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Shelter Medicine Distance Education

College of Veterinary Medicine

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VME 6820: Introduction to Veterinary Disaster Response

VME 6820

Introduction to Veterinary Disaster Response

Be prepared to respond to veterinary disaster events as a volunteer.

Intro video for VME 6820. Play Video

Course Content

Be prepared to respond to veterinary disaster events as a volunteer. Recognize the standards of care for operating emergency animal shelters and transporting pets before and after disaster events.  Understand the need for animal shelters to maintain all-hazard plans and adapt plans in the face of a pandemic.

By the end of this course, students will:

  1. Know the four stages of the disaster cycle.
  2. Prepare a personal disaster-readiness plan intended to prepare one’s family and pets to be self-sufficient for all potential local hazards.
  3. Recognize why adhering to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is important for any incident response. 
  4. Describe the chain of command in an emergency response used at the local, state, or national level.  (Incident Command System = ICS)
  5. Know where to volunteer to serve in an animal-related disaster response and what is required to become a volunteer with that agency.
  6. Identify the role one might volunteer to serve in an animal-related emergency response.
  7. Know why it is never appropriate to self-deploy to a disaster response. 
  8. Recognize barriers that might interfere with a volunteer’s ability to respond to an event when activated.  
  9. Describe the standard-of-care that should be met in order to humanely operate a temporary emergency pet shelter.
  10. Know the principles for safely decontaminating pets exposed to floodwaters. 
  11. Create a checklist for animal intake to a temporary animal shelter. 
  12. Create a checklist that promotes best practices for evacuating/transporting animals between shelters during a disaster event.
  13. Create a template for an animal shelter to use for all-hazard disaster planning intended to protect animal welfare and promote continuity of shelter operations.
  14. Discuss the impact that COVID19 has on emergency animal sheltering, animal transports, and disaster response.
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