickly and competently at home with a well-stocked first aid kit, but others require more in-depth clinical intervention. It pays to know the difference and to have certain items at your disposal to prevent a difficult situation becoming even more stressful.

A basic kit list for your farm shelves includes:

• Bandage scissors

• Cotton wool

• Gloves

• Self-adhesive stretchy bandaging or ‘vet wrap’

• Bandaging material

• Hibiscrub or similar surgical wash

• Umbilical clamps or forceps

• Saline (for cleanly sluicing out wounds or eyes)

• Elastoplast

• Splints (often a section of pipe with edges sanded down will do)

• Clippers

• Clean towels

• Headcollar and Rope

• A contact number for your vet, with holding address details

Your vet may advise on medications appropriate for you to store on farm. Some suggestions include an antibiotic-based spray, an aluminium-based spray and injectable or oral pain relief. Antibiotics may be appropriate, but this is situation dependent.

How to prepare for vet attendance

When you request a vet to attend, it is helpful to pass on any identifying features of the farm or area to help them find you. Dropped pins or a ‘What Three Words’ location can help for remote areas especially. The vet might wish to speak to you ahead of time to assess the situation, or the administrator may triage your emergency over the phone, as they may need to prioritise this and other outstanding calls depending on their relative urgency.

Animals need to be kept as calm as possible prior to vet attendance, to ensure that the examination reflects how the animal’s organs are working and responding to an injury or illness. Therefore, pen or restrain them safely so you don’t need to run around, stressing the animal (and yourselves) to catch it once the vet has arrived.

If you are dealing with a bleeding alpaca, clean, steady pressure is your best weapon against blood loss. Clean towels or swabs are great for pressing on to wounds on the body or legs, but for bleeds from body cavities such as obstetrical injuries, a pair of clean tights, stuffed with cotton wool can act as an absorbent pressure bandage. It is important to keep bleeding animals as calm as possible, with slow, deliberate movements and a quiet atmosphere – elevating their blood pressure will only serve to make them bleed faster. If you are intending for a vet to assess a wound, it can be helpful to flush it with saline or cooled boiled water if it isn’t still bleeding, but do not cover the wound in any sprays before it is assessed. If you are applying bandages to any wounds, care should be taken to keep them tight enough to limit bleeding, but not so tight as to cut off circulation. You should be able to slide your finger down the side, and if the bandage is on a limb, you should monitor the leg either side of the bandage – swelling, or coldness could indicate that the bandage is too tight. This is particularly important for extremities like feet – so do keep checking how they look and feel.

Limit fracture damage

Limb fractures can be very traumatic, but damage is limited by stabilising the limb as much as possible. You can discuss this with your vet and may be advised to apply a splint to limit damage prior to their arrival. Do not attempt to splint an upper limb fracture, as any weight on the limb can act as a pendulum, making the injury worse. When applying splints, the joints both above and below the fracture site should be included and immobilised. It is important to note whether there are wounds associated with a fracture, as ‘open’ fractures are often managed differently, and may require more immediate referral to orthopaedic specialists.

Many types of emergencies such as sepsis or collapsed animals may require the vet to understand things like the vaccination status and worm-management history on the farm. It helps therefore to have details of what your animals were vaccinated with and when, as well as dates and results of faecal egg counts, or worming treatments to hand – they may be pertinent to the cause of illness. Often these can be misplaced on pieces of paper, which can slow down triaging and treatment. A good filing system is literally a lifesaver!

I certainly hope you don’t need to utilise any of the above advice, but if there is anything that should be remembered above all else, it is that if you have concerns with any of your animals – your gut instinct is very likely correct, and you should consult your vet, even if it is just a phone call. Many would much rather offer advice that could help you deal with an issue at home if that is your preference, then attend days later, to something that was not appropriately handled – this is particularly important for wounds, which may not be able to be sutured closed unless they are particularly fresh and uncontaminated.