Creating an Effective County SART 12 Steps to Success. By Greg Christy, DVM Rick Sapp, PhD

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1 Creating an Effective County SART 12 Steps to Success By Greg Christy, DVM Rick Sapp, PhD

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3 Creating an Effective County SART 12 Steps to Success 3

4 Creating an Effective County SART 12 Steps to Success May 2007 Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Department of Animal Industry, Mayo Building, Room 333B, 407 S. Calhoun St., Tallahassee, FL (850) or Photo Credits (page): all photos by Rick Sapp except NOAA (11), IFAS/UF (17, 29), Logo (29 Educate To Detect Courtesy SPDN) To download Florida SART Training Media, visit the Florida SART Internet site at 4

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: INTRODUCTION AND NEED 7 Purpose 7 Definition 7 Introduction 8 What is SART? 8 What is the SART mission? 9 What are SART s goals? 9 What is a County SART? 9 What does a County SART do? 10 Training - Outreach Networking What evidence exists of the need for a County SART? 12 Who should form a County SART? 14 To begin. 14 Part II: 12 STEPS TO AN EFFECTIVE COUNTY SART Operate as a multi-agency coordinating group Establish regular meetings with agendas Work with the county ESF-17 coordinator Review and update your county ESF-17 plan 20 a. Analyze the threats b. Perform an animal and agricultural census c. Prepare a support profile d. Develop a concept of operations e. Perform follow-up analysis f. Immediately implement what you learn 5. Develop an active outreach and recruitment effort Promote awareness of your County SART Support and utilize the Florida SART website Provide training for County SART members Become NIMS compliant Develop a regional context and contacts Identify and obtain ESF-17 equipment and supplies Take time to enjoy the process 36 PART III: APPENDICES 38 Appendix 1: County SART ESF-17 Plan Template 38 Appendix 2: NIMS On-Line Courses of Particular Interest 38 Appendix 3: Florida s Regional Task Forces 40 Appendix 4: Florida Emergency Management Functions 41 5

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7 PART I: INTRODUCTION AND NEED Purpose To encourage the development of County SART programs in Florida as multi-agency coordination (MAC) groups, and to open a dialogue about 12 fundamental issues that affect the success of County SARTs once the initial steps have been taken. Definition The definition of a multi-agency coordination group varies slightly between jurisdiction and general purpose. The essence of your role as a County SART team led (preferably) by the county ESF-17 coordinator, a local chair and an Advisory Board and acting within the scope of animal and agricultural issues can be gleaned from the following two sets of direction. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Department of Homeland Security, A multi-agency coordination system (such as your County SART) is a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures and communications integrated into a common system with responsibility for coordinating and supporting domestic incident management activities. The primary functions are to support incident management policies and priorities, facilitate logistics support and resource tracking, inform resource allocation decisions using incident management priorities, coordinate incident management related information, and coordinate interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding incident management policies, priorities and strategies. (FEMA Independent Study Program IS-701) From the Florida Department of Law Enforcement s perspective, The mission of a multi-agency coordination group is to function as a coordination entity to support local Incident Command in coordination with the local Emergency Operations Center(s) and the state EOC, by assisting with the deployment of resources needed to prevent, prepare for, or respond to an event involving 7

8 weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to prevent or mitigate additional attacks. A MAC group is comprised of discipline leadership, usually consisting of Law Enforcement, Fire Rescue, Emergency Management and Health/Medical representation. ( Making Florida Safer: 2006 Domestic Security Annual Report Florida Domestic Security Oversight Council, Florida Department of Emergency Management) Introduction A disaster or threatening situation in the animal and agricultural sectors involves the resources of government, private profit and non-profit organizations, and affected individuals at all levels: federal, state, regional and local. The ultimate point of resource application however is always local: the intersection where the hurricane knocks over the power pole and transformer, the playground where the dead birds are discovered, the field contaminated with an unusual white dust. Thus, the formation of SART organizations at the local level is vital, because the intimate awareness of and understanding of local circumstances is finest at the local level. Following the lead of the federal government, the State of Florida has organized its emergency response by function (see Appendix 4) and a county s emergency management mimics this structure. Within this document, the local level We want to draw attention to the fact that ESF-17 is is defined as a county because in a very diverse group, says Tom Holt, DVM, Florida Florida, the county is the basic State Veterinarian. And it is this diversity that both constitutional entity. Still, there is no gives us strength and creates opportunities to learn to reason that cities, towns or even work together effectively, to bring a lot of neighborhoods or groups of citizens perspectives and points of view to the SART table. such as area cattlemen or a town s cat owners, for that matter cannot initiate a SART program that integrates creatively and effectively into their county support structure. Lower level SART organizations could in fact use the same format and organizational principles developed in this handbook and the earlier, June 2006 handbook, Creating A County SART. What is SART? SART is a multi-agency coordination group consisting of governmental and private entities dedicated to all-hazard preparedness, planning, response and recovery for the animal and agricultural sectors in the state of Florida. SART operates at the local level through county SART organizations. 8

9 SART utilizes the skills and resources of many agencies, organizations and individuals with its multi-agency coordination group structure. SART supports the county, regional and state emergency management efforts and incident management teams. What is the SART mission? SART is designed to empower Floridians through training and resource coordination to enhance all-hazard disaster planning and response for animals and agriculture. What are SART s goals? To promote the active engagement of each county ESF coordinator who is responsible for animal and agricultural issues. To provide assistance in the development and writing of county ESF-17 plans. To promote the establishment of a county SART which will work as a multiagency coordination group to support emergency management and incident management teams. To provide training for all SART and animal and agricultural personnel. To identify the resources available for an emergency or disaster. To work toward compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). What is a County SART? A county-level State Agricultural Response Team or SART is a group of individuals from a specific county that prepares for, responds to and aids in recovery from an animal or agricultural emergency or disaster. A county SART s work improves the planning, response and recovery process. (Although the words state and response appear in the SART name, a County SART is not necessarily a response team. Some SART members will almost certainly be first responders while others will not. And a County SART will work within it s county structure, coordinating with but not accountable to the state of Florida.) 9

10 SART members are drawn from county agencies and from organizations that play a role in the animal and agricultural community. A SART group may also indeed, it should include concerned individual citizen volunteers. Through the County ESF-17 coordinator, County SART members provide critical support to an incident management team and other first responders, assist victims (within the scope of their expertise and training) and According to Shawn Crocker, president of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau, A partnership in these efforts will make our communities more efficient in handling animal and agricultural emergencies. ( collect information that allows timely disaster relief to reach those who may be in critical need. As a multi-agency coordination group (MAC), the county SART is essentially a coordinating entity for local animal and agricultural disaster issues: helping identify priorities that guide incident management objectives. providing and/or identifying resources for an incident. integrating incident communications and information. Assisting with interagency decision coordination. (An excellent example of County SART organization can be found at the web site of the Hillsborough County, Florida SART team, the County of Hillsborough Animal and Agricultural Response Team or CHAART. The leaders of CHAART have taken the additional step of registering with the Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit 501-(C)-3 Corporation.) What does a County SART do? A County SART meets regularly, perhaps monthly or bimonthly. The primary purpose of a County SART meeting is to If you are going to change the outcome [of a disaster situation], you have to be in fast. Do not be afraid of making the wrong decision. If you wait until all the assessments and evaluations are done, you re already wrong. Respond like the situation is bad and if it isn t, then ratchet your response down. The first 72 hours are critical. William Craig Fugate, Director Florida Division of Emergency Management Presentation to Florida SART Conference, May, 2007 develop a network that can effectively plan for, respond to and assist in the recovery from disasters affecting animals and agriculture. To accomplish this purpose, members perform or develop a county animal and agriculture risk assessment plan; share information about disasterrelated activities from within their organizations; disseminate and review training materials; prepare for or 10

11 debrief from incident activation; and/or update the county ESF-17 plans in cooperation with county emergency management staff. In an emergency, the County SART responds as a key resource to the county s ESF- 17 coordinator. Some SART members may be called upon to assist the coordinator at the county emergency operation center (EOC) or may be requested to report to and support the ESF-17 response. Other members will work with their respective organizations or agencies while maintaining contact with the county SART network. County SART members may be asked to assist during such events as a hurricane or plant or animal disease outbreak. Although the aftermath of an emergency situation or a disaster can linger for many years and can permanently change a community, any community-wide hazardous situation will happen relatively infrequently and, however severe, will be of relatively brief duration. Thus the primary on-going activities for County SART members will be participating in training and educational programs, and outreach and networking activities. Training may take place at local meetings, state conferences or workshops. Indeed, many of the Florida SART training modules are designed for self-study. Training will almost certainly be provided at the Florida State SART conference and at associated organizational meetings and activities. The various governmentalor organizational-led simulations that involve a community s animal and agricultural sectors will provide additional training. Relevant training materials are always prepared for workshops and conferences, and should be widely shared within the County SART team. Outreach involves educating the community about the SART mission 11

12 and recruiting agencies and organizations. Recruitment may begin with such activities as conducting community workshops on preparing pet disaster kits, disseminating pet-friendly shelter information, demonstrating spray applications for pest-infected nursery stock or staffing a SART booth at community events, such as county fairs or hurricane preparedness expositions. Networking will be an important component of fulfilling your County SART s goals. Mission-helpful contacts will be made while staffing display booths, attending training workshops, at the annual SART conference and during ESF- 17 activation for an emergency. Networking may even include developing mutual aid agreements with other counties or organizations, and sharing information about needs, resources and perceived threat horizons. What evidence exists of the need for a County SART? Here are examples of situations in which an effective county SART program could have benefited residents in the animal and agricultural sectors: Hurricane Andrew, August 24, 1992: This Category 4 hurricane swept ashore in Dade County ( and resulted in an estimated $25.5 billion in damage in Florida alone and another One of the important things with volunteers is to $1 billion damage in Louisiana. A have regular meetings and to have interesting and quarter-million people were left different training opportunities, says Arlene Ungar, a Florida SART member who resides in Phoenix, homeless by its winds, tidal surge and Arizona. The interesting part of volunteering tornadoes. Agricultural losses were especially with animals is to have different training estimated at more than $1.04 billion. such as with birds and wildlife and horses [and other The slow response of federal aid to exotic pets]. There are a lot of people out there who storm victims in southern Florida led will volunteer, you just have to look for them. Dade County emergency management director Kate Hale to famously exclaim at a nationally televised news conference, Where in the hell is the cavalry on this one? They keep saying we're going to get supplies. For God's sake, where are they? (as quoted in As this year's hurricane season approaches, the images of [Hurricane] Katrina are still with us. The German shepherd that survived in his home, waiting for his owners, 71 days starving and alone. The family who themselves went without food 12

13 and water as they hid with their dogs and newborn pups and the sad memory of thousands more that died, their stories untold. We placed ourselves at great personal risk to save those that we could as we promised ourselves that this could never happen again. We lobbied, and won the right to evacuate pets both with Federal and State laws. But the hardest part is now up to us to do what we promised. To respond when a hurricane threatens the State of Louisiana, and to evacuate pets alongside their owners. This is now possible through the tireless efforts of the Louisiana State Animal Response Team. (from MuttShack Animal Rescue, Christopher Shays, a U.S. Republican Representative from Connecticut and, with Tom Lantos, A U.S. Democratic Representative from California and co-chairman of the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus, has said that estimates of animals that died or were left without shelter as a result of Hurricane Katrina ranged as high as 600,000. He added that the lack of pet rescue plans also put many pet owners in danger. "When asked to choose between abandoning their pets or their personal safety, he said, many pet owners chose to risk their lives." It is not only such enormous natural disasters as hurricanes, however, that impel the formation of county SART teams. For instance, Florida has the highest number of thunderstorm days (with associated lightning strikes and straight-line winds) per year of any state in the U.S. And compared to other states, Florida ranks number four in frequency of tornadoes. In addition, the Florida peninsula, which points invitingly from the temperate North American into the tropical zone of the Caribbean, now hosts thousands of invasive, non-native and destructive plant, animal and insect species. Florida, of course, is affected by innumerable other factors and the fate of its animals and agriculture cannot be separated from the wider U.S. or world environmental systems. The spinach contaminated with potentially deadly E. coli 13

14 bacteria in 2006 was grown in California, but at least one Floridian died as a result. At least two victims of the terrorist attacks called Florida home. The EHV-1 incident that took place in December 2006 began with horses imported from Europe through New York and resulted in the death of six horses in Florida. And this note appeared on March 27, 2007 on At least 471 cases of pet kidney failure have been reported in the 10 days since a nationwide recall of dog and cat food and about a fifth of those pets have died, a veterinarians' information service said Tuesday. To prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies, the United States Government shall establish a single, comprehensive approach to domestic incident management. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 Who should form a County SART? in the recovery from disasters that affect animals and agriculture. A County SART is a local level organization that replicates in detail the function of the Florida State Agricultural Response Team. It helps organize and coordinate resources to better prepare for, respond to and aid Every Florida county could benefit from a cohesive and functioning SART program, because each county in the Sunshine State has an animal and agricultural sector that may be affected by a variety of emergencies. As is said about the next significant California earthquake, It is not a matter of if, but when. While the matrix of animal and agricultural need may be quite different for each county Miami-Dade having a very different natural and demographic profile, for instance, than Nassau or Leon each has individual concerns that must be addressed prior to an emergency or disaster, whether natural or man-made, predictable or spontaneous. It is only in effective preparation and practice that we can ensure a continuation and even an improvement of our way of life. To begin. This handbook seeks to begin at the point the June 2006 handbook Creating A County SART ends. It takes for granted that your county now has the nucleus of a SART organization for animal and agriculture issues. It assumes that your County SART has a designated chair and a functioning Advisory Board, as well as the active cooperation or at least the awareness of the county ESF-17 coordinator. Now is time to roll up your sleeves and make something wonderful happen for your community, to share the vision. 14

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17 PART II: 12 STEPS TO AN EFFECTIVE COUNTY SART In the following dozen easy steps, any county in Florida can develop the framework for an effective local multi-agency coordinating group, a County SART team operating under the auspices of the county ESF-17 coordinator. Functioning with the direction of a small, but committed Advisory Board that represents all sectors of a county s animal and agricultural community, your County SART becomes a vital member of the overall ESF-17 efforts. STEP 1: Operate your County SART as a multi-agency coordinating group Your County SART will operate as a multi-agency coordinating group, a MAC. Although it should have member representatives from first response agencies, even as members of the Advisory Board, SART itself is not designed to be a hands-on response unit in an animal or agricultural emergency. According to FEMA s IS-701, a MAC is a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures and communications integrated into a common system and within the federal guidelines, there are numerous levels. As a local MAC, your County SART will be responsible for coordinating and supporting domestic incident management activities in the animal and agriculture areas. Your primary functions are defined in this manner: to support incident management policies and priorities, facilitate logistics support and resource tracking, inform resource allocation decisions using incident management priorities, coordinate incident management related information and coordinate interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding incident management policies, priorities, and strategies. Your County SART is therefore designed to be aware of and in communication with experts, trained responders and resources within your county, your region and ultimately (because networking is an overall SART priority) around the state, for theoretically any hazardous animal or agricultural situation. In the simplest terms, your County SART will assist the ESF-17 function by communicating, tracking and coordinating. 17

18 STEP 2: Establish regular meetings with agendas Your County SART program is constituted with an Advisory Board that is committed to effective implementation of plans that will safeguard your county s animal and agriculture sectors in an emergency. You have probably developed a County SART Member Application and circulated it to prospective stakeholders. How can a SART make a positive impact? According to Liz Wang, Executive Director of the Texas State Animal Resource Team in Austin, by making sure they get full support and participation from their EOC, both the director and ESF-17 coordinator. If they don t organize in cooperation with their EOC director, their work isn t going to matter. They ll just be spinning their wheels. (A model Member Application is included in the first SART handbook Creating A County SART, but you may choose to develop an application and membership procedure that is tailored to your county s specific needs. A paper form (as well as an electronic form) is important, however, even if people have signed up as SART members on the Florida SART web site at A local level contact sheet allows the Advisory Board to build a membership roster and to develop contact lists for various animal and agricultural situations.) Now it is also important to have a published schedule, a specific date, time and location for SART meetings, and a firm agenda. Choose a central location for these initial meetings. Good possibilities are the county emergency operations center, the county USDA-Farm Service Agency, the U.F. Cooperative Extension Service office or even a public library meeting room. The meeting location should have the capability to access the Internet and to host training classes. Be sure to have someone take and circulate notes of the proceedings, the issues discussed and action items decided. Our Santa Rosa County SART 1. Modeled to operate as a county level SART 2. Combines the skill and resources of many agencies, organizations and individuals like NRCS, FSA, Cooperative Extension Service, county level agencies and government 3. Supports the county, regional and state emergency efforts 4. Provides early notification of damage to the agricultural community Travis Kelley, County Executive Director USDA, FSA Your Advisory Committee will develop meeting specifics, but a regularly scheduled meeting with a published agenda and at least one new and notable reason to attend each time will solidify your diverse county group as a work-together team. New and notable reasons could be a meeting with the county ESF-17 coordinator (who should, in any case, be a member of the Advisory Board); a presentation by a local reptile expert on how to recognize the exotic pets 18

19 that are most common in the area; or a review of a Florida SART training module. The county emergency management director s attendance is important at an early County SART meeting where community benchmarking and initial review of the ESF- 17 plans will occur. Now that counties have mandated responsibilities to provide for pet evacuation and safety, there should be additional reasons why a county director will appreciate the assistance of a County SART. STEP 3: Work closely with the county ESF-17 coordinator By now your County SART has a firm direction with a committed and functioning Advisory Board. And, encouragingly, the county s emergency management response team is informed and, at whatever level you negotiate or they deem appropriate, is involved in the SART effort. It is time to work closely with your ESF-17 coordinator whom you already know and who presumably concurs with the idea that a County SART will make their job both easier and more productive to review county emergency management plans. (If you have not already done so, this is the time to become acquainted with the physical layout and capabilities of your county emergency operations center.) It is up to your group now to determine, to be attentive to, and to make suggestions about how the County SART can assist with county ESF-17 efforts. This is the point that the work to bring many different agendas and points of view into synchronicity begins to pay dividends for the animal and agricultural sectors of your county. It is important that every stakeholder have a voice, that your effort is Inclusive rather than Exclusive, because plant and animal issues indeed even the difference in issues between household pets and larger animals such as horses and goats is pronounced. 19

20 STEP 4: Review and update your county ESF-17 plan The ESF-17 animal and agricultural effort is part of your county s emergency operations plan. With the approval and support of your county emergency management director and the ESF-17 coordinator, who will either direct or be a part of the effort, your County SART will brainstorm the plan: take it apart and analyze each section, then put it back together again in accordance with state Division of Emergency Management standards. Often, the plan you begin with will seem foreign and bureaucratic. The County SART s job will be to understand it as an operational guide and to flesh it out for animals and the agricultural sector, thus bringing it to life. A thorough ESF-17 plan for your county should take into account each element of the animal and agricultural sector, from horses to geckos, ornamental nursery plants to field crops. Typically, ESF-17 will be one of the last annexes in the plan, but following the pet disaster that resulted from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (see page 11), the ESF- 17 function has gained considerable publicity and public support. Remember, also, that a plan is only a guidance document and not an SOP or standard operational procedure. Your County SART is a volunteer Because we were so hard hit in with Katrina organization, a multi-agency and the other hurricanes, we have had a tendency to coordinating group, not a line function focus on natural disasters and they will never go and its members in Florida are not away, says Joan Dusky, PhD, Associate Dean for first responders. Even though Agricultural Extension Programs, IFAS, So there is particular members, the Sheriff s always going to be a need to be prepared for them. Department, for instance, may have Even more insidious, however, alert systems need to detailed first response emergency be in place to deal with insects and diseases that move tasks, most members will not have in unexpectedly with the wind or hijack into the state. this kind of job description. Most We have so many new insects here that we need to be County SART members will have vigilant and prepared to eradicate or manage them. agency or organizational affiliations with response guidelines that dovetail into your County SART plans and efforts and are present to coordinate, inform and network. Here is a template that may help develop a good introductory plan for your county. (It is reprinted in outline form as Appendix 1.) A. Analyze the possible threats. This is also called performing a risk assessment. Although every county will be slightly different in its final document format, the threat matrix will first need to be understood. 20

21 a. Acts of nature such as hurricanes, tornadoes, out-of-control fires, extensive drought or the opposite, extensive flooding. Does your county have a history of destructive fires? Is it outside the regular and predictable path of hurricanes? b. Intentional or unintentional human acts. Whether accidental or an act of terrorism, such an event cannot be predicted in the same manner as the year s hurricane season or cycles of sun spot activity or the appearance of migratory birds that may spread avian influenza or West Nile virus. For planning purposes, unintentional human acts happen randomly in time tonight, tomorrow or perhaps never whereas intentional acts (setting wildfires or contaminating food) are designed for maximum impact and exposure, and can sometimes be anticipated. This of course makes the planning, response and recovery task more of a challenge and all that more necessary. B. Perform a county ESF-17 animal and agricultural census. It is not possible to know the exact number and type of pets in the county and even experts will disagree about the number of larger animals such as horses or cows. Neither is it possible to know precisely, for instance, how many acres of soybeans have been planted and might be affected by some new variety of soybean rust blown ashore with the next hurricane. These things can be estimated fairly closely, however, and resources are available through the various members, agencies and organizations that have joined your County SART. In addition, the county will maintain a listing of dangerous dogs, wildlife rescue facilities or exhibitions, and pet dealers licensed to handle and sell venomous reptiles. For pets, a reasonable rule-of-thumb is to estimate one pet per two residents. Information about breeding colonies of invasive exotics should be included in both the animal and agricultural census. This information can easily be 21

22 accessed through members who are part of the statewide, UF/IFAS-directed agricultural extension network ( the Department of Environmental Protection ( the Florida Division of Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission ( or the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ( Your members may also be aware of or affiliated with the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council ( a. Animal Census b. Agricultural Census C. Prepare a support profile. Such a step begins in the SART meeting and documents the support systems available to assist in the planning, hazard mitigation and recovery phases. a. Animal Support Profile This sector should begin with your County SART itself with the agencies and organizations represented. Many of them (Sunshine State Horse Council or the United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service for example) will have plans and internal support functions already in place, while others (possibly even a local chapter of the Safari Club International m?action=search) will be able to supply resources and volunteers, but will rely upon your County SART s coordinating ability. The important element is that your county animal and agriculture plan should be inclusive rather than exclusive. It should incorporate more rather than fewer voices, even if there is apparent duplication of effort or occasional rivalry among groups or even if fundamental group goals are at cross-purposes. In such cases, your County SART s planning and networking efforts can help sort out any confusion in advance of an emergency. In a difficult situation, it is almost always better to have too much help, if it can be coordinated, than too little: veterinarians, pet store owners, horse park managers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service What makes a County SART grow? I think it is getting all of the stakeholders involved. Getting them to put their personal agendas aside and work for the benefit of the animals and county administration supporting the initiative, says John Haven, Director of the U.F. College of Veterinary Medicine. If the county ESF-17 coordinator isn t told that having a county SART is important, one of their top five or six priorities, then it is very hard for a SART to form and be able to function, because that person is their access to the whole statewide resource. 22

23 officers, the Humane Society of the United States and countless others. b. Agricultural Support Profile Plants are not the warm and fuzzy sector of SART s mission, and their well being, at least as far as food security is involved, abuts the ESF-11 wildfire suppression function. With a hurricane bearing down, families will not pack the houseplants with their animals and emergency kits unless their bromeliad collection is exceptionally valuable. Nevertheless, as you have already identified in your Hazard Analysis, there are numerous situations where the plant sector nurseries and greenhouses, even field crops could benefit from SART interest and awareness. By becoming acquainted with master gardeners, first detectors, county agricultural agents, chicken house suppliers, feed and seed store owners, Farm Service Agency managers and perhaps even Future Farmers of America and 4-H Club leaders, the path will open before the need is apparent. D. Develop a concept of operations. This section of your county plan may include standard operating procedures for county personnel and agencies. Because your SART is a MAC, a multiagency coordinating group, however, it is an all-volunteer effort and it works with and through member volunteers, agencies and non-profit organizations. a. Communications: A communications section of the plan should give ESF-17 the ability to coordinate emergency need with specific tools to meet that need. During an emergency, our normal methods of 23

24 communicating may quickly become inoperable: telephone service will be interrupted; cellular service towers may collapse; and the Internet become inaccessible. A variety of battery-powered radios or citizen band radios with pre-established frequencies should be part of the solution. If that option fails, designated assembly points in the county and personal contact will need to be established as soon as travel is safe. b. Up-to-date contact lists are important, and one vital, if mundane, County SART function should be to maintain current member lists and contact information. Keeping these lists up-to-date is necessary to the success of SART s mission. It begins with the small step of regularly reviewing member contact information or even issuing wallet-size laminated cards with SART identification and contact information. c. Having a clear chain of On using volunteers. command and a In one documented case in Florida, the community central point of contact used unaffiliated spontaneous volunteers for cleanup and decision-making after a tornado. Osceola County completed its cleanup probably the county 35 days sooner and $6.6 million less than initial ESF-17 coordinator s estimates because of volunteer help. As a bonus, by office during and keeping records of volunteer hours for categories of work, the county could volunteer work as the major following an emergency portion of its matching share requirement for FEMA are exceptionally disaster assistance. FEMA IS-244 Developing and important. Making sure Managing Volunteers, page 5.3 that all SART members At the time of printing, the Internal Revenue Service understand how the valued one volunteer hour at $ chain of command works is a crucial step in effective communication. There is no reason to compound one difficult situation with another when volunteers are mismanaged or when bickering between agencies or organizations ensues in the aftermath of an emergency. It is important that all SART team members have a clear understanding of each other s emergency management role which group is experienced at handling vicious dogs and which can corral stray livestock, for example and how turf battles are resolved. d. Develop a structure for recovery. It is not only during a situation that SART s organizational abilities can be meaningfully employed, but as we have often seen from major world disasters, a majority of effort is required in the immediate aftermath and especially in the weeks, months and even years following an emergency. Residents return to 24

25 the area to find their homes shredded, their jobs gone and suddenly believe that they are unable to care for pets. Alligators take up residence in back yard pools. Hundreds of animal carcasses must be disposed of properly. E. Perform follow-up analysis. Perform follow-up evaluations after a situation has stabilized. Exactly when this should take place depends upon the nature of the emergency, but at some time afterwards, your County SART team will want to sit down together and begin to assess its effectiveness during and after the situation. This meeting should include careful consideration of lessons learned so that your County SART s procedures can be improved and the county emergency operations plan supplemented, if necessary and improved, if possible. One hopes, of course, that all members will be able to take part in a logical process of positive self-study and self-evaluation: not finger pointing, but a consensus for approach to any subsequent situation. F. Implement what you learn. Implement what you learn and learn from what you experience. STEP 5: Develop an active outreach and recruitment effort With the awareness and support of county emergency management, the County SART Advisory Board (or a designated committee) should develop recruitment and outreach plans. The two concepts naturally work together. Outreach will both alert the host community about your County SART s viability and bring its function and organization to the attention of local stakeholders. Government agencies, non-profit organizations and individuals should be contacted personally or by making use of free media opportunities in newspapers, and on the radio, television and via the Internet. Representatives should be invited to attend 25

26 meetings, give their input and to participate in the County SART effort. Aside from those initial active members who committed to be part of the Advisory Board and the county emergency management staff, these are additional recruitment possibilities for a County SART team: staff and members of partner organizations that already support the statelevel Florida SART program and have already committed county-level employee and member involvement o Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Divisions of Animal Industry, Plant Industry, Agriculture Environmental Services, Dairy and Forestry o U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Farm Service Agency, Office of the Inspector General, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Rural Development o University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences through their statewide network of agricultural extension offices and the College of Veterinary Medicine o Humane Society of the United States o Disaster Animal Response Team o Florida Farm Bureau o Southern Plant Diagnostic Network o Florida Veterinary Medical Association o Florida Animal Control Association o Southeast Milk, Inc. o Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association o Florida Cattlemen s Association o Florida Association of Kennel Clubs o United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service o Sunshine State Horse Council o Farm Credit Services o Mosquito control districts o Water management districts It is important to connect what we are doing [in NPDN, the National Plant Diagnostic Network] with SART, although I believe SART has more of an animal emphasis overall, says Amanda Hodges, PhD, Assistant Director of the Southern Plant Diagnostic Network at the University of Florida, but we need to include a plant emphasis so that people who find something unusual will take it to their county extension offices. Our county agents, have advanced skill sets and are well trained; most are well qualified to screen these issues and many of them work as county ESF-17 coordinators. 26

27 The above is by no means a conclusive list and you will certainly be able to add additional individuals and organizations of local significance. Other possible members who are not already associated with statelevel SART Partners might be area veterinarians, agricultural-related retailers (the so-called feed and seed stores ), 4-H Club members, FFA members, educators representing agriculture, forestry and zoo programs, interested individual producers and members of local law enforcement (who may already be charged with specific tasks relating to known controlled species in the event of an emergency). And, of course, it is assumed that your county ESF- 17 coordinator is an integral part of your County SART. Even though he or she may decline to take an active leadership role, make sure that they are contacted and/or reminded of all County SART meetings and activities. The county emergency director will also expect to be reminded about meetings and activities. It is good policy to assign the task of making a personal follow-up and/or thanks for attending to a member of the Advisory Board. Other interested individuals will come from a diverse selection of relevant local, state and federal agencies as well as non-governmental organizations, as previously mentioned. Remember that these are only the individuals who come immediately to mind and who are most affected, perhaps because your County SART is tangential to their job or business; your community may have other areas and organizations, or perhaps other needs, that must be taken into consideration. The purpose of the above contact list is to provide a starting point for compiling a list of invitees, not only for the organizational and developmental phases of your County SART, but for ongoing recruitment. The purpose of recruitment is to develop an Inclusive rather than an Exclusive organization. This means enlarging the County SART by bringing aboard new members and, inevitably, wider points of view and dissimilar individual and organizational emphasis cause conflict about activities and priorities. This is natural 27

28 and may be necessary in a vital and purposeful organization. Taken in stride with every member given an opportunity to present their opinion, your County SART can make the best decision within he scope of your Mission Statement and your county s emergency management plan. STEP 6: Promote awareness of your County SART This is nothing other than getting the word out about your County SART. It certainly goes hand-in-hand with member recruitment, and the purposes cross The state provides support to local groups, but paths, but creating public awareness County SARTs need to work together just as we do at is an entirely separate function than the state level, Tom Holt, DVM, Florida State Veterinarian says. membership development. Building We would like to see local efforts initially made awareness means advertising and through the local ESF-17 and of course that requires public relations, pure and simple, and the education of all the folks involved. most members of your County SART In emergencies, we believe in a Bottom s Up team will have been accomplishing response, local people taking care of local needs and these tasks since they ran for then reaching out for additional support when they president of the sixth grade or worked need it. If local resources are not adequate, then the hard for an A surrounding counties and the state would help in science so they could play on the coordinate additional support. football team. All humans engage in It is amazing how many resources and how much this activity but, as in every endeavor, support there is out there, and how many people of some are naturally more adept than good will there are, but you have to be organized in others. Finding those who are such a way that their help becomes effective help. talented or hard working (or both!) promoters and charging them with developing community awareness of SART and its animal and agricultural mission will pay dividends prior to and during an emergency situation. Public acceptance of the County SART mission to help safeguard animals and the agricultural infrastructure will make the team s job easier. The more community officials are aware of and become informed partners in SART goals, the more effective your effort becomes. Indeed, that awareness will crystallize in the dedication of normal members who realize that their many volunteer hours spent planning and training will not be wasted in an emergency, and that their time and effort is both understood and appreciated. There are thousands of opportunities in a normal Florida community to promote your County SART. From talk radio to interviews with community newspapers and county commissioners and Internet blogs, the variety of methods for informing your 28

29 community are well known to the average high school band booster. All communities sustain local gala events to raise funds for such causes as research into muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer s disease or to support the American Cancer Society or the Heart Association. Typically, only a handful of local individuals is skilled at, and frequently called upon to organize these events. These people know who in the community can be tapped for a donation; who can be called upon to write an article and submit a photograph to the newspaper; who will loan a truck to help move equipment; who understand how to get your County SART in the feature rotation on area electronic bulletin boards such as those in front of banks. Your task is to find these individuals indeed, they may already be County SART members and learn from or even borrow their experience to promote SART s mission. STEP 7: Support and utilize the Florida SART website The Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS) has taken the lead in building an effective, cooperating network of County SART organizations and participating partners in Florida. The Internet site at is a central point for disseminating information, for positioning training modules and for developing County SART team members into an effective emergency response community. Your County SART team will want to appoint someone as county web site administrator and post relevant county information on line through Contact the State SART coordinator (through FDACS Division of Animal Industry ) to give your County SART administrator web site privileges. Of course, your County SART may find that it is advantageous to develop its own Internet presence for local information and education. The Community of Hillsborough Animal and Agricultural Response Team (CHAART) has developed their 29

30 own web site, for example, at The site helps CHAART fulfill its local mandate: To empower Hillsborough County [Florida] residents through training and resources to enhance animal and agriculture disaster responses. It is easy to enroll as a member of SART and to begin using the statewide calendar and making contacts with the member data posted. This site is a tremendous repository of information for training, meetings, contact data within Florida, links to partner agencies and organizations and even links to state SART programs outside Florida. This website also provides critical information when a disaster strikes, gives you the ability to send alerts to other SART members, find critical resources that may not be locally available and to utilize Google Earth for mapping purposes. STEP 8: Provide training for County SART members and the community It is hard to be heard if you are not part of the system, says Greg Christy, DVM, now serving with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. If a County SART is not an ingood-standing part of the county response organization, then during a situation, it can get left out in the cold and may have a hard time being heard. The old saying that You must be a part of the system or else you are part of the problem, is true. This is apparent after disasters where unsupervised rogue elements who are outside the system make a fuss and get a lot of attention. These are usually groups that had multiple opportunities to get involved, were asked to be involved and for some reason declined. You must work under the umbrella, inside the system in advance, for the system to embrace what you can bring to a response and recovery effort. There are two types of training and your County SART will want to be involved in both. The first is routine or meeting-oriented training where your group may review a SART training module from the Florida SART web site at have an expert demonstrate how to catch and control an aggressive dog; learn to identify pink hibiscus mealybugs in your shrubbery; or have a non-profit member organization give a presentation about its purpose and capabilities, explaining how it fits into your County SART. Training of this sort keeps member awareness growing outside their specific areas of expertise, and keeps everyone abreast of new developments. An excellent place to begin and perhaps become energized to the County SART role in emergency animal and agricultural response is the Annual SART Conference. The conference is highlighted throughout the year on the Florida SART web site, and where the agenda is continually updated. The conference provides a forum for speakers from many different agencies and groups. Equipment is demonstrated and the conference is both a fine way to network and an excellent learning environment in a relaxed environment. 30

31 The second type training is the formal training exercise and it is a good rule of thumb to conduct at least one per year. If conducting your own exercise is out of the question, it is probably possible for County SART members to sit in on those held by other agencies or organizations and then to report back to the group. The American Red Cross, for example, holds numerous training exercises and has web sites filled with informational items, everything from Pandemic Influenza Planning: A Guide for Individuals and Families to Living Safely With Natural Gas Pipelines (visit the web site for the Tallahassee, Florida Capital Area Chapter for example at Training exercises or emergency procedure scenarios give your County SART the information members need to improve their own coordination and communication prior to the real thing. Your county emergency management team will periodically conduct or participate in training exercises, such as Florida s annual Statewide Hurricane Exercise in which County SARTs should play a role. (For a complete list visit ndex.asp.) Designing a training exercise is both simple and difficult at the same time and, in the beginning, your group will almost certainly want to work with county emergency management personnel. (It will, in fact, be a good idea to coordinate with them any time your group begins to plan a real-time training exercise.) Setting up an effective training exercise is, itself, a time-consuming exercise and, in fact, many things can go wrong. (Indeed, you should count on something going wrong almost every time you develop a training exercise, because as good as your planning and preparation are, in the real world things go wrong. Your County SART is part of a complex system, and there are many factors that cannot be anticipated or controlled. Relax and make the unexpected part of the training scenario. Expect to incorporate those uncontrollable and unaccountable contingencies into the exercise and your learning curve.) 31

32 So begin with a realistic scenario, such as a Category 4 hurricane 130 mph winds and a storm surge of 13 to 18 feet. In theory, your county will have plenty of warning, and evacuations of people and animals from low-lying areas will begin several days in advance. Now what? How can your County SART all of the local members will, of course, need to secure their own families and property play an effective, supportive role in response and recovery for people, animals and agriculture? Answering these questions, putting them on paper and developing a formal simulation will help you evaluate your team s effectiveness in an emergency situation. STEP 9: Become NIMS compliant Understanding the broader scope of On Agriculture at Risk. emergency or incident management Florida has been called an agricultural sentinel state requires the study of a number of by many because if a foreign animal or plant disease policies and training modules or agro-terrorism event occurs in the United States, developed by the state of Florida, there is a good chance it will occur first in Florida. An which can be found at important reason for this is that there are many and transportation routes into the state. March 2005, by the Federal Emergency Introducing SART, a Florida SART Training Module, Management Agency (FEMA) in the page 8 Department of Homeland Security. The Internet site developed for FEMA training materials is located at A number of these training modules are set up for self-study on-line, and the FEMA webmasters have made it relatively easy to download, study, self-test, track your progress and even receive certificates of completion. On-line modules can be studied at your leisure. Your County SART leadership team should inventory available classes, self-study modules and training opportunities and may want to track member participation as well. In fact, a committed group of leaders will lead by example, studying the modules individually and discussing them as a group to glean all of the tips and information possible that can be applied to the local situation. If your County SART program ever plans to move beyond the most basic phases of telephone networking and occasional meetings, it must take advantage of these state and national learning opportunities; and doing so methodically, making sure that learning opportunities are readily available to all members is a sure sign of a group that can be effective when called upon. One should not think of becoming NIMS compliant as a destination or graduation. It is true that Certificates of Completion are awarded when one successfully tests after studying a module, but it is truly not a certificate that is the diploma and thinking of it 32

33 in this manner may lead to a false sense of security. NIMS compliance is an on-going process of study, testing, application to one s local plan, application during a disaster and post-event evaluation. Attachment 2 lists in brief an overview of the fundamental NIMS modules of particular interest to SART. Note that modules are continuously updated and among the dozens of additional informative modules not listed in the attachment are many specific training modules on such valuable topics as Working With Volunteers and Building Partnerships With Tribal Governments. Additional state training in incident management is occasionally provided at the Florida Center for Wildfire and Forest Resources Management Training. The Center was created by the Legislature to provide needed training to the agencies and sponsored members of the private sector in forest resource management, prescribed fire and wildfire management. Two separate training facilities are operating under the umbrella of the Center, the Withlacoochee Training Center located just north of Brooksville in the Withlacoochee State Forest, and the Welaka Training Center located near Palatka in the Welaka State Forest. Not all training is held at these sites, but may be conducted at auxiliary locations statewide, under the auspices of the Training Center, on an as needed basis. For information about classes and requirements for attendance, contact the Florida Center for Wildfire & Forest Resources Management Training, Childs Rd., Brooksville, Florida Phone (352) FAX (352) The Internet site at lists the complete on-site training schedule for courses such as: I-300 Intermediate Incident Command System: This 24-hour course is a continuation of the Incident Command System training series. Provides a more complete description and detail of the organization and operation of the ICS, management of resources, duties of all positions including Air Operations organization, and provides examples of how the essential principles are used in incident and event planning. Prerequisites I-100 and I

34 STEP 10: Develop a regional context and contacts A hazardous situation of any significance will involve multiple counties. Tornadoes, hurricanes, pet food recalls, a spreading outbreak of Avian Influenza or the Ebola virus, or surprise infestations of exotic pests do not respect county lines or human jurisdictions. Your ESF-17 coordinator will undoubtedly know the coordinators of surrounding counties and he or she can help you make contact with adjacent County SART programs. If not, their information can be obtained from the state SART office or through the SART web site at Drought and Wildlife Impacts of drought on wildlife also will result in more conflicts between humans and wildlife. For example, with lower production of berries and acorns, more black bears will enter suburban areas searching for food such as human foods placed in garbage, grease on barbecue grills, and sugar water in hummingbird feeders. More raccoons likely will be seeking sweet corn in gardens, and pet foods inadvertently left outdoors. June 2006 Colorado State Cooperative Extension Service There are endless opportunities for sharing information, cross training and getting acquainted, because in a time of crisis, you should be able to share personnel, equipment and supplies. Knowing your counterparts in adjacent counties, makes becoming smoothly operational in a crisis situation much easier. In addition to mutual aid during and following hazardous situations, your Florida region is a potential source of funding for County SART programs. It also provides an opportunity to participate in professionally organized and managed tests and exercises that will make your SART more effective. Florida s domestic security system is organized by region through the Florida Divisions of Emergency Management (FDEM) and Law Enforcement (FDLE). Your county is automatically part of a region (see Appendix 3). For Emergency Management, the map and contacts at the following site will be a useful guide, and for Law Enforcement check out This structure is designed to give you immediate support through other members of your region. Law Enforcement, by the way, defines a Regional Domestic Security Task Force as an operational component serving to bring all domestic security partners to the table. [Regional Task Forces] encourage open communication among partners, reduce turfism and build cooperation and understanding/appreciation for each other s role in the overall domestic security effort. 34

35 STEP 11: Identify and obtain ESF-17 emergency response equipment and supplies The idea of stockpiling equipment and supplies in advance of a possible disaster scenario is a dilemma. In fact, finding a source for a grant and then writing a successful grant application to pre-position materiel may not be the difficult part. Funding is occasionally available through your Regional Domestic Security Task Force, from grants such as the Urban Area Security Initiatives through the Department of Homeland Security and even from non-governmental sources. If your County SART believes that prepositioning supplies is essential for foreseeable disaster scenarios and grant monies cannot be immediately found, it should develop a plan for a community fund drive, including such things as bake sales, car washes, auctions, celebrity entertainment events and a range of alternative and enjoyable activities. Depending on your goals, however, this can be a slow process (even though, in the long run, it may be quite rewarding), and to maximize your resources, you will then need to find retail sources (local if possible) that will sell supplies at the best possible price: at cost if feasible. Sometimes, that is easier said than done. The acquisition of gear and supplies will not be a random process and you will want to dovetail any gear purchase with your emergency plan and your county s anticipated needs in an emergency. Before you commit to acquiring equipment and supplies, issues that should be dealt with include: Storage: Finding the right location secure, but readily accessible to store the gear. A place where it is safe from pilfering and deterioration. Maintenance: Maintaining the equipment in top condition so that it is ready when you need it. Training: Developing a training program so that County SART members or other first responders will be able to use the gear at the right time and in the proper manner. 35