Nurse Performs CPR to Revive Moonshine-Soaked Raccoon in Kentucky
A Letcher County health worker revived a juvenile raccoon that had drowned in a dumpster filled with fermented peaches before wildlife officials intervened and returned the animal to the wild.
A nurse at the Letcher County Health Department in Whitesburg, Kentucky, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a juvenile raccoon that had nearly drowned in a dumpster containing moonshine-soaked, fermented peaches and revived the animal, according to the nurse and her employer.
Misty Combs, a registered nurse, and a co-worker heard a commotion near the department's parking-lot dumpster, which sits beside the Kentucky Mist Moonshine distillery. Combs said she saw a mother raccoon frantically trying to reach two young raccoons trapped inside. She used a shovel to scoop one out; a second was unresponsive at the bottom of the water-filled dumpster and covered in soaked fruit.
Combs said she pulled the second animal to safety by its tail and immediately began chest compressions when it showed no signs of breathing. A video taken by co-workers shows Combs performing compressions, then flipping the raccoon onto its side and slapping its back. After an extended effort, the animal began breathing again.
"Everybody around was like, 'It's dead, it's not breathing,'" Combs told a local news outlet. "It had drowned, and it was full of water; you could feel the water, so immediately, I just started doing CPR on it." Combs, who said she has been a nurse for 21 years, told reporters she had never before performed CPR on an animal.
Fish and Wildlife officers responded to the scene and transported the raccoon to a local veterinarian, where the animal received fluids and treatment to reverse the effects of alcohol intoxication. Combs and coworkers nicknamed the juvenile "Otis Campbell," after a fictional character known for inebriation. After treatment, wildlife officials returned the raccoon to the health-department parking lot and Combs permitted the animal to go back into the wild.
The incident highlights hazards that can arise when food waste and fermenting fruit are accessible to wildlife. Fermenting fruit and discarded alcohol can intoxicate animals, impair their movements and judgment, and increase the risk of drowning, injury or predation. Wildlife authorities removed the animal for veterinary care and later returned it once it had recovered.
Combs said she worried about being bitten after the animal revived, noting that raccoons can carry rabies. Officials routinely advise the public to contact wildlife or animal-control professionals rather than handle wild animals because of the potential for disease and injury.
The rescue drew attention after local media circulated the video of Combs' efforts. The nurse said she acted on instinct to help the trapped animals and was relieved they survived. Fish and Wildlife and veterinary staff handled the follow-up care and the raccoon's release back to its natural habitat.