For equine practitioners, education is key to disaster preparation

Disaster struck at the latest meeting of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP).

There were floods, forest fires, tornadoes, infectious disease outbreaks and bioterrorist attacks.

They all occurred in Room 214A of the San Antonio Convention Center, site of the AAEP Equine Disaster preparedness session.

Those scenarios were part of a discussion to help prepare equine practitioners nationwide for similar real-life emergencies.

Stranded: Two horses stand on high ground on this flooded farm in Washington's Snohomish Valley after the Snohomish River breached its levee in November. The American Association of Equine Practitioners says that, because communities will look to veterinarians for leadership in post-disaster recovery, they need to be prepared.

While Hurricane Katrina's effects on horses and other animals along the Gulf Coast last year raised awareness, disasters come in many forms and were an issue for veterinarians long before Katrina.

For instance, California forest fires in 2003 and the series of hurricanes that pounded Florida in 2005 both necessitated evacuation and relocation of horses.

Equine practitioners also have faced emergencies in recent years from ice storms, floods and traffic accidents involving horses in transit.

Out in the cold: Weather emergencies, such as the Midwest ice storms and the recent blizzards in Colorado, are the types of scenarios for which owners and practitioners need to have a plan in place. It is the key to saving more lives, officials say.

More recently, a rhinopneumonitis outbreak in South Florida and the blizzards in Colorado forced veterinarians to deal with quarantine issues, animal movement and food-distribution problems.

Good planning is needed to prepare for these and similar emergencies.

According to the AAEP Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Guidelines written in 2003, the equine practitioner "is qualified to understand and treat the injuries and stresses of horses in a disaster as well as understanding the logistical factors associated with a rapid or planned evacuation of horses."

That report adds that, for veterinarians, "triaging is a part of everyday life. The community will look to the practitioner as an important resource in the post-disaster period."

Resources

As a proactive move, AAEP recently developed the State Equine Emergency Network (SEEN) program, to designate equine practitioners in each state as liaisons among AAEP staff, members and state animal-emergency management officials during emergencies.

Many veterinarians were frustrated after Katrina because people who wanted to assist injured and stranded horses simply couldn't get into the hardest-hit areas, and supply deliveries were hampered.

Therefore the SEEN program's first objective, and the first item in the AAEP Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Guidelines, is education.

"Effective preparedness saves more lives than any type of disaster response," says Dr. John Madigan, writing in An Equine Disaster Response for Horse Owners, published by the American Horse Council in 1999.

Equine veterinarians can help educate and prepare horse owners through 4-H talks, pony-club presentations, local seminars, newsletters and simply by stressing disaster planning during routine veterinary care for clients.

Simple questions can generate discussion and move clients to consider an emergency plan.

For example, practitioners might ask clients how they would deal with the loss of power for a few days or longer.

Do they have generators to run water pumps and fuel for those generators? Do they have enough food to last a while and the means to distribute it to their horses?

What if some or all the structures on their farms were lost in high winds or floods? What would they do if they had to get all their horses moved in a short time? Do they have trucks and trailers in working order?

Do they have fuel available and numerous routes planned with appropriate destinations for housing horses?

Alternate routes are key, because fires, floods and storms can change topography so that familiar getaway routes are blocked.

Available resources on these issues include AAEP pamphlets on emergency preparation, and several Web sites where veterinarians can get additional education and training.

Another goal is to alert state and federal emergency-management workers to the needs of horses during disasters, urging them to include equine practitioners in rescue, evacuation and assistance plans.

AAEP guidelines state, "The equine practitioner must be able to effectively interface with those controlling movement of people and animals in an area impacted by disaster. Unless you are a known resource to local disaster-response officials (and credited accordingly), you are likely to be turned away at a roadblock before ever getting a chance to help."

A county animal coordinator in the Office of Emergency Services is an important first point of contact for animal issues.

Interplay between agencies and debates over jurisdiction were difficult issues after Katrina and other disasters. The better equine veterinarians are able to work with all officials and organizations, the more help they will be when needed.

Some veterinarians may want to take a course in Standard Emergency Management Systems and Incident Command Systems, in order to become certified as a Disaster Service Worker. This will allow them to blend more easily into emergency-response teams set up in most states and gain quicker access to horses that need attention.

Recent meetings, like the one in San Antonio in December, have helped launch the SEEN program, but SEEN members are still needed for Rhode Island, Vermont, Utah, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Mississippi, Kansas, Montana and Arkansas.

Some states need additional liaisons, especially in large states where problems and needs can vary widely within their borders.

States with mountain ranges, shorelines, river valleys and other areas where weather disasters are more likely to occur also could benefit from additional equine veterinary representatives.

Those who can help are urged to contact Keith Klein at the AAEP.