ATTACHMENT_2_EMERGENCY_PLAN.pdf

ATTACHMENT 2

EMERGENCY PLAN

I. BACKGROUND AND SCOPE

While free-roaming horses are generally self-sufficient, on occasion events occur that pose risks to civilians, the horses or the environment that warrant properly skilled intervention. This Emergency Plan provides a response, field work and care plan framework for addressing and resolving such emergency incidents involving Salt River wild horses through responses conducted by and/or facilitated by the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG.)

II. SAFETY POLICY

The Emergency Plan shall be integrated into a general Safety Policy to ensure that field activities are carried out in a responsible manner, are compliant with all appropriate criteria, and consider safety as the primary consideration.

III. FIELD PROTOCOLS

Field protocols shall be compliant with national Technical Large Animal Emergency Response (TLAER) standards as well as applicable federal, state, local and United States Forest Service (USFS) regulations.

IV. RESPONDING VOLUNTEERS

Upon notification of an incident, all persons responding shall be qualified for their anticipated tasks, and as such, shall have sufficient knowledge and skills to complete such tasks safely and competently. Persons responding shall be organized in accor-dance with FEMA IS-100b standards (Incident Command System.) First response coordinators for SRWHMG are volunteer directors and key volunteers Ryan and Bren Schultz as well as volunteer coordinator Destini Rhone. First responders will be SRWHMG volunteers who are on current shi� in the Tonto National Forest at the time of emergency.

V. RESPONSE EQUIPMENT

SRWHMG possesses, equipment as appropriate for the various types of anticipated emergencies (e.g., corral panels, construc-tion netting, transport vehicles, etc.,) with that equipment meet-ing the specifications defined in TLAER, Operations Level. Other appropriate support equipment to facilitate the emergency relocation and/or containment of horses, supplementation of water, supplementation of feed, etc. shall be secured, following a contemporary needs assessment that includes input and recom-mendations by the AZDA, the USFS and local authorities.

Responding volunteers shall be provided with and shall utilize personal protective equipment as specified under TLAER, NFPA, OSHA and any other applicable standards when conducting any emergency activities or any other potentially risky tasks on Forest Service properties.

Photo at top: Large Animal Rescue Training Certification Class for volunteers, sponsored by American Wild Horse Campaign in Nevada.

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VI. RESPONDER TRAINING

All volunteers who would be considered primary responders shall, within six months of the contract award, become certified in TLAER, Operations Level, including completion of the associ-ated FEMA on-line large animal and incident management courses.

All volunteers who may be expected to perform tasks on or adjacent to any roadways where the speed limit exceeds 35 MPH shall complete the Responder Safety Network’s on-line Traffic Incident Management Course and hold National Traffic Incident Management Certificates.

All volunteers who represent SRWHMG shall have also complet-ed four Wild Horse Academy trainings of 4 hours each taught by Simone Netherlands, to be fully informed of SRWHMG expecta-tions and requirements for dealing with the public, authorities, and wild horses.

VII. NOTIFICATION AND MOBILIZATION

Our policy provides for the reliable notification of SRWHMG responders in the event of any emergency or related need for service. A new policy between AZDA and SRWHMG shall be developed. This policy shall include the methodology wherein SRWHMG responders can notify the AZDA and USFS and MCSO that appropriate resources are enroute, and to provide relevant status as to the conditions encountered, actions taken and progress being made.

VIII. PRE-INCIDENT PLANNING

While not every potential emergency can be forecast, likely incidents and potential significant events such as wide area wildfires, floods, droughts and similar conditions shall be identi-fied and pre-plans developed so that both SRWHMG respond-ers and AZDA staff have compatible expectations as to the actions that will be undertaken. Pre-incident Plans shall be considered as guidelines and shall not supersede any directions given by ranking AZDA or USFS staff having authority over the operations taking place or supersede the reasonable and prudent judgment of the persons taking action in the event incident conditions warrant. Deviations to established pre-inci-dent plans and protocols shall be communicated between SWWHMG responders and AZDA staff by the most expedient means to ensure operational safety and accountability.

IX. PROFESSIONAL VETERINARY SERVICES

SRWHMG maintains working relationships with Doctors of Veterinary Medicine from South West Equine Hospital and AZ Equine, qualified to examine and treat undomesticated horses and shall make arrangements as may be necessary for the response of such qualified individuals in the event any horses included in this agreement require definitive veterinary care.

X. COSTS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Costs for professional services relating to the horses included in this agreement that may be required in furtherance of this agree-ment, with such services including veterinary services, transpor-tation, removal and disposal, shall be borne by SRWHMG.

SRWHMG shall not seek reimbursement from the AZDA or USFS except in circumstances where AZDA/USFS personnel specifi-cally authorize such reimbursements.

XI. CURRENT QUALIFICATIONS

As outlined in Section I, II and III of the SRWHMG’s RFP response, SRWHMG president and team of volunteers have extensive experience in all aspects of emergency response related to Salt River horses, including addressing: 1) public safety threats related relocating horses out of roadways, urban areas and populated recreational sites; 2) significant threats posed by wildfire, flood and drought; and 3) emergency medi-cal situations for Salt River horses through monitoring, removal or euthanasia.

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