This training exercise took place in February 2018 and we hope to offer it again in the future. Please check back. We will leave these links and photos up for educational purposes. Some material may be moved to other training pages in the future.
Oklahoma Disaster Animal Response Exercise
with the Texas A & M Veterinary Emergency Team
March 2-4, 2018
Stillwater, OK
Please join us in thanking the organizations whose grants to PCART and OLAFR have made this Exercise possible. Soon we will post links to all of the local restaurants and retailers that have donated food and supplies to keep you fed and hydrated next weekend.
upDATES FOR Registered PARTICIPANTS
Friday February 23, 2018 Update
It is Friday February 23 and we are exactly one week away from our chance to learn how to better mount safe and effective responses to emergency situations involving animals using the Incident Command System.
From Jeff Kuhn, Director of the Payne County Office of Emergency Management. Jeff had some encouraging words for the Exercise Planning Team last week as we began to get a bit anxious after 7 months and they apply to our participants as well!
It is Friday February 23 and we are exactly one week away from our chance to learn how to better mount safe and effective responses to emergency situations involving animals using the Incident Command System.
- The scenario from Dr. Bissett and his team at TAMU-VET is well underway and we are busy assigning roles behind the scenes based on participant training.
- Many of you were on the phone conference Monday Feb 19 or had asked for notes, and are anxious to learn which roles you might be assigned to.
- We should finish compiling that information this weekend and be able to update you on Monday.
- We expect to update this page every couple of days and post resources that you can use as you prepare.
- Participants and staff come from multiple organizations, including PCART, OLAFR, OK-ACT, McCART, GCART, OK-SART, USDA, Payne County Office of Emergency Manager (PCOEM), OK-MRC, TAMU-VET, OSU-FPP, OSU-FST, American Humane, and others.
- Based on the interest in the February 17-18 Basic Animal Emergency Response training in Stillwater we expect to have media coverage on and off as well as visitors from OSU and local emergency response agencies.
- If you know of someone who is interested in observing please let us know in the comment box below.
- The Exercise will be opened on Friday night by Dr. Rod Hall, State Veterinarian for Oklahoma.
- Activation (Thursday): We will send out an OK-MRC activation with instructions next Thursday to all MRC credentialed volunteers. If you are registered for this Exercise you should follow the instructions and respond with your availability. We will also send an email to the addresses submitted with your registration in case your MRC notification slips through the cracks. If you do NOT receive the MRC activation please let us know. We should correct that before the next deployment.
- IMT Meeting with TAMU-VET - Friday 2:00 PM: The Incident Management Team (you will be notified if you are needed for this) will receive the intial scenario from TAMU-VET on Friday at around 2 pm. They will begin the first Planning cycle and prepare to brief all responders at 7 PM
- Friday 7:00 PM - Welcome by Dr. Rod Hall and initial Exercise Briefing by Incident Managment Team: OSU Veterinary School McElroy Hall Auditorium. All registered Exercise participants should attend.
- Saturday 7:00 AM - Respond to Staging Area: All Exercise participants check in as directed at Friday night briefing. This is most likely the OSU Fire Service Training Grounds west of Stillwater.
From Jeff Kuhn, Director of the Payne County Office of Emergency Management. Jeff had some encouraging words for the Exercise Planning Team last week as we began to get a bit anxious after 7 months and they apply to our participants as well!
- "Many of us are anxious about the upcoming Exercise but it is something we have been working on for a long time. We just need to relax, do our jobs the best we can, and know that everything will be OK. I have been in many exercises and they are all nerve-wracking. We have the right people in place to make this a great success. As Friday evening comes and we start getting the scenario, trust me when I say that despite the apparent chaos, things will be fine. When we start working through the scenario with the injects that TAMU-VET brings, it will not be perfect. It is not expected to be and things have a way of working out. Remember, this the first big deployment for most of us and we will work through those injects as a team."
- In recent meetings with the Exercise Planning Team, Dr. Bissett has said that every participant in this Exercise is going to be challenged and is not expected to "do everything right" - that is not the point of Exercising! He said we shouldn't be physically exhausted but we will be exhausted "between our ears." As a veterinarian himself he noted that all of the vets, vet techs, shelter professionals, animal handlers and trainers, and organizational gurus who manage busy offices (ok, I added that last one) are good at their jobs. They know what to do and how to do it. But they know their jobs in their normal context - vet clinic, farm or livestock show, local animal shelter, and/or office. What most of us are not used to is the chaos of an emergency incident where we can't just open the drawer behind us to find the tools and resources we need and where every animal and animal owner on site is in crisis.
Saturday February 24, 2018 Update
Reminders From Information Page:
This exercise is targeted to animal response team members, veterinarians, and veterinary technicians, however first responders who are interested in participating can be accommodated. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Susan Grammer (susan.grammer@okstate.edu), for information, as we may be able to use your expertise in the role of Evaluator or Safety Officer.
Pre-exercise instruction, exercise scenario, and injects for participants are expected to cover:
Participants should expect to be required to model responses to hypothetical situations that include:
Additional, more advanced topics, may be introduced through demonstrations by qualified personnel
This exercise is targeted to animal response team members, veterinarians, and veterinary technicians, however first responders who are interested in participating can be accommodated. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Susan Grammer (susan.grammer@okstate.edu), for information, as we may be able to use your expertise in the role of Evaluator or Safety Officer.
Pre-exercise instruction, exercise scenario, and injects for participants are expected to cover:
- Team or Agency activation/deployment/integration (OKMRC, OEM, or other procedures)
- Incident Command System (ICS)
- Scene Safety
- Small/Large Animal Behavior
- Small/Large Animal Sheltering
- Small/Large Animal Veterinary Emergency Care
Participants should expect to be required to model responses to hypothetical situations that include:
- Prioritizing life safety
- Stabilizing an incident
- Following ICS procedures, including chain-of-command
- Creating emergency shelters for large and small animals
- Animal intake, record keeping, reunification protocols
- Addressing injuries to animals
- Addressing various hazardous situations
- Addressing injuries to responders, including those caused by animals
- Requesting and obtaining needed resources
- Additional topics
Additional, more advanced topics, may be introduced through demonstrations by qualified personnel
Sunday February 25, 2018 Update
- Today several members of the Exercise Planning Team met to assign roles during the Exercise.
- Those participants who will be starting the Exercise on Friday in leadership roles will meet with TAMU-VET at 2:00 PM and should have received a request to do so on Sunday evening. If you expected to be in one of these roles and did not receive an email on Sunday please contact the PCART Volunteer Coordinator at susan.grammer@okstate.edu.
- It may be lunchtime Monday before those integrating with PCART receive an email outlining the PCART Shelter Operations and Field Operations Teams (Rescue & Triage and Treatment Teams).
- For those deploying with OLAFR, the OLAFR leadership will be assigning your roles.
- Resources for use in preparing for the Exercise are being uploaded to a separate "Downloadable Resources Page."
- Resources will be added as quickly as possible.
- There is a button at the bottom of this page where you will always be able to access those resources. Note that we will not email you every time files are added. You can go there to check what is available at any time.
Tuesday February 27, 2018 Update
1. If you have not done so already, please remember to register at the OKMRC website for the Oklahoma Disaster Animal Response Exercise.
2. Resources are being added to the Exercise Resources page today, which you can access from the Dropdown Menu
3. New Resources uploaded today include tentative organizational Charts showing where each role falls in the Incident Command Structure, and a downloadable list of current participants and their anticipated roles.
- Remember that because we do not yet know the scenario or the specific injects we will be faced with, it is difficult to assign absolute roles at this time.
Friday March 2, 2018 Update
TBA
Saturday March 3, 2018 Update
TBA
Sunday March 4, 2018 Update
TBA
Monday March 5, 2018 Update
TBA
Downloadable resources
To access resources for the Exercise as downloadable PDF files: