household pets. He worked with subject matter experts from around the world for over a year to complete the draft, and the new national standard was published in December 2013. The new national standard is significant because without standards, training was inconsistent. First responder agencies were not allowed to use their training dollars to obtain animal technical rescue training. Without proper training, some agencies would refuse livestock calls, only to then have to respond to rescue the general public who tried the rescue anyway. In some cases, responders have been injured using unsafe rescue methods when finding themselves under pressure to do something. At the same time Haven began working on engaging the fire rescue community and the need for standards, he recognized Florida’s need for a training program, and trained teams around the state to perform animal technical rescue. The state veterinarian’s office supported the needs from local emergency management to establish a network across the state. A plan to use federal grant funds to acquire caches of equipment to station around the state in strategic locations, and to design an approved course of training was developed. While the state veterinarian’s office purchased the equipment Haven specified, which included “A” frame cranes, rescue glides, mud rescue gear, harnesses, etc., he partnered with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS)’s education team, to develop the only Department of Homeland Security Operations Level Animal Technical Rescue Course. The significance of the operations-level class is that students perform a complete rescue unassisted, as part of a ‘capstone’ learning experience, demonstrating they are operationally ready to respond. Grant funds have been obtained to provide training around the state. There are now seven state-supported teams in Florida, and Haven is in the process of providing a two-year refresher training to the existing agencies. Host agencies for the caches of equipment are: Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office, St John’s County Fire Rescue, Volusia County Fire Rescue, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Martin County Fire Rescue, and Lee County Sheriff’s Office. While these are the host counties, members of fire, animal control, sheriff, city police, and county extension, and private DVMs from surrounding counties have been involved in the trainings, developing a true regional and multi-agency response capability. The Lee County team is a great example of 5 counties training together on a regular basis, working together on calls, and in the past two years, having completed over a dozen successful rescues of livestock. There are additional large animal technical rescue sources at Wellington Fire Rescue, Southwest Ranches Fire Rescue, and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (two caches). Essentially
anywhere in the state, there is now a cache of equipment, and team, within two hours response. The UF VETS Team has been involved in several high risk, high reward technical rescues since developing its technical rescue skills in support of local emergency management. Some of the more notable include the dog “Joe” extraction from a 50 ft. hole during a night rescue, the horse “Midnight” from the Paynes Prairie mud flat on a Christmas Eve, and two cows in water at the bottom of a 35 ft. sink hole in Levy County. The team has also provided “Smartphone Rescue Assistance” to teams that have arrived on site, sent a picture of the situation, and called for a quick consult to ensure their plan is solid. Never wanting to be complacent in disaster response planning and training, Haven completed “Animal Technical Rescue 2.0” the first re-write of the animal technical rescue course since its inception in 2011 – completely embedding the new National Fire Protection Association standard material, including both large and small animal technical rescue. Recognizing the comprehensive nature of the course, other veterinary colleges have contacted UF about credentialing a team of instructors at other schools to provide the course. In October 2014, Haven instituted a “train the trainer” program at Texas A & M, which credentialed them to use the UF developed animal technical rescue course. Additionally, UF CVM has developed a ‘turnkey cache’ of equipment that local governments can purchase, and UF will configure the kit for them. For those wanting to know more about the VETS Team, or animal technical rescue, Haven can be contacted at havenj@ufl. edu or his office at 352-294-4254. John Haven MAcc, CPA Mr. John Haven is Director, Disaster Response Programs at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Mr. Haven’s disaster response interest stems from his Air Force experience as part of a human air transportable hospital, and from being a volunteer firefighter. After leading the college’s responses to Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, and Jeanne, he organized a formal veterinary emergency response team consisting of faculty, staff, and students, “VETS,” and raised funds for equipment and training. The team has since responded to Hurricane Wilma, the Buggaboo Wildfires, and an equine herpes disease outbreak. In September 2007, he helped to launch Vet Corps, which is the statewide reserve corps of veterinarians and technicians. Both programs are partnerships between the college, the state veterinarian’s office, and the Florida Veterinary Medical Association. Mr. Haven helped to create the National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs. His experience in disaster response includes being part of the general and command staffs.
www.faep.net
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