Ohio Bovine Emergency Response Planning (BERP) Program
Haley Shoemaker, OSU Extension AGNR Educator, Columbiana and Mahoning Counties (originally published in Ohio Farmer on-line)
BERP Participants learn about trailer safety, mechanics, and how to properly extract injured animals.
For those who’ve responded to roadway accidents before, it’s no secret that the scene is not the place to realize your team is unprepared. Transportation incidents involving livestock present a multitude of unique challenges to first response teams, haulers, and law enforcement personnel – many of which are covered through a nation-wide training program called “BERP”, or Bovine Emergency Response Planning.
With an estimated several hundred thousand head of cattle on roadways each day in the U.S., BERP offers practical curriculum and training opportunities for local responders to more appropriately prepare for and respond to accidents involving livestock transportation.
First responders practice moving cattle into a contained area.
BERP training is designed with Fire Departments, EMS, EMA, and Law Enforcement personnel in mind, and is intended to provide the knowledge and practical skills necessary to contain and secure the accident scene, accurately communicate with dispatchers, assess needs of involved livestock, and properly handle associated mortalities. Topics covered throughout a BERP training include scene assessment and triage, transportation hazards, biosecurity, hands-on animal handling, trailer mechanics, and debriefing, or “hot wash.”
Leading up to and following BERP training, participants are encouraged to work within their respective departments and units to develop a response plan, identify response partners, and create a local inventory of equipment, haulers, and operators crucial to containing and righting the scene. During training, first responders have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with cattle while learning behavioral tendencies and applying standard handling techniques used to minimize animal stress and improve incident outcomes.
In Ohio, any department or Emergency Management Agency interested in holding a BERP training can contact their County Extension Educator, or is welcome to reach out to Ohio BERP co-leads Haley Shoemaker or John Yost at shoemaker.306@osu.edu or yost.77@osu.edu. BERP trainings are six hours, and include both classroom and demonstration portions that highlight animal handling and trailer mechanics. To learn more about training and how to plan a program, visit https://go.osu.edu/ohberp.
The BERP program was developed by animal science and Extension experts from the Ohio State University, West Virginia University, North Dakota State University, Iowa State University, and The University of Tennessee.
