Vol. 4, No. 2, February 2008

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 Contents

March Advisory Board Not-To-Be-Missed!

 The March 2008 SART Advisory Board meeting will
be held at 10:00 AM Wednesday March 5th at the
41-acre Marion County 4-H Farm, 5151 SE 58
Ave., Ocala, FL. 34480-7459 (352) 671-8400.
The meeting will begin immediately following the
closure of a 48-hour live SART training event held as
a "planned, response to a local disaster." The event
will test equipment, coordination and procedures
across several of the SART disaster response
partners. For a front-row-and-revealing opportunity to
hear about Florida’s to-date preparedness, this is a
not-to-be-missed meeting!

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Incident Command Responder Training

Minimum Responder Requirements
According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) standards for agency
and NGO personnel, minimum responder requirements are to complete:
- IS 100 (Introduction to Incident Command System)
- IS 200 (ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents) and
- IS 700 (National Incident Management System, An Introduction).
These courses may be taken free on line at one’s leisure:
- IS 100 http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is100.asp
- IS 200 http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is200.asp
- IS 700 http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700.asp
“When you complete the on line courses,?says John
Haven, Director of the UF College of Veterinary
Medicine, “DHS emails a certificate of completion to
you fairly quickly - in many cases within minutes.
Although these courses were not written from an
agricultural or animal perspective, the same concepts
nevertheless apply.?br>
Advanced Responder Requirements
To qualify as a supervisor/manager, one must also complete:
- IS 300 (Intermediate Incident Command System) and
- IS 400 (Advanced Incident Command System) is recommended.

These courses cannot be satisfactorily completed on line. According to John Haven,
Director of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, they require tabletop exercises and
discussion for the material to come together meaningfully. (Taking IS 200 in a live
setting may help it come together more easily.)

Additional Courses
A number of other FEMA courses are available that pertain to important topics
specific to animals and their handling: see http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp.

Florida’s Pro-Active Solution
1. Basic/Introductory: The UF College of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, FDACS and the County Extension Service have developed a
training schedule designed to teach the fundamentals (IS 100, IS 200, IS 700 and IS
300) of the Incident Command System to SART members and to SART affiliates such
as Veterinary Reserve Corps members in a classroom setting.

Classes will run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for two days as noted below. (They are
Fridays and Saturdays to try to balance between government employees and
volunteers who may need to take time off from work to attend.)
- RDSTF Region I: DeFuniak ?February 15/16
- RDSTF Region III: Ocala ?March 28/29
- RDSTF Region II: Tallahassee ?April 25/26
- RDSTF Region V: Kissimmee ?May 30/31
- RDSTF Region VII: West Palm ?June 20/21
- RDSTF Region VI: Ft Myers ?July 11/12
- RDSTF Region IV: Bartow ?TBD

2. Intermediate/Advanced: In addition to the basics, certificate classes will be offered
in IS 300. The course is 2 ?days, beginning at noon on Thursday, running from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday, and finishing in the late afternoon on Saturday. Classes will
be at the respective county extension office. Courses are free and all training
materials will be provided.
- Leon County: Tallahassee - June 12/13/14
- Osceola County: Kissimmee - July 24/25/26
- Palm Beach County: West Palm Beach - August 7/8/9
- Polk County: Bartow ?August 22/23z

 Attendees must show proof of completion of IS 100, IS
200 and IS 700 to participate in IS 300. If you have
registered for these courses, you may also register
for 300, provided that you will have completed the others before the IS 300 course
begins. (An elective for the general responder, ICS 300 is required for supervisors
and incident management team general staff members. Please indicate your role in
registering.)

To Register
    ?Before registering, please check with your supervisor
    ?Remember that classes will be at the county extension office
    ?All students should have email that they can access remotely

Please do not wait until the last minute to register. Class rolls will close 45 days prior
to a course start date. Based on feedback and participation levels, additional IS 100,
IS 200, IS 300 and IS 700 classes may be scheduled in the fall and an IS 400 class
later in the year.

Registration is being handled through Gary Painter painteg@doacs.state.fl.us and all
courses are free.


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UF Bee College & Master Beekeeper Program

The University of Florida/IFAS is holding its first annual Bee College & Honey Show, March 13-15th at the Mid-Florida Research & Education Center, Apopka, FL. Jamie
Ellis, bee specialist and Assistant Professor at UF, will chair the college. Information
may be obtained at http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/honeybee/.
Bee College is an educational event for anyone interested in
honeybees. No prior bee knowledge is necessary. Bee College
consists of two days of morning lectures and afternoon
workshops in two tracks, one for beginners and one for
experienced beekeepers. Schedules are available at beginners
track , experienced track. (Bee College is not part of the Master
Beekeeper Program.)

A new Master Beekeeper Program, designed specifically for
beekeeper education, will be held coincidental to the college. Only beekeepers
registered with FDACS (click here to register with FDACS), can participate and
attendees must have
hive of bees for at least one
program is available at
Requirements document.
(the day before Bee College
will be given as a review for
exams. Those exams will be
and 7:00 PM (written) on
owned at least one
year. Information about this
Master Beekeeper Program
On Thursday, March 13th
begins) a series of lectures
Certified Beekeeper level
given at 2:00 PM (practical)
Thursday, March 13th.

For additional information, contact Nancy Gentry at (386) 684-3433
farmbees@gmail.com or Michael O’Malley at (352) 392-1901 omalleym@ufl.edu.
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Quotes from the Formative Meetings of NASAAEP

“To have an effective response, you have to work within the system. To go out on your
own freelancing is just not going to work.??Scott Mason, DVM, Oklahoma Disaster
Preparedness Coordinator

“As a rule, when ‘it?hits the fan and you need boots on the ground quickly, America’s
vet schools are right there. We can deploy 12 veterinarians and technicians in a fully
sustained MASH Unit for all-hazard, all-species disaster response.??John Haven,
Director, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine
  Chris Crnich, Nevada, and
  John Wight, Orlando, FL
 “It’s clear that no one person or group can do it alone.?
?Heather Case, DVM, MPH, Assistant Director,
Coordinator of Emergency Preparedness and
Response, AVMA

“A SART begins to be woven into the fabric of a
community by responding to small emergencies,
possibly one animal at a time. We are preparing to
shelter whatever animal [the public] has that we can
handle: aquariums to snakes,?according to Joel Hersh, Pennsylvania State
Preparedness Coordinator/PA SART. “We have two levels of volunteers: workers (who
must be NIMS compliant with 100, 200, 700 with HazMat awareness) and product
suppliers (who do not need to be NIMS trained). Our volunteers, by the way, pay for
their own background checks.?br>
“It has been a four-year effort to get emergency planners to recognize the needs and
impacts of agriculture and animals,?says Billy Dictson, Director, Office of Biosecurity,
College of Agriculture and Home Economics, New Mexico State University. “The
principal difference between the east and west is the sheer number of people and
Florida, like New Mexico, is a gateway for thousands of people and who knows what
else every day!?br>


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NASAAEP Elects Directors
Develops Certificate of Incorporation, By Laws

In two days of open and well-attended meetings
during the American Veterinary Medical Association
conference in Orlando, January 22nd and 23rd,
interested members of the U.S. emergency
preparation and response community adopted a slate
of directors to guide the fledgling National Alliance of
State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs
(NASAAEP) into 501 (c)(3) “charitable and
educational?corporate status.

NASAAEP’s purpose is to foster “a national network of
state animal and agricultural emergency programs
and other stakeholders to promote effective all-
hazards animal and agricultural emergency
  Kevin Dennison, DVM,
  Colorado, moderated the
  formative NASAAEP meeting.
management, including policy making, planning, preparedness, mitigation, response,
and recovery efforts, that helps ensure the safety and health of people, animals,
agricultural infrastructures, food systems, and the economy. Such activities include,
without limitation:?br>     (a) Enhance communication between animal and agricultural emergency
         programs, including State Animal/Agricultural Response/Resource Teams
         (“SART?, state veterinary medical reserve corps, any similar state programs,
         tribal programs, local programs, and national partners;
    (b) Promote best practices and models for program management, mitigation,
         preparedness, response, and recovery;
    (c) Cultivate resources that strengthen preparedness and response capabilities
         at the local, state, tribal, and national level;
    (d) Facilitate and promote the development of a national animal emergency
         management framework through coordination and capacity building between
         and among states, and support of credentialing standards, shared training
         initiatives, and national training standards.

Interim Board of Directors
Jane Davis, IL Veterinary Emergency Response Team ?Kane County
Kevin Dennison, DVM Director ?Animal Emergency Management Programs
Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation
Arnie Goldman, DVM, MS
Executive Director, CT State Animal Response Team ?Canton Animal Hospital
Dick Green, Ed.D.
Emergency Relief Manager ?Disasters ?
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Warren J. Hess, DVM
Field Veterinarian, Utah Dept. of Agriculture,
Division of Animal Industry
Scott Mason, DVM
Oklahoma VMA/Veterinary Medical Reserve
Corps/SART ?Putnam Animal Hospital
Anne M. McCann
Delaware Emergency Management Agency
Debrah Schnackenberg
Director, Animal Emergency Services, American
Humane Association
Kelle Straw
Director of Corporate Communication and Public
Affairs ?Merial
Elizabeth A. Wang
Executive Director, Texas State Animal Resource
Team (TXSART)
  Penny Burke, FEMA/DHS,
  Citizen Corps: “Citizen Corps
  asks you to embrace the personal
  responsibility to be prepared; to
  get training in first aid and
  emergency skills; and to
  volunteer to support local
  emergency responders, disaster
  relief and community safety.?br>
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Abandoned Animals Increase Due To Home Foreclosures

 Gainesville SART member Carol Lehtola recently brought
our attention to an article on CNN.com about the increase
in homeless and abandoned animals due to the massive
home foreclosure situation caused by a dramatic rise in
interest rates. The article, based on information from
Stockton, CA and dated January 29th can be found at
www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/29/foreclosure.pets.ap/
index.html
Local animal shelters said they were “overwhelmed;?a spokesperson noted
that the pressure to euthanize abandoned pets was increasing because the volume
was so great and that, perhaps as a result of the uncertain economy, new
homeowners were loath to adopt these abandoned animals.

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HSUS Schedules National Conference
On Animals In Disaster

The Humane Society of the United States has scheduled a national conference on
“Animals In Disaster?for June 2-6 at the Doubletree
Hotel-Sacramento in Sacramento, CA. According to a
handout, the event will host practical training, guest
speakers and workshops on:
    ?Developing exercises to test your disaster planning
    ?Building disaster-resilient communities
    ?Learning tools and techniques for large and small animal rescue
    ?Valuing volunteers ?the underused resource
    ?Creating private-public partnerships that work
    ?Rethinking the catastrophic event
    ?Raising the bar on animal disaster response qualifications and cooperation

For more information contact HSUS at (301) 258-3103; e-mail
disaster@humanesociety.org; visit www.humanesociety.org/disaster; or write to
The HSUS Disaster Services, 2100 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20037.

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New SART Training Module
“Evidence Collection and Chain-Of-Custody Issues?/FONT>

Prepared by Colonel Darrell Liford, Director of Law Enforcement, Office of Agricultural
Law Enforcement, DOACS, a new SART training module titled “Evidence Collection
and Chain-Of-Custody Issues?is available through
http://www.flsart.org/library/index.htm.
Ludford’s topics and major points will
be helpful not only in cases of
agroterrorism or bioterrorism, but in
more straight-forward and every-day
cases of vandalism or theft. In all
cases, the victim or witness is directed
to immediately call 9-1-1.

These points and others are stressed:
    1. Clues to recognizing and
        managing the scene of a crime
        or a suspicious event. It is
        important to assess any
        immediate danger to yourself
        or others.
    2. How to be a good witness to an
        event or at a scene. Ludford
        notes that because a casual observer ?as opposed to a trained law
        enforcement investigator ?is usually the first person on site, careful
        bservations are critical to understanding and solving problems.
    3. Understanding evidence and how it is collected. Evidence may be
        present ?or what is not present, including your complete notes and
        descriptions. If possible, rope off the area and keep people out. Watch where
        you step, what you touch and disturb nothing unless absolutely necessary.
        Note who enters, who leaves and take pictures.
    4. Understand the evidence chain-of-custody. If you take something, secure it
        properly. If you pass something along, get signature and identification.

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Recent UF TLAER Course ?Fun, Informative For Everyone

Photos courtesy Dr. Amanda House UF Equine Extension veterinarian


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2007 Eligibility Is Extended
for Livestock, Crop Disaster Claims

According to the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), eligibility to apply for 2007
programs covering livestock and crop losses has been extended. Now, the previous
date of February 28, 2007 is extended for losses from crops planted and
livestock/livestock feed through December 31, 2007.

The Crop Disaster Program (CDP) provides benefits to farmers who suffered quantity
and quality losses to 2005, 2006 or 2007 crops from natural disasters if the crop
was planted before December 31, 2007 or, in the case of prevented plantings, for
crops that would have been planted before that date.

The Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) compensates producers for feed losses
occurring between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2007 due to a natural
disaster while the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) compensates producers for
livestock losses.

"This adds 10 months to the amount of eligible time that losses can be considered,"
said Kevin Kelley, State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).
More information is available at local FSA offices or online at www.fsa.usda.gov
under "Disaster Assistance Programs." Contact Kevin Kelley, State FSA Executive
Director, (352) 379-4500 or Tim Vonderfecht, State Agriculture Specialist, (352) 379-
4522.

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In Review Florida SART Training Module
“Introducing Florida Aquaculture?/FONT>

Tropical fish farms in Florida. Above the “freeze
line?heating is required. At about $80
million/year, Florida ranks 3rd in U.S. (behind
Mississippi and Arkansas) in
value of product sold from its 160 farms. Top 4
sales categories are tropical fish (42.6%),
aquatic plants (21.4%), clams (18.4%) and
shrimp (7.5%).
www.flsart.org/library/index.htm

 Prepared by:
Kathleen Hartman, DVM, PhD
    Aquaculture Epidemiologist, USDA-APHIS-VS
  Florida’s “Freeze line?runs roughly
  Southwest-Northeast across the central
  peninsula, from Tampa through Orlando
  to Daytona Beach.
 Denise Petty, DVM
     Assistant Professor, LACS, CVM, UF


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FSA Re-Schedules Dairy Day Sign-Up

Sign-up for the Dairy Disaster Assistance Program (DDAP-III) is postponed until FSA
publishes final regulations in the Federal Register. Sign-up was scheduled to resume
February 4.

FSA delayed sign-up because regulatory requirements mandated the issuance of a
proposed rule for public comment. FSA is finalizing its review of the numerous
comments received and expects to publish final regulations for DDAP-III soon.

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About the SART Sentinel

Editor: Rick Sapp, PhD, Technical Writer, Florida Department of Agriculture &
Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry [rsa5@cox.net]

Associate Editor: Joe Kight, State ESF-17 Coordinator, Florida Department of
Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry
[kightj@doacs.state.fl.us]

The SART SENTINEL is an E-mail newsletter prepared monthly by Rick Sapp and the
members of the Florida State Agricultural Response Team. Past issues of the
Sentinel are archived on the Florida SART Web Site, www.flsart.org.

If you have a story or photo that you would like to have considered for publication in
The SART SENTINEL, please contact the Editors.

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