Animal Ambulance
October 17, 2017
Keeping our animals and team safe when transporting them around our property is very important to us. Recently, we were given the opportunity to acquire an old, used military Humvee. We purchased the vehicle and went about making improvements so that it would fit our needs. This Humvee will only be used on property to quickly and safely transport the animal from their habitat to the vet hospital.
To customize the vehicle for our needs we added a lift, cage, and lights. These additions allow us to safely lift and transport an animal that has been sedated. The cage was installed so that if an animal were to wake up from sedation during transport it would not be able to escape. Although no humans will ride in the caged area with the sedated cat, there is a small latched access door, within the vehicle cab, that will allow an animal care staff member to reach into the animal confinement area to check on the animal as necessary.
On our new animal ambulance, we have installed a series of bright lights to assist us in seeing if an emergency transport might have to take place after dark. There is also a flashing light to let team members and visitors know that the Humvee is coming and to move out of the way in case of an emergency.
So far, the ambulance has already been used to transport a few animals to our veterinary hospital. Moving an animal takes a little practice, this is a whole new procedure for us after all. Peyton slept through a short trial of the ambulance when she needed to go to the vet hospital for x-rays.
We are very excited about this new piece of equipment. Key members of our animal care team went through a short training session to learn how to properly drive the Humvee and how to operate the lift. We will continue to use the ambulance as needed to make sure our animals are safe and healthy at our refuge.