Three new free on-line disaster preparedness courses - Animal Emergency Management Principles for Veterinarian Professionals, Biosecurity and Physical Security for Veterinary Professionals, and County Agricultural Response Teams (CART)—are now available thanks to the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. These three courses, developed by Mark Schneider, Ricky Yeargan and Dr. Julia Costich, join another well received course, Agroterrorism Awareness, which has been delivered to over 60,000 participants. Animal Emergency Management Principles for Veterinary Professionals has been approved by the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security and accredited by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards.  Veterinarians and Vet Techs may receive four (4) continuing education credit hours upon successful completion of the course.  Topics covered include vulnerability assessments; primary and secondary effects of natural disasters, accidents, crimes, and terrorism; individuals and agencies responsible for animal emergency response at the local, state and federal levels; integrating animal issues into emergency operational plans; deployment and integration into the incident command system during an incident; potential roles during an animal emergency response; participating in the formation and function of a CART; and the importance of disaster plans for their co-workers, employees and business. The two other courses, Biosecurity and Physical Security, and County Agricultural Response Teams, are designed to be supplemental to the four-hour course, or can be used as stand-alone courses. According to Mark Schneider, KIPRC director of technology and program manager for Terrorism Response and Preparedness (TRAP), "the lessons we have learned from Katrina underscore the need for all veterinary professionals to analyze their current roles and how they can integrate with emergency operations in a disaster."   Participants learn from interactive exercises and then test their knowledge through the course exam. Successful completion results in certification, which will demonstrate their achievement to employers and be used for CEs.   "Our hope is these on-line courses facilitate learning in the very busy lives of vets and vet techs." Schneider said. "You can’t prepare for an emergency when the emergency strikes.  Prevention is preferable, but not always possible.  Preparedness is essential."

Additional information about the courses may be found at:  http://www.kiprc.uky.edu/trap/agro For more information, contact Mark Schneider, Director of Technology Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center Terrorism Response and Preparedness Program Drug Endangered Child Training Network University of Kentucky 333 Waller Avenue, Suite 202 Lexington, KY  40504 Phone: 859-257-5839 Fax: 859-257-3909 E-mail: mark1@email.uky.edu