AVMF rolls out $6.5 million disaster plan

Denver-The American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) embarks on the largest single fundraising effort in its history to support statewide animal disaster preparedness and response teams.

Approved by the group's Executive Board in July during the American Veterinary Medical Association's annual convention in Denver, AVMF launches a three-year, $6.5 million plan designed to make every state disaster ready by the end of the decade. The group's initial goal includes assisting at least 18 states before 2007.

Ralph Johnson

"This initiative is a major step toward the foundation becoming a national leader in animal preparedness and response," AVMF Chair Dr. Robert Gordon says.

Building response protocols

Early this year, AVMF partnered with the North Carolina State Animal Response Team (SART) to provide training and technical assistance for the development of a model disaster program for state-by-state implementation. The SART model fosters multi-agency cooperation to manage statewide response mechanisms by region and county.

Since then, veterinary leaders in Colorado have participated in a planning session with SART organizers to become the first state outside of North Carolina to adopt the new program.

"What Colorado needed - and what AVMF delivered - was the catalyst event that brought together a wide array of agencies and individuals in order to create a sense of common commitment to emergency issues, rather than views of segmented ownership," says Ralph Johnson, executive director of the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association. "In only two months, Colorado has gone from 'talking about it' to implementing a tangible action plan."

The AVMF's animal disaster work began in 1994 when the group founded national Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT), established to deploy within 24 hours of federally declared disasters. Since then, VMATs have been deployed 23 times, most notably in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.