Flu at the Zoo: Emergency Management Training for the Nation’s Zoos and Aquariums
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Yvette Joyce Johnson
,
Yvonne Nadler
Abstract
The movement of people and animals within zoos and aquariums poses a risk of zoonotic disease dissemination within human and animal populations. Flu at the Zoo is a table-top exercise designed to provide animal exhibitors and regulatory agency personnel an opportunity to evaluate their outbreak response plans. Developed for zoos and aquariums in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, it created a realistic scenario of an avian influenza disease outbreak. A total of 82 participants attended the exercise held in June of 2012. Representatives from each of the 16 accredited zoos and aquariums in the region attended, along with representatives from the public health, agricultural animal health, wildlife, poultry industry, and emergency management sectors. Recommendations for the participants included the need for increased training opportunities for zoo and aquarium personnel on the Incident Command System and National Incident Management System. It was also recommended that communications be enhanced between zoos and aquariums and the local, state, and federal agency first responder personnel. Suggestions for improving the exercise included: providing the situation manual to players in advance of the exercise and creating discussion groups based on jurisdictional boundaries so that legal authorities and policy differences across state boundaries didn’t impede the discussion.
Acknowledgments
This project was funded by Cooperative Agreement Number No. 11-6100-0066-CA between the USDA-APHIS-AC and the University of Illinois. The authors would like to thank Dr. Gay Miller and Mr. Keith Gehrand for serving as exercise evaluators and Mr. William Brown for development of maps and spatial data in support of the exercise. In addition, the authors would like to thank the all of our participating zoological institutions, and stakeholder group representatives including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Multistate Partnership for Security in Agriculture, the Illinois Farm Bureau, USDA APHIS divisions of Animal Care, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Services, NIH and all of the state, local, and federal agencies whose personnel contributed time and resources to the conduct of this exercise.
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©2014 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Opinion Articles
- Understanding Your Audience: How Psychologists Can Help Emergency Managers Improve Disaster Warning Compliance
- Reframing the Climate Change Debate to Better Leverage Policy Change: An Analysis of Public Opinion and Political Psychology
- Research and Policy in Homeland Security and Climate Change: Results from a Roundtable and Thoughts on Developing a National Research Agenda for Climate Change and Security
- Research Articles
- Evaluating Children’s Learning of Adaptive Response Capacities from ShakeOut, an Earthquake and Tsunami Drill in Two Washington State School Districts
- Influence of Mental Health on Disaster Preparedness: Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007–2009
- Volunteer Fire Chiefs’ Perceptions of Retention and Recruitment Challenges in Rural Fire Departments: The Case of North Dakota, USA
- Flu at the Zoo: Emergency Management Training for the Nation’s Zoos and Aquariums
- Eyes to the Sky: Situating the Role of Storm Spotters in the Warning and Response Network
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Opinion Articles
- Understanding Your Audience: How Psychologists Can Help Emergency Managers Improve Disaster Warning Compliance
- Reframing the Climate Change Debate to Better Leverage Policy Change: An Analysis of Public Opinion and Political Psychology
- Research and Policy in Homeland Security and Climate Change: Results from a Roundtable and Thoughts on Developing a National Research Agenda for Climate Change and Security
- Research Articles
- Evaluating Children’s Learning of Adaptive Response Capacities from ShakeOut, an Earthquake and Tsunami Drill in Two Washington State School Districts
- Influence of Mental Health on Disaster Preparedness: Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007–2009
- Volunteer Fire Chiefs’ Perceptions of Retention and Recruitment Challenges in Rural Fire Departments: The Case of North Dakota, USA
- Flu at the Zoo: Emergency Management Training for the Nation’s Zoos and Aquariums
- Eyes to the Sky: Situating the Role of Storm Spotters in the Warning and Response Network
