Why dont they cradle horses coming round from a GA?

Venevidivici said:
University vet schools are akin to human Teaching Hospital Trusts..the creme de la creme of senior vets and doctors,usually Professors and always specialists in their field are there,because they are teaching and at the forefront if their specialisms but not for only teaching but also performing surgery and assessing&diagnosing conditions,whilst being observed. I think your animal is at less risk of harm by a junior at a Uni Hosp than it is of harm in a smaller Hosp where fewer of the particular procedure are carried out. I noticed with the sinus op and the hoof op on the Rolf series,the actual op (or crux of the op)was carried out by a senior vet,not the initial treating one. Uni hospitals (&vet schools) have an enormous amount of money pumped into them for research-this attracts those creme de la creme professionals,to enable them to be at the cutting edge...(if you pardon the pun;)) That's not to say there aren't great vets,docs elsewhere but these places tend to employ the best,who just get better due to the number of cases they see-practice makes perfect :)
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Great post. I'd also like to add a thought I had. Much was made in the earlier part of the thread about poor handling and I agree, that student was put in some danger by not having appropriate safety wear. I also agree that obviously all staff from students upwards should be trained in the basics of handling a horse in extremely stressful situations. That said, not every single vet can be a master of surgery, diagnostics, dealing with owners etc and necessarily be a master horseman/woman**. Of course, I'm not saying the two are mutually exclusive, but the dedication required to be at the top of your game at both....well, I'd like the skilled surgeon and diagnostician please ;). I'm hoping I'm conveying the point I'm trying to make.

**ETA with all the years of experience that implies.
 
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I have to say I have not read all of this thread so please forgive me if I am repeating or missing something.

I know not the same thing but we had a filly we had to harness to get her up after her pelvic area had been crushed after a bad foaling she was in the harness for at least an hour before we could let her stand and had been down from thurs to sat. If you look back at my thread From utter despair to optimistic smile.

We were advised by first vet to see her not to bother as it was a waste of time and would not work horse was not sedated and was surprisingly calm, I have watched a few cases where horses were rescued on tv and I have to say they are far more calm with slinging or winching than you would expect.

I think you also have to remember advice we are given for equines in the past that was supposed to be law can suddenly change with research, I would not be surprised if this is not something that may be used in time.
 
Horses are often slung (ha ha,is that a verb for this situation?!) for a while for recuperation from leg surgery(especially valuable horses). There's a diff between that and actually coming round from GA,in a panic,whilst 'slung'.
 
From watching most of the horses coming round from a GA I would not say most looked in a panic, lot's of stumbling disorientated yes, I would not say they looked in panic.
 
The program is on Youtube, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGUynvgFHXc&feature=relmfu

I think part of the reason the bay horse had problems getting up was the epidural. Looks like his back legs were still a bit numb- he doesn't seem to know where his feet are. The wild donkey didn't have an epidural, and was also much smaller.

I do wonder if a less slick floor would help. The plastic padding looks like it would get slippery quickly if it gets wet.
 
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