INTRODUCTION

Toxicological disasters have significant and potentially devastating impacts on people, animals, and the environment. Veterinary effects can range from acute toxic emergencies to long-term threats to public health. Toxicological disasters threaten our pets, livestock, and wildlife, and present a health risk to owners and members of the public who handle animals and consume animal products. These toxicological events occur frequently with more than 7500 hazardous material (HAZMAT) spills occurring annually in the United States from transportation incidences alone.¹ Each year more than 1000 new synthetic chemicals are added to the nearly 500,000 products defined as “hazardous chemicals.” Veterinarians play a critical role in toxicological disaster response through their involvement in protecting human and animal health.²

VETERINARY HOSPITAL PREPAREDNESS FOR TOXICOLOGICAL DISASTERS

Every single day veterinarians need to be prepared to receive and treat patients that have been exposed to a variety of toxic chemicals. The preparation of the hospital to respond to these single events is part of the preparedness required to respond to the overwhelming consequences that would be present in a toxicological disaster. Veterinary practice preparedness for toxicological disasters should be part of the entire all-hazards approach to disaster management. This involves planning, training, equipping, educating, and exercising a plan with clients, staff, and other stakeholders.

Disaster planning begins with risk assessment. Mershon has aptly pointed out that it is critical to remember “Veterinarians and animal or animal product producers will need to be able to protect themselves and to understand the rudiments of toxic hazard reduction before they can protect, treat, care for, or salvage their stock and products.”³ Veterinarians, whether in private or public practice, should assess the hazards in their local area starting within their own hospital or institution. They should know what hazardous materials they have on hand and assess the risk posed by these and how they would respond to an incident. Responses could be limited, such as handling an in-hospital spill of a flea dip, or as substantial as executing a safe evacuation in the event of a large-scale industrial accident. Material safety data sheets and emergency treatment capability should be on hand to cover all hazardous materials maintained on the premises. Practice emergency coordinators should evaluate the area around their facility and gather information on hazards—such as chemical production plants, storage and distribution facilities—or chemical repositories, such as lawn and garden stores and fertilizer distributors. Attention should also be paid to nearby transportation hazards, such as rail lines and main highway routes. In addition to the hazards in their immediate area, veterinarians should become aware of hazards within the community that could affect their clients and patients. This will involve contacting local and regional emergency planners and obtaining information on those hazards that have been catalogued for the local area. Hazardous material assessments are available to any person through the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act legislation that provides citizen access to this information.⁴

Once the hazards are identified and a risk assessment has been done, planning should take place to identify how you would respond to an event. Begin with your own facility and create flow charts of the sequence actions likely to follow various toxic chemical events. Involve all the staff to brainstorm what events could occur, what the responses would be, and who would fill what roles. In the event of a chemical spill near your hospital, your emergency response team would identify who would be notified, how you would protect yourselves, and how your patients would be protected. How would evacuation be performed, where would you go, how would you transport and house patients, and what would you need to take with you? These are all types of questions that should be considered in advance. This same type of planning should be done on a local and regional basis requiring coordination with local and state emergency planners to integrate your plans and programs into existing emergency response plans. Planning for disasters should take into account not only protection of personnel and response for the animals, but must also consider hospital and business continuity planning to allow the practice or institution to rapidly recover after a disaster event.

A veterinary hospital in the immediate vicinity of a toxic spill or in the downwind plume of chemical release will be faced with two alternatives: shelter-in-place or evacuation. This decision should be based on information provided by the community disaster communications network. One individual in the practice should be designated to monitor emergency management messages on the radio, television, and Internet to relay information to the hospital director or designated emergency manager. In the event of a toxic spill, industrial accident, or intentional chemical release, local emergency management authorities will provide recommendations that are area specific, and information will be provided on whether to evacuate or to shelter-in-place. Premature evacuation risks the potential of moving into an exposure zone, but if no information is provided and the decision is made to execute a hasty evacuation, it is generally safest to move upwind and away from the spill site, avoiding low-lying areas where toxic chemicals tend to accumulate.

Shelter-in-place is a program to limit exposure of people and animals to toxic hazards by using the natural protection of an occupied building. Sheltering in place for the veterinary practice has the same basic steps as home sheltering in place:⁵

Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel

Join