Emergency Support Function 11:
What does it mean to CVMA Veterinarians?

 The CVMA has 630+ members employed in a wide variety of practice, government, academic, research, industrial and miscellaneous roles. Many of our members engage in charitable work and causes specific to their own practice, their community and themselves. Today, the CVMA as an organization is also engaged in charitable work, on a scale and of a significance unprecedented in our history. This is the creation of a statewide Emergency Support Function #11 capability, which is disaster preparedness on behalf of Connecticut's animals. This program is known as the Connecticut State Animal Response Team, CTSART. The CVMA leads this effort.

To date, the involvement of just 7 CVMA members has resulted in the initiation of 5 leadership nuclei, for the 5 planned Regional Animal Response Teams, which will comprise the operational elements of CTSART. The areas of responsibility for each of the Regional teams match the state’s homeland security preparedness regions. (See inset map)

As veterinarians our oath states, and we believe it is our duty to, provide leadership, technical expertise and practical assistance to this important animal welfare initiative. The CVMA is committed to see this project through to a maximally capable, deployable program in all 5 regions of the state.

The main missions with which we have been charged include creating a mobile, deployable small animal evacuation sheltering capability to be co-located with human evacuation shelters, the creation of a technically capable large animal response and sheltering capacity and eventually to also create a deployable veterinary triage capability, to function coincident with our sheltering functions.

To date, we have created a draft response plan annex intended to supplement the Regional response plans of our state, we have recruited and trained volunteers including those from our partner organizations, the Connecticut Horse Council and the Veterinary Health Care Team of Connecticut, and in the case of the Region 3 team, purchased significant response equipment (see photos below). We have also created a foundation in our name, the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Foundation (CVMF), the primary mission of which is to develop a funding stream for CTSART, in perpetuity. We hope you as members, will support CVMF to this end.

Despite all that's been done, much still remains. Not the least of which is the creation of "depth in leadership". This depth is essential for the long-term success of CTSART and to the role of the CVMA in leading it. Each Regional team needs at least a three deep backup leadership corps to allow for travel, illness or other unforeseeable circumstances. Additionally, each Region needs at least one veterinarian leader whose primary job function includes large animals and another who works with small animals. While the approaches to large and small animals are different, it is essential that we do our best to address the needs of both.

It is not true that CTSART Regional teams be made up largely of veterinarians, technicians or other veterinary professional staff. It is true that as subject matter experts we need to provide our leadership to the Regional teams. I urge all of you to email your Regional team leader and offer yourself, as that needed depth in leadership. We will bring you up to speed!

CTSART Regional Team Leadership

Region 1 ART Team Leader: Dr. Sheldon Yessenow
(203) 378-5229            syessenow@earthlink.net

Region 2 ART Team Leader: Dr. Chris Gargamelli
(860) 316-7410            durham_vet_chris@yahoo.com

 Region 3 ART Team Leader: Dr. Arnold L. Goldman
(860) 693-9300            ctsart@ctvet.org

Region 4 ART Team Leader: Dr. Dennis Thibeault
(860) 546-6998            docdennis@peoplepc.com

 Region 5 ART Team Leader : Dr. Donna Cobelli
(203) 438-8878            dacdvm@aol.com