When disasters strike New Jersey (such as Superstorm Sandy in 2012), wildlife rehabilitators can either help others, or receive help (depending on their situation) by being prepared ahead of time. Wildlife rehabilitators may help others by providing more suitable housing or assistance for exotic pets than many domestic animal shelters can; likewise, rehabilitators may receive help more readily by being familiar with and integrated into the Incident Command System (ICS) and their County Animal Response Team (CART).
Each wildlife rehabilitator should be registered with their CART for resource management during these types of disasters. There is information on how to join a CART at www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/ah/prog/cartsart.html, as well as a link to the County Offices of Emergency Management.
The NJ Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and local CART groups recognize all types of animal shelters and facilities within counties.
ICS training can be obtained for free at http://training.fema.gov/is/nims.asp. The basic courses recommended for any emergency response are ICS 100 (IS-100.b), ICS 200 (IS-200.b), and NIMS 700 (IS-700.a).
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