On April 2 a mock drill and training took place for the San
Benito Co. Equine Evacuation
&
amp; Assistance unit at Bolado Park. Unit members were called
out and arrived, with their trucks and trailers, at a staging area
where from there, if it were a true evacuation they would have been
given directions to locations that needed horses or livestock
picked up and taken to the evacuation shelter.
By Jan Jensen, special to the Free Lance
On April 2 a mock drill and training took place for the San Benito Co. Equine Evacuation & Assistance unit at Bolado Park. Unit members were called out and arrived, with their trucks and trailers, at a staging area where from there, if it were a true evacuation they would have been given directions to locations that needed horses or livestock picked up and taken to the evacuation shelter.
For the morning training sections speakers included Paul Avila, Cal Fire; James Clark, Office of Emergency Services; Deputy Dave Zander, San Benito County Sheriff’s Department; John and Deb Fox, San Juan Bautista Volunteer Fire Department-Large Animal Rescue Unit and Julie Carreiro, City of Hollister Animal Control. Topics covered included fire safety; entering a fire zone and what to watch for; incident command procedures; how the unit would be most effective in an evacuation and proper identification and tracking of the animals at the evacuation site.
In the afternoon hands-on training of how to handle various types of animals including alpacas, goats, pigs and small companion animals; loading and unloading of horses took place. It was important to learn the different techniques that could be applied in order to safely evacuate as many animals as possible in the short time one may have.
The day ended with unit members receiving a trailer safety check up and negotiating a driver skills course.
To be a member of the Equine Evacuation and Assistance Unit, you must be a San Benito County resident or live in very close proximity who is an experienced horse handler, who owns a horse or stock trailer (or has access to one) or would be riding along as the helper/navigator. Our members respond to emergencies under the direction of the Sheriff’s Department and must be able to respond quickly to an emergency evacuation situation and handle horses (or other animals) in stressful, and at times, dangerous situations.
If you’re not comfortable with evacuating livestock, your help is still needed. We need animal identification and information administrators, feeders and all-around help to keep the animals happy at the evacuation shelter.
All unit members must complete an application, background check and be sworn in as a County Disaster Worker.
If any owner of livestock is in need of rescue or evacuation assistance please call 911 so that the Large Animal Rescue and/or the Equine Evacuation & Assistance unit will be dispatched.
For additional information or to volunteer, please contact Program Coordinator, Jan Jensen at 623-4322 or Sheriff Deputy Dave Zander at 636- 4080, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
