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The catastrophic events of the 2005 hurricane season also created a delugeof painful lessons in disaster preparedness and response. While responseefforts directed at helping animals achieved real success after thehurricanes, they also were confounded by many factors.
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The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), in its ongoing effortsto educate veterinarians, health professionals and the public, has madeavailable on its Web site a new installment of AVMA Collections, this one acompilation of articles highlighting disaster preparedness and response.Collections can be viewed by going to http://www.avma.org/avmacollections.
"Veterinarians have a vital role in protecting both humans and animalsduring and after disasters," says Janis Audin, DVM, editor-in-chief of theJournal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA). "The GulfCoast hurricanes of 2005 called attention to the fact that preplanning failedto take into account the human-animal bond. This failure put people andanimals at risk. Already, events in 2008 are showing us that the potential fordisaster exists everywhere."
AVMA Collections was created to offer veterinary professionals and thepublic compilations of articles organized by topic or subject from the JAVMAand the American Journal of Veterinary Research. The newest edition, whichincludes highlights for quick reference and a topic summary, reflects thearduous work of experts in animal disaster preparedness and response who havegrappled with the central questions involved and have offered their findingsand recommendations within the covers of the AVMA scientific journals.
Areas discussed include the veterinarian's role in preparedness andresponse; biosecurity and bioterrorism preparedness; search-and-rescue dogs;and preparedness and response policy.
"We believe this installment of AVMA Collections will help veterinarians,other healthcare providers and the public plan as effectively as possiblebefore disaster strikes," Audin says.
The AVMA and its more than 76,000 member veterinarians are engaged in awide variety of activities dedicated to advancing the science and art ofanimal, human and public health. Visit the AVMA Web site athttp://www.avma.org for more information.
SOURCE American Veterinary Medical Association
