Tangent to the first aid kit post

[Elf On A Shelf]

So as a tangent from the first aid kit post how many of you would know what to do in an emergency situation?

Say a horse had been kicked/stabbed it's leg on something and had nicked a vein which results in spurting blood?

Or if the horse had pulled a shoe but also half of the hoof capsule off with it and again, pouring blood?

Or if the horse had a very obvious bone/soft tissue injury?

I have had to deal with all sorts at work and what does scare me is that quite a lot of people that I work with would not know what to do in these situations?

We had one the other month that got his foot stuck in the fence and pulled half of it off (broke the wall, c-band and sole in a triangle round the bulb of the heel, still attached via the insides) and all anyone kept doing was screaming for a vet and one girl got a giant bucket of hibiscrub. If I hadn't have been there (which I am often not these days) the horse would have stood pouring blood out of its hoof for 15mins before the boss got there or until whatever time I vet rocked up. They didn't think to just wrap the whole hoof to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Stopping the bleeding is the no 1 priority. You can clean it and sort it properly at a later date. But if blood is coming out nothing is going in. They all panicked and were screaming at me to hurry up picking up the bandaging supplies. Honestly there was no need to run around like a headless chicken, horses have LOTS of blood. Obviously I didn't dawdle I just picked up everything I needed and headed back to wrap it up.

First thing that went on was poultice - it soaks up blood, its thick and most importantly it doesn't stick. Then went a softban to hold it in place. 2 rounds of cotton wool, 3 knitfirm pulled tight then vet wrap. A simple but effective pressure bandage that wasn't going to be removed any time soon. By the time I was done I looked like I had walked off of the set of Carrie ??

We unwrapped, cleaned took pics for the vet and rewrapped 5 hours later. You wouldn't have done it any sooner as you risked the blood starting again. You need it to close over and stop first.

 

[blitznbobs]

If its spurting blood its an artery not a vein… vein and arterial bleeds are very different… but both respond to direct pressure… really you need to get hold of the bleed site and press hard. This may not be enough for an arterial bleed which might need a tourniquet above the bleed site… handling catastrophic bleeding is a medical emergency and whilst dealing with it in humans or animals of other varieties you want to have professional help on the way… there is a saying in pre hospital trauma medicine ‘the best fluid for pre hospital trauma is diesel’ ie get them to the clever people who can properly tie off the bleeder asap.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Why I always have a supply of nappies in my kit. Amazing for poulticing and for stopping big bleeds and easy to gaffa tape around big wounds/bleeds.

 

[ponynutz]

I'm pretty good with injuries... it's when to call the vet I struggle with.

 

[milliepops]

it's when to call the vet I struggle with.

in what way?
i think that's always been fairly straightforward, over the years my herd has had a fairish variety of issues and i've never had an instance where i have thought i called them too early (no such thing really) or too late. if in doubt my vets are pretty good at having a quick chat on phone to decide whether a visit is needed, with anything dodgy i tend to err on the side of *vet* even if it's just to check my assessment of something.

 

[scruffyponies]

Why I always have a supply of nappies in my kit. Amazing for poulticing and for stopping big bleeds and easy to gaffa tape around big wounds/bleeds.

Me too! Handy that they have those convenient little velcro tabs.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Why I always have a supply of nappies in my kit. Amazing for poulticing and for stopping big bleeds and easy to gaffa tape around big wounds/bleeds.

Yup, I keep a supply of nappies in both 1st aid boxes, plus superglue and other bits and bobs. Last time I used the superglue it was to stick a rather long sliver of skin back on my finger at the yard, healed up OK ?

If it comes down to a rider or horse injury, give me the horse every time!

Having travelled extensively in the past, I'd like to think I can cope with most equine things as a 1st response and to decide when vet is required.

 

[SEL]

I've done spurting blood - fortunately not on my own so someone called the vet who was just around the corner. Phew. There's very good reason I didn't do biology at school. I did have sufficient presence of mind to grab all the clean towels piled up nearby and get pressure on its leg though - right down by hoof.

I've also done broken leg and that was really sad. Again there were quite a few people around so I was able to call back to the yard and get reinforcements

The one I really struggled with was a horse with its leg stuck in the gate who was just standing there waiting to be rescued. I felt completely useless. My YO kicked the leg from the other side of the gate which fortunately worked - he said at the time it was kill or cure.

But I'm all for phoning the vet rather than DIY. I worked in Australia for a while were we didn't have a local vet and had to patch up horses or shoot them. I'm OK at patching up but I'd rather the professionals took over.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’m fairly confident in dealing with injuries etc.
When my horse broke his leg I knew it. Obviously kept him still, called the vet, told them he’d broken a leg and to get there asap.
The vet said that most times she called to a broken leg it’s a false alarm. Abscess or something but this time she knew. I guess I’ve seen so many in my work
The good part of that is I’m very good at keeping my cool and dealing with what’s in front of me.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I've been on a yard with someone who proudly declared they weren't going to get a vet when a horse had a nail on it's foot and pulled it out itself ?

I'm OK with first aid but am definitely in the camp of at least ring vet for advice, if in any doubt.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have had both arterial and vein nicks, both in the lower leg and both caused by nails. The arterial was lucky to be alive, he’d just been turned out by a kid and I quickly went to check gates were closed to find him spurting blood. Vein wasn’t nearly as dramatic but both had pressure applied, leg raised and vet called. The vein wasn’t that long ago and I was the only person of three of us travelling our horses in separate trailers to have put a full first aid kit in my car. Blood goes everywhere and you can never have enough gauze pads and vet wrap.

 

[chaps89]

Without wanting to jinx myself, I count myself fortunate as having never had to deal with anything worse than cuts/scrapes/swellings/minor puncture wound (hawthorn)
That said, I try and keep my first aid knowledge up to speed - my vet did an evening demo on all things first aid last year which was well worth going to.
They covered things like choke, colic, wounds, bleeding, the usual potential emergencies and what to do/when to call the vet etc.
I hope to never have to call on it but I’d rather have something to fall back on in the recess of my mind than nothing.

 

[Prancerpoos]

Many years ago, in the 70s, I met 2 young girls walking a pony along the road. I vaguely knew of the girls and knew they had bought a pony from the local market without knowing anything about horses - this was back in the New Forest foals for a fiver days. Anyway, the horse was bleeding quite steadily from a wound on its leg. I told them to call a vet immediately, but they said they couldn’t afford the phone box (!) and were walking it to the local vet (small pets variety and 2 miles away) to see if he would treat it for free. I was only a teenager myself, so off I went, but I later heard that by the time they got to the vet it was past saving and he put it to sleep. I occasionally think back to the incident and wonder whether it could have been saved if they had applied pressure and kept it still, as per Elf’s comment.

Very sad, but possibly a good illustration of why we should all learn at least some basic first aid, horse and human.

 

[Celtic Fringe]

We once had to do some first aid on a slightly nervous vet He was trying to cut a couple of sutures using a scalpel which slipped resulting in a nasty cut almost the length of his thumb. I could definitely see some bone underneath. He called a colleague to ask if staples worked on humans but she said they were too large (this seemed to indicate that someone had tried this before ). Some animalintex and firm bandaging with vetwrap later we sent him to the local A&E for several stitches. I then had to phone the office to ask for another vet as we had broken the first one.
We later heard he had gone to Australia 'for the breeding season' (hopefully this referred to horses ).

 

[ponynutz]

in what way?
i think that's always been fairly straightforward, over the years my herd has had a fairish variety of issues and i've never had an instance where i have thought i called them too early (no such thing really) or too late. if in doubt my vets are pretty good at having a quick chat on phone to decide whether a visit is needed, with anything dodgy i tend to err on the side of *vet* even if it's just to check my assessment of something.

As do I but my parents are never keen and as the only horse I have at the minute is with them and mostly paid for by them (we have them stabled at home) I've gotten into the habit of making absolutely sure before I call. I've called for silly things that haven't been anything and not called soon enough for more serious issues.

Probably when I have my own, like you I'd just do it whenever I though necessary... what I do with my own health anyway.

 

[SBJT]

Well had a human one earlier this month but the horse was involved. It kind of counts. Montorcyclist didn’t see that my truck and trailer (and the car behind us) had stopped and ran right into them.

 

[SEL]

at I do with my own health anyway.

oh I'm much more of top of getting the vet for horse problems than doctors for human problems!!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

oh I'm much more of top of getting the vet for horse problems than doctors for human problems!!

People still go to doctors?!?

 

[Tiddlypom]

People still go to doctors?!?

I'd have got the vet straight out for this if this was a horse, but as I did it last Saturday I swerved braving an understaffed A&E and waited for the GP on Monday! (Sub conjunctival haemorrhage, healing well).

 

[Errin Paddywack]

We had a funny one with a vet who had gone to my friend's horse to give a booster injection. Somehow he managed to stick the needle in his own finger and was then panicking about the possibility of potentially losing his finger. He came to us next and was still whittling on about his finger and we heard later about the next person he had gone to where he was still on about his finger. No idea whether or not he was justified in worrying. We did have him again and he had all his fingers.

 

[scats]

The advantage of growing up on a huge livery yard was that there were not many emergency situations I didn’t come across. From broken legs, shoes stuck in feet and legs, car accidents, seizures, horses stuck in ditches, impaled horses, huge lacerations, colic, laminitis, strangles, ringworm… you name it, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it! I’ve also dealt with a huge number of things with my own horses- many from the above list (the perils of large herd turnout, in many cases).

As a result I’m pretty chilled about pretty much any emergency and know what requires a vet and what doesn’t.

 

[Fieldlife]

So as a tangent from the first aid kit post how many of you would know what to do in an emergency situation?

Say a horse had been kicked/stabbed it's leg on something and had nicked a vein which results in spurting blood?

Or if the horse had pulled a shoe but also half of the hoof capsule off with it and again, pouring blood?

Or if the horse had a very obvious bone/soft tissue injury?

I have had to deal with all sorts at work and what does scare me is that quite a lot of people that I work with would not know what to do in these situations?

We had one the other month that got his foot stuck in the fence and pulled half of it off (broke the wall, c-band and sole in a triangle round the bulb of the heel, still attached via the insides) and all anyone kept doing was screaming for a vet and one girl got a giant bucket of hibiscrub. If I hadn't have been there (which I am often not these days) the horse would have stood pouring blood out of its hoof for 15mins before the boss got there or until whatever time I vet rocked up. They didn't think to just wrap the whole hoof to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Stopping the bleeding is the no 1 priority. You can clean it and sort it properly at a later date. But if blood is coming out nothing is going in. They all panicked and were screaming at me to hurry up picking up the bandaging supplies. Honestly there was no need to run around like a headless chicken, horses have LOTS of blood. Obviously I didn't dawdle I just picked up everything I needed and headed back to wrap it up.

First thing that went on was poultice - it soaks up blood, its thick and most importantly it doesn't stick. Then went a softban to hold it in place. 2 rounds of cotton wool, 3 knitfirm pulled tight then vet wrap. A simple but effective pressure bandage that wasn't going to be removed any time soon. By the time I was done I looked like I had walked off of the set of Carrie ??

We unwrapped, cleaned took pics for the vet and rewrapped 5 hours later. You wouldn't have done it any sooner as you risked the blood starting again. You need it to close over and stop first.

Sounds like your boss needs to get you to run some basic emergency first training for the rest of the staff.

 

[Quigleyandme]

A keen young army vet I know quite well was called out to an army horse with an arterial bleed after a mishap on exercise. He rushes to the scene in staff car with blue lights flashing from behind the grill only to find a passing random farrier had stopped the bleeding and bandaged the limb. Vet boy was very deflated.

 

[Orangehorse]

My long time ago human First Aid was A .B.C. Airway, breathing, circulation. Which I have managed to remember.

I did a horse First Aid course about 10 years ago, and it was mostly about bandaging. People don't learn to bandage now, though. All those stable, exercise and travel bandages that I put on mostly doesn't happen now since we either don't or use boots instead.