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A recent press release from
Governor Jeb Bush's office praises the immense contribution of
volunteers and volunteer organizations that played roles during
the 2005 hurricane season.
The press release stated: "During
the record-breaking 2005 hurricane season, volunteers logged
more than 4.7 million hours of service with the total value of
voluntary efforts and in-kind donations totaling more than $105
million. Volunteers and voluntary organizations donated more
than $16.8 million worth of food and more than $1 million worth
of ice and water to assist millions of Floridians recover from
the storms."
Florida Lieutenant Governor
Toni Jennings was quoted: "Businesses, individuals and community
and faith-based organizations continue to work tirelessly with
great compassion in the wake of natural disasters. They are a
testament to the good in each of us."
We could not agree more. Thank
you to all those SART members who were involved in volunteer
endeavors that contributed to these awesome numbers.
Read the whole press release of the
Lieutenant Governor's press release statements. |
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USDA Incident
Command System Training Materials Posted on SART Web Site
A new subsection has been added
to the Training Materials portion of the SART Web site entitled
"SART-Approved Training Materials."
The first addition to this
subsection is the United States Department of Agriculture's National
Incident Management System (NIMS), Incident Command System (ICS
100, ICS 200, and ICS 300), and National Response Plan (NRP)
on-line training modules. A brief description of each is located
under the links. Each module has the training texts, reviews,
and posttests.
Please note that to take the
post-test and receive credit, you must be on-line to link to
the server that hosts the USDA training modules. SART will accept
any certificate, or similar proof of successful completion of
these modules to satisfy the forthcoming certification requirements
to become a SART responder. To see the new SART-Approved Training
Materials, click <http://www.flsart.org/library/index.htm>. |
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BMPs for
Honey Bees Now Available
The defensive and aggressive
traits of Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) are spreading within the
state of Florida. Securing and maintaining the strength of the
apiary industry of Florida while giving the citizens of Florida
confidence in a responsible and safe honey bee industry is imperative.
To protect Florida beekeepers
and Florida agriculture, a set of Best Management Practices (BMPs)
for Maintaining Gentle and Safe European Honey Bee Colonies and
Best Management Practices for Producing Honey Bee Queens in Florida
have been developed and are posted online at <http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/plantinsp/apiary/apiary.html>.
These BMPs have been developed
as voluntary guidelines for keeping honey bee colonies and honey
bee queens produced free of AHB traits for as long as possible.
For additional information,
contact Mr. Jerry Hayes at <hayesg@doacs.state.fl.us>.
-- Contributed by Jerry Hayes,
Assistant Chief, Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection, Division
of Plant Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services
-- Adapted from Disaster Research,
443, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
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Web Site
Housekeeping: Multiple Log-Ins Abound
As part of the routine upkeep
of the SART Web site, we have begun to delete people with multiple
memberships. Sometimes it happens that you forget your password
and create a new log-in. Or you forget that you signed up in
the first place.
In order to keep our member
area neat and up-to-date, these multiple log-ins are being removed.
Please take a moment to check the Member List and see if you
suffer from multiple memberships. If you do, please contact us,
and we will work with you to determine which log-in(s) to delete.
Special thank you to those
who have already removed their "multiple personalities!"
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2006 Advisory
Board Meetings Scheduled
The quarterly meetings of the
SART Advisory Board have been scheduled.
All meetings will be held at the Florida Farm Bureau Building
in Gainesville from
9:00 AM until 3:00 PM on the following dates:
- March 8, 2006
- June 7, 2006
- September 6, 2006
- December 6, 2006
If you are a Board Member and
have not received any communications regarding these dates, please
contact Liz Wang at <wange@doacs.state.fl.us>.
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University
of Missouri Extension Offers New Online Course for Fire Service
Columbia, MO - To bring the
sister agencies of fire and emergency management closer together,
the University of Missouri Extension, through the Fire and Rescue
Training Institute, has developed a new online course to provide
education to the fire service on the basic principles and practices
of emergency management. Local emergency responses are a common
occurrence, but when an event escalates into a disaster, it is
important that all agencies understand how local, state, and
federal governments work together in a collaborative way. This
course was designed to provide that type of knowledge to fire
service personnel.
Eric Evans, an emergency management
specialist with the university, developed this course to provide
a complete and cohesive educational experience. According to
Evans, "the whole idea behind this course was to provide
anyone in the fire service with a down-to-earth, and easy to
understand, course on basic emergency management." "We
know that there is gap in a broader understanding and acceptance
of emergency management within the fire service. We hope this
course will alleviate some of that gap and confusion," Evans
said.
The new online course was adapted
from a classroom version developed by Evans. Topics within the
course include basic principles that guide emergency management
as a discipline, a review of the roles of the different levels
of government, and how the fire service fits into the bigger
picture of disaster response.
This course can be taken to
receive continuing education units (CEUs) or can be taken for
recommended credit as provided by the American Council on Education
(ACE). The course is also a required component of the Fire Officer
Certificate program developed by the institute and has become
a course recognized by the Columbia College for its new Associates
Degree in Fire Science Administration.
"Anyone interested in
learning the basic principles of emergency management are welcome,
but this course was particularly written with the fire service
in mind," Evans said. "The convenience of an online
course was particularly written with the fire service in mind,"
Evans said. "The convenience of an online course like this,
allows firefighter the flexibility to work on the course at the
station of at home."
The course went online February
7th and can be accessed through the university's Center for Distance
and Independent Study.
View the course.
For more information contact:
Eric S. Evans
Emergency Management Specialist
University of Missouri Extension
Fire and Rescue Training Institute
201 S. Seventh, 240 Heinkel Building
Columbia, Missouri 65211
Phone 573-884-8984 or 800-869-3476
Fax 573-882-0678
evanses@missouri.edu
-- As reported in press release
emailed to Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) delegates.
NOTE: Please contact the appropriate
Florida officials to determine this course's potential acceptance
and fulfillment of educational credits
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The SART SENTINEL
Editor: Elizabeth Wang, SART Coordinator, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry
Associate Editor: Gregory S. Christy, DVM, State ESF-17 Coordinator, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry
The SART SENTINEL is an e-mail newsletter prepared monthly by Elizabeth Wang and the staff of the Florida State Agricultural Response Team. Past issues of the Sentinel are archived on the Florida SART Web Site: <www.flsart.org>.
If you have a story or photo that you would like to have considered for publication in The SART SENTINEL, contact the Editors at <SARTNewsEditor-L@lists.ifas.ufl.edu>.
[top]
Disaster Links
For additional information on agriculture, animals, and disaster, visit:
Florida SART Home Page: <www.flsart.org>
UF/IFAS Disaster Handbook: <http://disaster.ifas.ufl.edu/>
Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN): <http://eden.lsu.edu/>
For a complete list of all SART participating agencies, visit the Florida SART Web site: <www.flsart.org>.
[top]
Tip
of the Month!
Practice, Practice, Practice
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Practicing your
team's and community's response capabilities during the hurricane
off-season should be a priority. Finding exercises to do just
got easier, too! A new public health preparedness database has
been launched by RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization.
The database is searchable by exercise type (drills, tabletops,
orientations, functional, and full-scale exercises) and agent
(infectious and noninfectious biological agents, chemical agents,
and others). The exercises come with applicable reports and evaluations.
Check out the database at <http://www.rand.org/health/projects/php/>. |
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