I thought I’d lump the information evening and 2 training days together. They belong closer to the beginning of my time with the animal ambulance, but to be honest, the real practical stuff of helping animals is so much more interesting that I couldn’t help myself from writing about them first!
Information Evening
The information evening was exactly that – an evening where about 8 wannabe volunteers were informed about the animal ambulance.
We started with a round-the-circle of self-introductions.
I fluffed up there. Number 1 rule in introducing yourself in the Netherlands is to state your age. I managed to tell everyone I was 35 years old instead of 53 (numbers are said backwards here…). So, if they hadn’t guessed already, I also let them know I’m English!
Nice to see and meet different ages of people, but also people with different motivations for working with the animal ambulance. Some for the animals (I’m one of those), some for the social aspect, and some because they were about to retire and wanted something to do. And others who had nothing else to do anyway. Some had interesting backstories and I made a point to ask them more about it later.*
* In practice “later” means “much later” because new-comers are paired with experienced people for ‘training’ so the odds of us meeting each other again are high much later on in our animal ambulance lives.
Then followed the necessary BS about the board and the structure of the organisation.
Three of a Kind
Mercifully, more useful information came soon afterwards; the kinds of animals we’d come across, the kinds of things that had happened to them, and the kinds of things we were expected to do with them.
And people too – finders, pet-owners and authorities.
The next stage was honest. First a warning that the following images were going to be shocking (and a chance to leave the room if we didn’t want to see them), and then the uglier, grimmer side of what we could expect to find or deal with at the animal ambulance. Injured or sick animals with blood, bone, innards, rashes and sores showing, dead animals (also with the above), animals who have been mistreated or abused and animals found in terrible living conditions.
It was dreadful to hear about, let alone see, but this made my resolution to help them stronger.
And then the unexpected bit – the unpleasant human side. This was both ways of reading the text; unpleasant human side such as informing pet-owners their pet is injured or deceased, or the unpleasant human side where we might come face-to-face with animal abusers, or pet-owners who don’t want to pay to take their sick pet to the vet, for example.
“Working with animals” sounds fun and sweet and soft and cuddly etc., so it was very honest the animal ambulance staff presenting the information made it really clear that there’s a darker side to it. Indeed, from the 8 of us at the evening, there are 3 who I haven’t seen on the roster or heard about since. (Admittedly, there may be other reasons for not signing up I’m not privy to.)
Training Days
The 2 training days were organised for those of us who signed up. Oddly (but also happily) there were more of us here than at the information evening! Each day was split into a theoretical and a practical session.
Theoretical
The theoretical was fascinating – going through different kinds of animals, recognition between different species, their habitats and general behaviour patterns. It was a lot to take in, but made easier because it’s just so interesting!
There was also an administrative side; the software used (strangely…in the office but not what we’d use in the ambulance) and some of the protocols for the tricky situations. I must admit to finding the protocol part of the training frustrating because the information was given as a “be aware that…” whereas given the continual changing of contractual agreements between authorities, in practice we were to phone for assistance from colleagues who had the most up-to-date information at hand.
When I think back to it, I think I’d have preferred to learn what I really needed to know during a shift on the ambulance, e.g. how the software on the tablet in the ambulance works, and how to deal with the most common rescues. Nearly 3 months later, I still haven’t needed to use the software in the office, and many of the protocols have changed (we get emails about the new ones!).
Practical
Now some juicy stuff! Items were laid outside and we were invited to take a look at the equipment and try the things out. (In practice, this meant standing by them and waiting for someone to show us! 😉 )
(There’s more than this but ashamedly I can’t remember…)
OK I’m wracking my brains out here…seriously, what else did we cover?? Well anyway. I’ll learn it (again…) on the job when the need comes! 🙂
