Disaster Response Animal Advisory Committee

The Disaster Response Animal Advisory Committee (DRAAC) was established in 1998 by the Office of Animal Care and Use to integrate the needs and planned responses by the NIH Animal Care and Use program into the trans-NIH Disaster Plan, also known as the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).

The DRAAC consists of representatives from each animal program from NIH & FDA CBER in the Washington DC metropolitan area and from the NIH Division of Emergency Preparedness and Coordination.

The DRAAC meets at least quarterly to:

1. Develop information, tools, and resources to enable each animal program to have an effective disaster response plan in keeping with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
2. Assist the NIH Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) Disaster Recovery Coordinator with support for disaster recovery affecting research animals through the Animal Resources Team (ART).

The Animal Resources Team or ART is a team of experienced individuals from the DRAAC that helps the NIH COOP team and animal programs manage resources during a situation that affects one or more animal facilities. The ART is one of six teams within the COOP team and is prepared to respond to any disaster affecting research animals, regardless of whether resources or circumstances permit an effective or adequate response by the affected animal program. The ART is made up of the Animal Resources Coordinator (ARC) and two teams, the Animal Recovery and Relocation Team (ARRT) and the Animal Care Team (ACT).

The Animal Resources Coordinator is the first person contacted on the ART when a catastrophic event affects the NIH and research animals are affected. The Animal Resources Coordinator will report to the NIH COOP Command Center and from this location will help monitor the situation in affected animal facilities, i.e. what damage has occurred to the animal facility structure, is adequate staff present, does the facility have feed/bedding, are there water, power, HVAC or other utility issues needing DES response, do animals need to be relocated, etc. Depending on the seriousness of the incident, the event will be categorized based on the need for resources to restore the site and whether essential services have been compromised. One or more members of the ART may be activated to provide expertise and facilitate actions. The COOP Disaster Recovery Coordinator, in coordination with the Animal Resources Coordinator, will continually assess the events to decide when to call upon other members of the ART for assistance. When recalled, individuals of the ART will then assemble on and/or off-site as appropriate to organize a balanced response, including personnel recall and acquisition of animal program resources from other unaffected facilities.

The Animal Recovery and Relocation Team (ARRT) will assist in identification of needed resources for housing animals affected by the incident in other available NIH facilities or alternative sites and in the relocation of the animals to those locations.

The Animal Care Team (ACT) will assist in triage, treatment and/or euthanasia of animals as required and as determined appropriate by the type of incident.

The DRAAC and the ART are not substitutes for facility personnel in responding to an emergency event. Each facility is expected to support its animals with adequate numbers of skilled and experienced animal care staff during most emergency events such as snowstorms, or when a Code Red Alert is announced. Only when a catastrophic event occurs that severely damages the animal facility or exhausts the resources for that facility to continue to operate would the ART be activated to assist.

Adopted - May 21, 2003

This page is maintained by the Office of Animal Care and Use (OACU). Readers are encouraged to forward comments and suggestions to OACU at (301) 496-5424.
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