Categories: Florida

Sheltering Small Animals in a Disaster Class

ROCKLEDGE, Florida — An Awareness Level Small Animal Emergency Sheltering class, targeted to those in the animal rescue and animal welfare community, will be held by the Florida State Animal Response Coalition and Brevard County Office of Emergency Management from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, October 6, 2012.

Registration is under way for the free class, which will be held at the Brevard County Office of Emergency Management, 1746 Cedar St., in Rockledge, Florida.

When disaster strikes, a team of volunteer animal disaster responders are there to shelter and protect Florida’s companion animals. This Awareness Level class provides information, expertise and practical experience needed for working in an emergency animal shelter during a disaster. The Awareness Level Small Animal Emergency Sheltering class is certified by the Florida Department of Emergency Management and is required to respond to help companion animals in disaster situations.

Class topics include personal preparedness, an overview of the Incident Command system, deployment preparedness, assisting in shelter set up, daily care and feeding, proper cage cleaning and disinfection, animal behavior, stress management, code of conduct for response, personal safety, post-traumatic stress and more.

Florida SARC team members must complete the following Federal Emergency Management Agency courses before they are eligible to deploy statewide or nationwide in response to a disaster. These courses are self-study online courses and are free of charge, and can be found at

http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp:
• IS-100.b Introduction to Incident Command System
• IS-200.b ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-700.a NIMS an Introduction

Those who complete ICS 100, 200 & 700 courses before attending the Awareness Level class, and bring their completion certificates to class, will receive a free Florida SARC uniform T-shirt. Florida SARC uniform T-shirts will also be available for purchase during the class.

To register, visit http://flsarc.org/Training.html. For more information, contact Consie von Gontard, Director of Training Florida State Animal Response Coalition, at training@flsarc.org or (352) 658-1224.