Florida SART: Florida State Agricultural Response Team

The Webinar Movement

Webinar - A seminar conducted over the Internet. A live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments

Consie von Gontard

Wherein Florida SARC’s Consie von Gontard attends a webinar sponsored by the University of Florida’s Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program in the College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville.

Sentinel: Generally speaking, how was the webinar?
Consie: I enjoyed it. It ran a little long, but it was great. It was absolutely worth the time. I could have sat still for two more hours to absorb more details. To have access to this level of information without leaving the house is invaluable – and participation was Free.
It was presented by Dr. Brian DiGangi (digangib@ufl.edu) who is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Shelter Medicine in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. [Dr. DiGangi is board certified in canine and feline practice and recently completed a three-year residency in shelter animal medicine.  He serves as a member of the board of directors of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians.]
Dr. DiGangi was extremely well organized and it was very well presented. Dr. DiGangi from UF gave seminar. Showed videos to explain in real time during webinar. Also just click on links at bottom of screen for additional resources during webinar. (EG when intake, decide body condition score and age an animal – full details about checking teeth, etc.)

Sentinel: What subject matter was presented in the webinar you attended, if “attended” is the right word?
Consie: Shelter set-up and how important the layout of the shelter is.

Sentinel: What are a few of the things you learned?
Consie: Something I found interesting was the path people take when they walk with animals through shelters. I learned several ways to protect animals from disease transmission.
I also learned a lot about scanning techniques for implanted microchips to track the owners of animals. For instance, if a pet gains just five pounds in body weight, what that means in locating the chip. The use of scanners is fairly new in the shelter field and apparently new techniques are coming along very rapidly.

In an era of tight budgets, demand for public services remains high. The "webinar" is part of the solution for training and sharing knowledge, but should perhaps never be thought of as a total replacement for face-to-face interaction.
Effective teamwork, after all, requires more than just "knowing stuff." It requires the trust of team members.

Sentinel: Will the webinar, where you can ask questions in real time, and look at illustrative videos as the presenter speaks, become the primary teaching/learning tool of the future? After all, compared to the travel and expense of moving dozens of people, isn’t a webinar more cost effective?
Consie:  A webinar is extremely effective for certain types of knowledge. It provides access to resources that would be out of reach otherwise. It provides a means of getting information out, getting around the rising cost of travel and the annoyance of getting motel rooms and leaving your pets and family.
People all over the world could log on and listen to information and participate in a discussion of techniques and technical or case studies. Perhaps they can take this information home … without leaving home. I suspect that 90 percent of my webinar attendees wouldn’t have been able to travel for this 1.5 hour session.
What made it great other than the presenter who really understood his material, was that it was interactive. I could ask questions and have Dr. DiGangi respond in real time. The material presentation went high into the Learning Pyramid of hearing-seeing-doing-teaching. (We actually use this idea when setting up SARC courses.)
Sentinel: So…what’s not to like?
Consie: I don’t think the webinar will replace face-to-face meetings. Technology has its place, but getting together for practice and learning from your own mistake and the mistakes of others as they physically perform a task is a prime learning option.

UF VETS Team Hosts Rope Technical Rescue Course

The UF College of Veterinary Medicine VETS team recently hosted a NFPA USAR Rope Technical Rescue Course – Operations Level. This course included new members of the VETS team, Vet Corps members, local Alachua County Fire Fighters, and other UF employees and was conducted at the college, and the football stadium.

  

Photos (l-r) from rope training inside “The Swamp” in Gainesville: Dr. David Baekey - new UF VETS team member and Dr. Sarah Kirk - Florida VETS Corps member. (Photos by John Haven)

• Over the course of the week, class members learned to tie knots, build hauling and lowering systems for humans and livestock, patient packaging for both humans and horses, and learned to rappel.
• Additionally, three long time VETS team members (John Haven, Josh Fleming, David John) achieved their first level Instructor Qualification for teaching rope rescue.  During the course they were evaluated on course instruction, content knowledge, hands on lab teaching, etc.

As many know, the UF VETS team is a core component of the state SART response capability, and it provides medical capability large and small animal, transport capability large and small, and technical rescue capability – most notably with large animals. UF VETS is working with international experts in bringing a small animal technical rescue program to the U.S. in 2012. The VETS team has continued to lead in developing its technical skills for rescue, refining its equipment cache, and participate in multi-agency training.

Over the summer several members of the VETS team attended the Swiftwater Rescue Operations level, and Technician level training in North Carolina with a cadre of sheriff deputies, firefighters and air force para-rescuemen.  (Story by John Haven, UF College of Veterinary Medicine)

UF VETS Instructor candidate David John conducts the lowering of "patient" Dr. Sarah Kirk inside the University of Florida football complex, "The Swamp". (Photo by John Haven)

Training Through FDACS & Indian River

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is collaborating with the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security of UC Davis University of California and the Regional Domestic Security Task Forces to offer this series of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) certified agroterrorism awareness courses in Florida. The courses are open to all United States Citizens, and are free of charge (lunch not provided) through DHS grant funding.

All training will be conducted at the Indian River Research and Education Center, 2199 South Rock Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34945.

Thursday, November 17 – AWR 151 Understanding the Dangers of Agroterrorism: Registration at 12:00 pm; Workshop from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm.

Friday, November 18 – AWR 152 Principles of Preparedness for Agroterrorism and Food Systems’ Disasters: Registration at 7:30 am; Workshop from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Thursday, December 15 – AWR 153 Principles of Detection and Diagnosis – Strategies and Technologies: Registration at 7:30 am; Workshop from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Friday, December 16 – AWR 154 Principles of National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) and Risk Communication: Registration at 7:30 am; Workshop from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Thursday, February 9, 2012 – AWR 155 Principles of Frontline Response to Agroterrorism and Food Systems’ Disasters: Registration at 7:30 am; Workshop from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Friday, February 10, 2012 – AWR 156 Principles of Planning and Implementing Recovery: Registration at 7:30 am; Workshop from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

To find additional information about each course and to register on-site please visit http://dhs.wifss.ucdavis.edu/agroterrorism/classes/classesbydate.php.
If you have any questions please contact John Burkette at (850) 245-1387 or email John.Burkette@freshfromflorida.com

Florida SARC Schedules Classes

    

The Florida State Animal Response Coalition offers three levels of Emergency Animal Sheltering Training: Awareness, Operations and Technician. Each level builds upon the previous level's knowledge and experience. Training is job/task based. “After you take these courses, when you are called upon to assist,” says SARC’s Pam Burns, “you can be confident you know and understand the job you are being deployed to do.”

Awareness Level Sheltering training is the foundation course required to assist with caring for sheltered animals during a disaster. Course topics include: Personal Preparedness, Overview of the Incident Command System, Deployment Preparedness, Assisting in Shelter Set Up, Daily Care and Feeding, Proper Cage Cleaning and Disinfection, Animal Behavior, Stress Management, Code of Conduct for Response, Zoonotic Disease, Personal Safety, and Post Traumatic Stress and more...

Three courses are scheduled for January 2012.
Go to http://www.flsarc.org/Training.html to register.

January 14: Awareness Level Small Animal Emergency Sheltering
Sponsored by Cat Depot!, 2542 17th St., Sarasota
This is a required one-day course (9:00 am to 6:00 pm) to be able to respond with Florida State Animal Response Coalition. It includes both classroom presentations and hands on practical experience.

January 22: Awareness Level Small Animal Emergency Sheltering
Sponsored by Collier County Domestic Animal Services, 3299 Tamiami Trail East, Naples
This is a required one-day course (8:00 am to 6:00 pm) to be able to respond with Florida State Animal Response Coalition. It includes both classroom presentations and hands on practical experience.

January 28: Awareness Level Small Animal Emergency Sheltering
Sponsored by Putnam County Emergency Management, Putnam County Agricultural Center, 111 Yelvington Road, East Palatka

This is a required one-day course (9:00 am to 6:00 pm) to be able to respond with Florida State Animal Response Coalition. It includes both classroom presentations and hands on practical experience.

And Of Note….

Bovine Exercise

FDACS and emergency management staff from Polk and Hillsborough Counties are moving ahead with response partners to conduct a full-scale disaster exercise December 5-6 at the Polk County Extension Office, Bartow.

Called “Operation Bovine Reclamation” the event provides an opportunity “to exercise response plans, policies, and procedures as they pertain to an agroterrorism incident.”

Florida ESF-17 Joe Kight says the scenario begins with a “terrorist-driven chemical issue” that affects herds of large animals. Emergency managers and on-the-ground responders will meet for discussion and on-site planning on the 5th and then conduct about six hours of exercise in a “no-fault, learning environment” the next day.

According to a September 12 Media Release, the exercise focuses on preparing personnel to:

1. provide animal disease emergency support,
2. communicate smoothly in a fluid and chaotic situation,
3. begin counter-terror efforts and law enforcement investigations,
4. estimate Florida’s food and agricultural safety and defenses and
5. test on-site incident management.

For information contact Exercise Director Capt. Keith Ray, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 1891 Jim Keene Blvd., Winter Haven, FL 33880 (863) 298-6200 aray@polksheriff.org.

What is NDRF?

It is…the National Disaster Recovery Framework.
It defines…how we will work together “as a nation” to best meet the disaster recovery needs of individuals, families, communities and states. It defines recovery principles, roles and responsibilities of coordinators and other stakeholders, a coordinating structure that facilitates communication and collaboration among all stakeholders, guidance for pre- and post-disaster recovery planning and; the overall process by which communities can capitalize on opportunities to rebuild stronger, smarter and safer.
It is based on…the principle that all emergency management partners – all community sectors – have a role in recovery. Its “flexible structure” enables recovery managers to operate in a unified and collaborative manner.
It is online at…http://www.fema.gov/recoveryframework/.

World Population Passes 7 Billion

What does it mean that so many people are living at one time on our planet? An interesting web site at http://www.worldometers.info/ gives a great deal of information about our sustainability biosphere. Of course, the rolling up-to-date numbers at Worldometers are the result of mathematical algorithms as no one could actually count the number of “undernourished people” in the world – the term is difficult enough to define – or “Tweets today” or “Desertification this year (hectares).” And under the heading “All Disasters are Local,” perhaps noting a creosote spill in our neighborhood damaged one residential lot is more personal, more individually meaningful than reading that 8,516,048 tons of toxic chemicals have been released into the environment this year (so far). It is a back-yard matter and one of perspective.

Food & Agriculture Actions Report is Online

A bit bureaucratic, but fascinating reading, nevertheless.

The Actions Needed to Improve Response to Potential Terrorist Attacks and Natural Disasters Affecting Food and Agriculture report from the U.S. GAO dated August 2011 is available online at https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=687040.

“What GAO Found: There is no centralized coordination to oversee the federal government’s overall progress implementing the nation’s food and agriculture defense policy—HSPD-9.”

"Don't Move Firewood" Video Wins Award

APHIS’ Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program was a major sponsor of “Super Rangers and the Legion of Bugs.” In September it won the 2011 Yosemite Film Festival Silver Sierra Award in the animated film category. Made by the Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org), the video received special recognition for creativity, originality and professionalism.

The 4:44-minute “Super Rangers and the Legion of Bugs” depicts an elite group of park rangers who combat invasive bugs conspiring to attack U.S. forests by hitching rides on firewood transported for camping and hunting trips, or for outdoor events. It is posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/dontmovefirewood#p/u/3/Y1sYKntstFo.

The video features invasive species such as the Asian longhorned beetle (detected in five States) and the emerald ash borer (detected in more than a dozen States). It is designed to educate the public about the dangers that invasive pests, and transporting firewood that may contain them, can pose to America’s forests.

For more about pests hitchhiking in firewood visit http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/.

SART Planning Meeting

Florida SART has conducted three successful and well-attended state-wide planning meetings: 2011 – Altamonte Springs, 2009 – Cocoa Beach and 2007 – St. Petersburg Beach. These meetings have a number of goals beside the overarching need to develop an effective response framework:

• They provide networking opportunities among governmental partners who might otherwise become compartmentalized.
• They provide training and information-sharing events. Those moments when you slap yourself on the forehead – “Oh, my gosh! I didn’t know that.”
• They remind us that in an emergency we are not alone and that resources are available in the agricultural and animal sector.

Planning Meeting 2009	Planning Meeting 2011

You might like to know that in an environment when finances are constrained, planning moves forward for a 2013 conference. Money may be short, but the threats remain – perhaps even grow over time. Stay informed about developments via updates in the SART Sentinel. At this time JHG Marketing of Tallahassee is writing an RFP to work with FDACS on the organization of a conference during the first quarter of 2013. More information to follow.

Who is RedRover…and what happened to EARS?

This summer, United Animal Nations changed its name to RedRover.

According to a UAN spokesperson, the Sacramento, California-based nonprofit founded in 1987 changed its name to RedRover (www.uan.org) “to better reflect its work to bring animals from crisis to care and to strengthen the common bond between people and animals.”

United Animal Nations (UAN) says it is “a recognized leader in providing emergency sheltering, disaster relief and financial assistance for animals in crisis.” RedRover notes that its EARS (Emergency Animal Rescue Service) teams are now “RedRover Responders.”

Did you know? Agricultural Facts & Estimates

According to USDA, U.S. egg production totaled 6.49 Billion table eggs during September. The Census Bureau says there are 307 million people in the country. That’s 21+ eggs per month. Each. Florida has about 12 million laying hens. Do you eat your share? And since you asked, milk production in the 23 major states during September totaled 14.8 billion pounds or 48 pounds per person. That means each of the 8.47 million head in those states gave 1,742 pounds that month. Of that national statistic, about 114,000 cows in Florida produce 2.127 billion pounds. Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=AGENCY_REPORTS