Your first priority when it comes to emergency preparedness is you and your family. However, you can and should make plans for your animals as well. You may have heard about Community Emergency Response Teams, volunteers who are equipped and trained to help residents when disaster strikes. Now, one state is training students to do the same, but for animals:
North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is helping to fill the need through a unique initiative that requires all of its students to receive disaster training, providing a new generation of leaders in veterinary medicine and disaster response.
“Emergency response is generally geared towards people, particularly at the local level. We need to protect the health of the people and the health of the animals –whether they are pets or livestock related to a region’s livelihood. We believe this training will help veterinarians respond to the needs of both people and animals,” says Dr. Dianne Dunning, co-author of a recent study on NC State’s landmark training requirement and director of the university’s Animal Welfare, Ethics and Public Policy Program.
This looks like it will be a great service to those animals who are left behind. However, like with your family, you should prepare in advance to help your pets during an emergency with a pet survival kit.