So how do veterinarians who teach school, give dogs rabies shots, and work on lame horses get ready for something like Hurricane Katrina? These folks don’t work in HAZMAT suits in their normal jobs. Most have never been in situations where there are contaminants that could affect their lives.

As in all other aspects of their lives, veterinarians who work in disaster and rescue have specialized training. Fortunately for those animals and people left in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, some veterinarians had been given hands-on training in dealing with hazardous situations, including decontamination of large and small animals. Following is a report from that training, along with images of the veterinarians at work. View images here.

From July 31 thru Aug. 1, ten members of the U.S. Army East Coast SMART-V (Special Medical Assessment Team-Veterinary) and 50 VMAT (Veterinary Medical Assistance Team) team members conducted a mock deployment and animal decontamination field training exercise (FTX) at Ft. Bragg, NC. Mr. Gomes, Chief, Ambulance Service, Womack Army Medical Center, and members of DMAT-1 NC provided HAZMAT and DECON support and training for the exercise, and Dr. Michael Fielder of the Ft. Bragg Veterinary Services Branch coordinated logistical support of the exercise, a monumental feat.

Their training goals emphasized individual deployment to a field location; transportation and deployment of items from the VMAT Federal Cache of equipment and training aids; logistical preparedness; establishing a field bivouac and field Veterinary Hospital; promoting inter-operability and command/control between the various teams; and practicing the Incident Command System and communication capabilities