Manatee Rescue

About this episode

Brandi Phillips discusses the rescue of a trapped manatee and the challenges involved in animal rescues.

In February, responders in Florida successfully rescued a 7-foot, 400-pound manatee that had wiggled his way up a concrete pipe and became trapped in a stormwater drain under the road. The unusual rescue made international headlines, but it was all in a day's work for Brandi Phillips, the animal technical rescue specialist who helped lead the effort to extract Melby the manatee. Phillips joins us on today's episode to chat about how the unique incident unfolded, the challenges of rescuing trapped animals, and what resources, including NFPA standards, are available to help guide agencies as they prepare for and respond to these sometimes tricky incidents. LINKS Learn more about NFPA 2500, Standard for Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents and Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services. Read and learn more about the University of Florida's Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service

People in this episode

Guest: Brandi Phillips

Topics covered

• animal rescue
• technical rescue
• wildlife conservation
• emergency response
• NFPA standards

Keywords

• manatee
• rescue
• Florida
• NFPA
• technical rescue
• wildlife
• emergency services

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Florida

Books & works: NFPA 2500

Places: Florida, stormwater drain, concrete pipe

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