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Have a Plan
Join our Team
Simple steps to Membership
Get Training
The tri-state is a BIG area to cover and we can't help the animals without YOUR help!
Take a moment to read through the items below and see if you can find some ways that you can help the animals.
Also look over the pages listed to the left if you would like to be a CART volunteer.
Have a plan and supplies for your own animals
Many disasters and emergencies happen suddenly. If you are not prepared in advance, you will require the assistance of various agencies. It is likely that it will take a few days for these agencies to get in place and get organized, which means you are on your own until that happens.
The current advice from the federal government is to be prepared to survive on your own without assistance (or power or water supply) for at least 5 days regardless of outside temperatures. It is likely that the agencies will be over loaded with calls for help which will further delay the speed of assistance to some people. If you can care for yourself and your animals during the first several days after a disaster, this helps reduce the impact of the disaster of you, your animals and the community. All CART team members must have their own plan and supplies in place to care for their own family and animals first. If you have multiple animals in your care, please click on the "Multiple Animal Care" link on the "Website Navigation" page to learn more.
Loading up to head to Katrina
If you know that you would want to help if there is a disaster, then please let us know before the disaster strikes! We know there will be many people offering help if something happens and we appreciate that. However, if we can get as many people as possible prepared in advance, they will be much more useful to us. There will be little time for training during a disaster (and there is more to know than you can imagine!) If you can arrive on scene and know exactly what to do with minimal instruction, that will be fantastic but that will only happen if we know about you now and can teach you what needs to be done (and what supplies we need you to bring for yourself) when a disaster strikes. Please read the "Disaster Overview" page to get an idea of the amount of work and types of work/training involved. The "Explination of Duties" page will also give you some insight to how much needs to be learned in advance for the safety of the volunteers and the animals.
By letting us know of your interest to respond and do a needed task in case of a disaster in your own county or in a neighboring county, you will be helping us help the animals. We need to know that there are trained people we can rely on to respond if a disaster or emergency strikes. We will conduct training sessions and drills from time to time to educate and prepare the team members. Many of the volunteers would only be needed in the event of an emergency and for occasional training drills.
There is a minimum of training that the trained volunteers need prior to an incident, but it is free, easy to do and available for self-study on-line 24 hours a day (link below).
- ICS-100 Introduction to Incident Command - ICS 100, Introduction to the Incident Command System, introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Note: this will help you see where CART fits into the "bigger picture."
- ICS-200 ICS for Single Resources and initial Action Incidents - ICS 200 is designed to enable personnel to operate efficiently during an incident or event within the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS-200 provides training on and resources for personnel who are likely to assume a supervisory position within the ICS.
- ICS IS-700 Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) - This will help you understand the Incident Management System that all emergency response teams and agencies use, including the CART teams.
- ICS 800 National Response Plan - The National Response Plan, or NRP, describes how the Federal Government will work in concert with State, local, and tribal governments and the private sector to respond to disasters. This course introduces the NRP. It is intended for DHS and other Federal staff responsible for implementing the NRP, and Tribal, State, local and private sector emergency management professionals.
- (optional) IS-10 Animals in Disaster - This course will give you an over view of what to expect in a disaster effecting animals as well as inform you of some of the possible incidents that could occur.
- (optional) IS-11 Animals in disasters part II - Module B is intended to guide emergency management officials and animal owners, care providers, and industries in preparing community disaster plans. The goal of Module B is to provide sufficient information for both groups to meet and develop meaningful and effective plans that improve the care of animals, their owners, and the animal-care industries in disasters. This course provides the basic background knowledge needed to develop a coordinated response to a disaster in which animals and their owners are affected. Further training with local or State emergency management programs is essential.
- (Optional) IS-111 Livestock in diasters - This Independent Study course is for farmers, extension agents, emergency managers and others who have interests in the livestock industry. It describes the various hazards that animals can face and how to mitigate them, as well as how to respond to an actual disaster. The livestock industry is a multi-billion dollar business that provides food for the American people as well as those overseas. It is important to insure our livestock are safe from hazards and will not suffer from the effects of hazards.
ABOUT THE FREE FEMA ON-LINE COURSES:
Both of the above FEMA courses (and many more) are found on the
I suggest that you start by printing out the test questions for the course and then answer them on your printed copy as you go through the course. Each course is "open book" and allows you to go back through all of the pages as you take the test so the method of printing the test first is not "cheating" :-) You do not have to finish the entire course in one sitting, when you complete each section, it saves the information so you can come back to it and pick up where you left off whenever it is convenient for you. It also gives you the option of printing the whole course so you can read it away from your computer and then just take the test on-line.
Once you complete a course and pass the test, FEMA will mail you a certificate of completion (so be sure to use your correct mailing address when you create your account.) They will also email you to let you know that completion of the course was successful. If you become a CART volunteer, we will need to have copies of your training certificates on file with the tri-state personnel team leader.
