New certificates help veterinarians and teams prepare for emergencies

Business continuity and emergency planning are key to business survival in a disaster situation—whether it's a hurricane, flood, wildfire, or even global pandemic. A new certificate program on AVMA Axon teaches participants how to prepare for an emergency or disaster and minimize its impact on the organization.

The Disaster Business Continuity Certificate Program offers up to 3 continuing education (CE) credits and is comprised of three modules covering these topics:

• The importance of planning for business survival during a disaster
• How to develop a business continuity plan
• Implementing your business continuity plan

When all three modules are completed, participants will receive an AVMA Disaster Business Continuity certificate of completion and a digital badge to display online.

The program is free for AVMA and Student AVMA (SAVMA) members and costs $75 for non-members.

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The AVMA also is in the process of developing a certification program for veterinary first responders. The AVMA Veterinary First Responder Certificate Program will train veterinary professionals to respond efficiently and effectively to disasters and emergencies. The program will cover 35 competencies and will begin certifying individuals in 2022.

AVMA is currently reviewing submissions from organizations to have their training courses approved for inclusion in the curriculum. Learn more about the program or submit a course for evaluation.

Disaster preparedness and response for veterinary practices

Disasters can come at any time. AVMA’s emergency planning for veterinary practices webpage has the resources you and your team need to plan for the unexpected:

• Guide to writing a disaster plan for the clinic
• Directories of state veterinarians and state public health veterinarians
• Emergency planning resources from AVMA PLIT

If you’ve been impacted by a disaster, AVMF can help. The American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) provides individual disaster relief and disaster reimbursement grants to help veterinarians, veterinary students, and animals needing medical care during a disaster. Learn about the grants and apply on the AVMF website.

If you are able to help support these grants, we encourage you to make a donation at avmf.org/Donate.

Tools for clients

AVMA also has information and tools for veterinary teams to share with clients to encourage them to prepare for the unexpected. These resources can help animal owners protect their pets and livestock during a disaster:

• Pets and disasters
• Large animals and livestock in disasters
• Wildfire smoke and animals
• Emergency contact cards for pets and livestock (AVMA member only)

Find more information about disaster planning and emergency preparedness at avma.org/Disaster.