About County SART

In 2004, there was a group of agencies and organization who formed a multi-agency coordination group (MAC) that supported Emergency Support Function 17 (animal and agriculture issues) at the State Emergency Operations Center. This group is known as the State Agricultural Response Team (SART). This group has met quarterly, participated in emergency response activities, and presented training conferences. By working together we have been able to pool our information and resources to the benefit of the participating entities, their personnel, and ultimately the citizens Florida.

SART strongly encourages the development of county SART teams that can assist your county with ESF 17 issues. Every emergency is a local emergency first and a local team for animal and agricultural issues is needed in each county.

A county SART is a group of people from a specific county that prepares for, responds to, and aids in recovery from an animal or agricultural emergency or disaster. Members are drawn from county agencies and organizations that play a role in the animal and agriculture community. The group may also include citizen volunteers. County SART members provide critical support to state SART and other responders, assist victims, and collect information that allows disaster relief to get to those who need it. Although, the word “response?appears in the SART name, a county SART is not necessarily a response team. Some SART members will be responders, and others will not. A county SART’s work improves planning, response, and recovery operations for animals and agriculture affected by emergencies and disasters.

The county SART operates as a multi-agency coordination group (MAC), which identifies incident priorities that guide incident objectives, provides resources for an incident, integrates incident communications, integrates incident information, and provides interagency decision coordination. The SART MAC is a coordinating entity for local animal and agricultural disaster issues.

One copy of the Creating a County SART Starter Pack will be mailed to each Florida county in the next few weeks. This Starter Pack includes step-by-step manuals to assist your group in starting your county’s SART, brochures, and even a video and DVD, among other items. These interested individuals should contact their Emergency Management Directors, who are receiving the Starter Packs, to set up and time to meet together and discuss the county SART formation.

On this Web page you will find electronic copies of most every resource listed in the Creating a County SART manual. Also there are copies of the brochures, state and county versions, and the DVDs available for download as well. I sincerely hope that you find these items helpful as they were developed with the assistance of the pilot counties recruited last year.

Should you need any assistance or would like to have a SART representative come to any organizational meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me, Dr. Greg Christy, State ESF17 Coordinator. I can be reached at (850) 410-0900 or via email christg@doacs.state.fl.us.

Thank you for volunteering in this important endeavor. Together we can make a difference to animals and agriculture afflicted by disaster.

Best wishes,

Dr. Greg Christy