Planning

When disaster strikes, the impact on the animal population in a community can be devastating. Working with emergency management teams, shelter operations personnel, and agriculture and livestock experts, the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) is providing support for animal issues planning at the county level across Texas, helping to build a local framework to ensure animals are part of the plan and not part of the problem.

Helping Texans Plan Ahead

We are committed to building on the strong legacy of service that is a core value of Texas A&M University.

• Our team has one of the most active outreach commitments within Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS).
• We are focused on personal, professional, and community emergency preparedness and response.
• Our primary outreach mechanism has been conference presentations and exhibits, veterinary medical association (VMA) meeting presentations, and participation in emergency planning meetings.

In addition to our response and education activities, the team also provides service to Texas citizens through the following activities:

• Working with county officials to develop emergency response standard operating guidelines;
• Providing web-based templates for standard operating guideline development;
• Providing cross-disciplinary continuing education presentations; and
• Assisting other universities within The Texas A&M University System with the development of animal-related emergency response plans and guidelines.

Our outreach program aims to educate Texas’ citizens, veterinarians, and emergency response officials on emergency preparedness and response.

• Faculty leading the fourth-year clinical rotation and participating students  partner with community leaders on county-level emergency preparedness, including traveling to meet with emergency management officials and local stakeholders.
• The results of these planning exercises include:
  • Our students receive a transformational educational experience; and
  • A Texas county becomes better prepared to protect and respond to the needs of animals during times of disaster.