Greene County Animal Response Team (GCART)

Animal Response Teams Protect Everyone

In 2016, the passage of the federal and state Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act required local, state, and federal disaster preparedness plans to address the needs of companion animals to be eligible for federal disaster preparedness funds. By establishing and maintaining an animal response team, Greene County complies with this requirement.

Why have an Animal Response Team?

Just as it’s important to prepare our families in case of a disaster or emergency, it’s critical to have plans in place for house pets and other animals as well. In fact, companion pets and other animals often require even more special consideration and assistance. And if you live on a farm, you’ll need to prepare a plan for your livestock as well. GCART volunteers help members of our community with this planning.

Do you want to Help Animals in Greene County?

Anyone can get qualified to be a GCART volunteer and start helping animals. There is no age or physical requirement.

You can get started by contacting Jamie Hyer Mitchell at Jamiehyer@aim.com

To become qualified, all you need to do is complete four online training courses* and sign the Code of Conduct. The training courses are:

Obtain your FEMA SID at:    https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid/register

Additional Relevant Infomation:

• ESART Orientation (PDF)
• ESART Orientation Self-Exam and Certificate (PDF)
• ICS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System (ICS)
• IS-700: National Incident Management System (NIMS), an Introduction
• IS-5.A: An Introduction to Hazardous Materials

Each course takes between 30 minutes and 1 hour to complete. They are all free, online, and don’t require any previous experience. You only need to take each course once.

Optional Training for Volunteers:

In addition to the training required courses, CART volunteers can also take advantage of other free training opportunities from FEMA found online.

• ICS-200: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-800: National Response Framework (NRF), an Introduction

Additionally, FEMA offers several other trainings for animal owners and care providers that will help CART volunteers be ready to assist during disasters. These include:

• IS-10: Animals in Disasters, Awareness and Preparedness
• IS-11: Animals in Disasters, Community Planning
• IS-111: Livestock in Disasters

There are also many other online training opportunities that CART volunteers should be aware of, including:

• Just-in-Time Training for Responders to Animal Health Emergencies, an online resource with supplemental information on job-specific tasks that might be needed during a disaster response
• Introduction to Animal Emergency Management, a 10-part course to provide animal care workers with foundational information and skills to support USDA APHIS Animal Care’s emergency planning and response roles