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Things have been hopping for
SART! Many new projects that have been waiting for development
have been initiated and work is under way -- regular Advisory
Board meetings, a simulation in June, meetings with our agency
representatives to further develop relationships, county SART
roll-out preparation, pilot county organizational meetings, Web
site improvements, developing a pet-friendly shelter how-to guide,
brochure and video updates, responder orientation CD, the monthly
newsletter, response equipment acquisition and inventory…
and the list goes on.
We are not the only ones this
busy. National SART has been pushing forward as well growing
the number of states participating in SART. Check out the most
recent national
SART online newsletter.
Our EARS representative, Ms.
Raquel Aluisy, sent us a heads-up that a resolution is being
submitted to Governor Bush to declare May 7, 2006 to be Florida
Animal Disaster Preparedness Day. We will keep you posted on
its status.
A bill with language regarding
pet-friendly shelters recently passed through a Florida House
of Representatives committee. The next steps are for it to face
a House and Senate vote. We will be tracking its progress.
Have some news of your own
to report? Let us know! Until then, enjoy this month's Sentinel.
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Mounted Search
and Rescue
"Search and rescue"
may conjure up images of people on foot with tracking dogs. But
did you know that there are mounted search and rescue (MSAR)
teams?
"MSAR is typically not
fully explored in search and rescue," says Jorene Downs,
author of Mounted SAR: Basic Options. In this article,
Downs discusses ways that MSAR can be effectively utilized by
search and rescue management. A list of suggested tasks and uses
for a mounted team is also discussed.
Downs's article can be accessed
through the National
Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) Mounted SAR Web page.
Click on "Relevant Articles."
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Agriculture
Literacy Day -- March 16, 2006
In honor of Florida Agriculture
in the Classroom and the Florida Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services' Florida Ag Literacy Day, hundreds of farmers,
ranchers, Farm Bureau members, University of Florida/IFAS Extension
faculty, 4-H agents, Master Gardeners, FFA students, and industry
representatives go into elementary school classrooms around the
state and read a designated children's book about agriculture.
FAITC is able to provide the books to volunteers for free because
of the funding it receives from the agriculture specialty license
plate called the 'Ag Tag.' The books are donated to school libraries
afterward.
“Agriculture Literacy
Day is a great way for us to teach kids about where their food
and fiber comes from,” said Heather Nedley, chairman of
Florida Ag in the Classroom. The Gainesville-based, non-profit
organization is funded by the agriculture specialty license tag
-- the ‘Ag Tag’ -- and is charged with educating students
and teachers unfamiliar with agriculture about the industry’s
importance.
“Children today are several
generations removed from the farm,” said Commissioner Bronson,
himself a former agriculture teacher, “so we need to use
events like Agriculture Literacy Day to help teach children that
their food and fiber doesn’t come from the supermarket.”
Another equally important component
of Agriculture Literacy Day: Promoting reading to Florida’s
school children to complement Gov. Jeb Bush’s “Just
Read, Florida!” initiative.
"Initiatives like Agriculture
Literacy Day enable students to work on their reading skills
while learning about agriculture," said Florida Education
Commissioner John Winn. "Promoting reading through programs
like these is a great way to encourage a love of reading."
The books chosen for the 2006
Ag Literacy Day are Pig
and Crow by Kay Chorao and 'Til
the Cows Come Home by Jodi Icenoggle. Both books
are appropriate for grades K-5.
--From "In the News"
at the Florida
Ag in the Classroom Web page
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Palm Beach
County Joins Pilot Counties
We cordially welcome Palm Beach
County to the pilot county SART group!
An introductory meeting was
held in early February to introduce the county SART concept to
Ms. Dianne Sauve, ESF-17 Coordinator for the county, and the
folks at Animal Care and Control, who have provided the animal
and agriculture emergency support during recent emergencies.
Representatives from the Florida Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services' Division of Animal Industry were also present.
SART pilot counties are now:
Bradford, Collier, Gilchrist, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jackson,
Marion, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and Santa Rosa.
A draft version of our Creating
a County SART manual was sent to assist the group in identifying
other key agencies and groups that can provide assistance during
an emergency. Palm Beach will also provide feedback on ithe manual's
content to better refine it for distribution to the remaining
Florida counties.
We are excited to have Palm
Beach on board and look forward to the contributions they are
sure to make for the county SART program.
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2005 Disasters
in Numbers
The International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction (United Nations) and Center for Research
on the Epidemiology of Disasters (Université Catholique
de Louvain, Belgium) released the official figures of the number
of disasters in 2005.
There were 360 natural disasters
last year compared to 305 in 2004, an increase of 18 percent.
The number of people affected by disasters also rose in 2005.
In total, 157 million people -- 7 million more than in 2004 --
required immediate assistance, were evacuated, injured, or lost
their livelihoods. Despite this increase, loss of life was significantly
lower than in 2004. Most disaster-related deaths in the last
two years were due to single incidents of devastating proportions:
the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and the South Asian earthquake
in 2005.
Disasters in 2005 cost a total
of $159 billion in damages; $125 billion of this amount is attributed
to losses caused by Hurricane Katrina. Costs incurred from disaster
damages rose by 71 percent from the total $92.9 billion in 2004.
More information on 2005 disaster
figures is available at <http://www.unisdr.org/>.
-- As reported in Disaster
Research, 446, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado,
Boulder
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National
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Conference, Los Angeles,
California, May 15-17, 2006
Hosts: California Citizen Corps,
California Service Corps Office of the Governor, California Office
of Homeland Security, and the California Governor's Office of
Emergency Services.
This conference will offer
a program management course, CERT train-the-trainer course, CERT
lessons learned, and other emergency preparedness workshops,
in addition to guest speakers and topics important to the success
of CERT programs nationwide. The conference is open to all CERT
program managers, coordinators, volunteer managers, volunteers,
and other first responders.
For additional information,
contact National CERT Conference Committee, c/o LASD-CLEPP Room
144, 4700 Ramona Boulevard, Monterey Park, CA 91754; (323) 526-5015;
E-mail: <info@certconference2006.com>;
or visit the Web site <http://www.certconference2006.com/>.
-- As reported in Disaster
Research, 447, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado,
Boulder
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SART Committees
to Begin Work
This year several committees
are being set up to tackle some current issues for SART. Committees
for Curriculum, Operations Forms, GIS, Animal Tracking, and Executive
Summary are currently being formed.
The Curriculum Committee
will be looking at the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
to make recommendations for compliance, identifying ready-made
materials that can be used for training, and making recommendations
for required courses for SART members and incident management
team participants.
The Animal Tracking Committee
has been formed to assist our Web crew with designing and implementing
a computer program to input and track displaced animals during
an emergency.
Issues facing the GIS Committee
include identifying available data layers, who possesses those
layers (and is able to share!), and creating the database from
which the incident management team will pull data from to create
maps during an operational activation.
The Operations Forms Committee
will be working on updating some of the forms utilized during
activation of the incident management team. A few new forms may
make their way into circulation as well.
The Executive Summary Committee
will work to maintain summaries of SART activities, which are
essential to reporting and grant processes.
A few spots have been reserved
for SART members who may have the interest or specialized experience
to positively contribute to the committees' work. If you are
interested in serving on a committee, please e-mail Liz Wang
<wange@doacs.state.fl.us>
to be put in contact with the committee chairperson.
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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>.
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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>.
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Tip
of the Month!
New NIMS Resources On-line
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The Federal Emergency Management
Agency and its National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration
Center have recently added a number of NIMS-related resources
on-line, including:
- Integrating NIMS into State/Local
Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) and Standard Operating Procedures
(SOPs),
- Integrating NIMS into Local/Tribal
EOPs and SOPs,
- Training Guidelines for Incident
Command System Instructors.
--As reported in Disaster Research,
446, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
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