Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of the Academic Biomedical Research Community Protecting the Nation's Investment (2017) / Chapter Skim
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7 Disaster Resilience and Animal Research Programs
7 Disaster Resilience and Animal Research Programs
Pages 243-266
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7 Disaster Resilience and Animal Research Programs FIGURE 7-1 Swine carried down stairs at the University of Texas Medical Branch illuminated by lantern for transport to Houston as a result of Hurricane Ike. SOURCE: Goodwin and Donaho, 2010.
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Hurricane Katrina brought the importance of the human–animal bond during disasters into the national spotlight, and the PETS Act legitimized animal disaster response in the United States. Provision for the evacuation and sheltering of pets during a disaster is now a required function of local emergency management and government.
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. Researchers, v eterinarians, and animal care staff may experience strong emotional reactions during disasters and may place themselves in danger trying to rescue research animals.
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The government agency that oversees the implementation of the PHS Policy at research institutions is the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. Both the AWA and the PHS Policy require that each institution have an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC)
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104) Furthermore, animal research programs at AAALAC International– accredited institutions must also have a disaster plan that follows the Guide (AAALAC International, 2017b)
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In the committee's experiences it is common for IACUC members, attending veterinarians, and IOs to have no formal education or training in emergency management or disaster planning. Relying solely on the information in the Guide to develop a disaster plan will not achieve resilience in animal research programs at academic research institutions
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Research animals impose both ethical and practical considerations during disasters because caged animals cannot voluntarily escape and save themselves, and they remain totally dependent upon humans for their survival. Environmental conditions, such as ventilation and ambient room temperature, must be able to be maintained within reasonable limits at all times (NRC, 2011; Animal Welfare Act4)
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The design assumption is that if failure occurs (e.g., in the air-handling system, the environmental cooling system for animal care, small-animal housing equipment, electricity, or water supply systems to the vivarium) , then the device, system, or process will fail in a safe manner which will result in continued life support for the research animals.
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When an academic research institution chooses to place its research animals within centralized facilities that will house large numbers of animals, the planning actions must be impeccable and the facility design must be failsafe (NRC, 2011)
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. PLANNING FOR ANIMAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS Prevention, Protection, and Mitigation Planning Academic research institutions should plan to prevent the worst-case scenario: a catastrophic loss of research animals.
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The outcome then becomes forced abandonment of the research animals, with their resultant suffering and, potentially, deaths. The unique requirements that arise when animals are placed inside structures that are shared with human occupants have been addressed in a standards document from the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 150: Standard on Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities (NFPA Standard 150)
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(2009) , who suggested that health care code requirements would afford research animals better protection during disasters.
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Plans that propose to evacuate research animals after the disaster strikes are going to be more difficult to execute because the manpower, supplies, and logistical support required to move the research animals are likely not going to be available. After a disaster, transportation is going to be disrupted, access to the animal research facilities will be restricted, many employees will not be available to work, and there will be intense competition for the limited resources that are present in the area.
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. A shelter-in-place response strategy is based on the concept that it will be safer for the research animals to remain at their current location during the disaster and that it will be best to care for them there after the disaster (FEMA, 2015a)
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In cases where a vivarium is severely damaged and is unsuitable for use, the research animals can be relocated to safer temporary housing areas. Temporary housing locations, standard operating procedures for moving animals, and memorandums of agreement with participating suppliers and partner organizations can be developed pre-disaster, approved by the IACUC, and included in the institution's resilience planning activities.
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. The proposed Laboratory Animal Best Practices Initiative would bring together animal research professionals, federal government animal and disaster response agency representatives, and private-sector experts to identify successful strategies for improving the planning and management of research animals during disasters.
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. The disaster plans developed for research animals may be ineffective because they were developed by animal research professionals who may have inadequate knowledge of emergency management principles compounded by a lack of integration and input from the professional emergency man gers at the in a stitution; the deficiencies in the plans remain hidden because the mandated reviewers of the plan may also lack sufficient knowledge about planning principles and optimal response procedures.
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If the contingency rule was in ffect, the disaster plans from institutions that house regulated species e would also be subject to review by USDA–APHIS inspectors during their routine visits to the facility. With adequate training of USDA–APHIS inspectors and the regulated community, the public could be assured that institutions are doing their best to protect and ensure the welfare of their research animals.
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. Improve the Disaster Resilience of Animal Research Programs RECOMMENDATION 6: Academic research institutions should ac knowledge that there is an ethical imperative to conduct disaster resil ience efforts to preserve the lives and prevent the suffering of research animals.
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• Identifying a method of engagement with external community part ners, such as the local emergency planning committee, emergency management, law enforcement, fire, public works, weather ser vice, department of transportation, and others, to communicate the unique public health and safety issues of the animal research program. • Developing evacuation and shelter-in-place procedures, as well as procedures in the event research animals escape, in emergency opera tions plans for animal facilities.
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2000. Disaster planning for research and laboratory animal facilities.
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2015. Public Health Service policy on humane care and use of laboratory animals.
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2013. Using principles from emergency management to improve emergency response plans for research animals.
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