Veterinary Emergency Team Current, Former Directors Receive National Excellence Awards

Story by Megan Bennett, VMBS Marketing & Communications

December 16, 2024

A man handing an award to a woman in a red shirt. — Dr. Deb Zoran (right)

Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) leadership was recognized with Excellence in Action Awards during the National Alliance of State Agricultural and Animal Emergency Planners’ (NASAAEP) annual summit in Baltimore.

Dr. Deb Zoran, a professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and current VET director, and Dr. Wesley Bissett, a retired associate professor at the VMBS and the VET’s former director, were both honored at the event on Dec. 4.

“I am very proud of Dr. Zoran and Dr. Bissett, not only for what they do for the less fortunate, but what they do to enhance our college’s reputation in selfless service,” said Dr. John R. August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the VMBS.

The NASAAEP is a national network that supports effective animal and agricultural emergency management by promoting coordination and capacity building between states, supporting credentialing standards, and sharing training initiatives and national training standards.

Its membership includes district, state, and territory departments of agriculture; board of animal health emergency planners; state animal/agricultural response teams; state veterinary medical reserve corps; the National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition; and other similar state, tribal, or territorial programs.

“Wesley and I are proud to accept these awards and represent the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team,” Zoran said. “I am both humbled and grateful to be recognized personally and to see the VET’s hard work recognized on a national scale.”

The most deployed and most sophisticated team of its kind in the country, the VET provides medical support to urban search and rescue teams and resident animals in response to natural and human-made disasters at the request of the Texas A&M Task Force or county or state jurisdictions.

The VET has deployed more than two dozen times since it was established in 2011, responding to disasters ranging from wildfires to floods across Texas and as far as California, Florida, and North Carolina.

Another key aspect of the VET’s work is training future Aggie veterinarians in emergency preparedness and response through a rotation for fourth-year veterinary students. This unique, interactive learning experience teaches students how to develop and practice personal and county-level emergency preparedness plans and participate as a member of a response team.

Learn more about the VET at vetmed.tamu.edu/vet.

###

For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216

You May Also Like