First responders head to the MSU campus to attend livestock emergency training

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – First responders from across the state of Michigan and beyond got a glimpse into farm life Saturday.

A total of 45 members of the police, fire and EMS departments gathered at the Michigan State University Pavilion for Agriculture Livestock Education for a lesson on dealing with livestock-related emergencies.

The program, funded in part by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, is called ERAIL (Emergency Response to Accidents Involving Livestock Training).

“So we go through everything from livestock and animal behavior to understanding animal anatomy and understanding how large some of our livestock can be,” said Cora Okkema, MSU Extension dairy educator.

While herding sheep, herding pigs and leading horses are not usually on the agenda of rescue workers, some have had frequent collisions with farm animals.

“We have had patients run over and stepped on by livestock,” said Cambridge Township Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong.

More than 200,000 trucks transport livestock from across the United States to the state of Michigan, making highway accidents a common livestock emergency.

And it’s not just about four-legged friends, Okkema said honey bees are constantly being transported to regions that desperately need pollinators for their crops.

Whether it is a flying or trotting creature, she said road accidents could be harmful to both farmers and their livestock.

“It may impact the sale value of these animals or animals may be injured due to injuries or die at the scene,” she said. “So it’s very important that all of these first responders have these tools and this knowledge.”

The ERAIL program is the only one of its kind in the region. That’s why members of the Kansas Department of Agriculture had to leave the state Saturday and try the training themselves.

“It’s a huge opportunity and we hope we can learn from it and hopefully repeat this and find some ways to make those resources available to our regions across the state,” Emergency Management Coordinator Nathan Brown said.

Okkema said the ERAIL program will conduct another round of training in another part of the state in the winter. Until then, trailers full of specialized ERAIL equipment will be parked throughout the state of Michigan to assist any first responders who find themselves on the scene of a livestock-related incident.

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