Download Animal Agrosecurity and Emergency Management News Release

www.EDEN.lsu.edu
NEWS RELEASE
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Course combats disaster in the face of animal emergencies
YOUR CITY, Your State - Natural disasters, disease outbreaks, agroterrorism and
other emergencies all pose threats to livestock production, but according to one Purdue
University expert, the key to minimizing the damage is proper security and emergency
management.
For these reasons the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN), with support
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is offering the "Animal Agrosecurity and
Emergency Management" course. The free online course is available to anyone who wants
to learn more about agrosecurity. It teaches participants how to protect animals and livestock
and ensure a safe food and fiber supply.
"The key to minimizing outcomes of animal emergencies is to have all of our
community agencies involved in emergency management prepared and working together this could include Extension offices, departments that handle transportation, justice,
environmental issues and agriculture, just to name a few," said Steve Cain, homeland
security project director for EDEN at Purdue University. "Any interagency conflicts or
problems would ultimately hinder the biosecurity response."
The course will teach participants how to work with several agencies and prepare
them to keep farms safe or to respond to an emergency.
"Students of this course will gain a deeper understanding of animal emergency
management," said Andrea Husband, program coordinator in agroterrorism and disaster
preparedness for the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. "Because there
are so many threats to animals and animal agriculture, EDEN is providing participants with
knowledge about the types of threats and how the phases of emergency management are
applied. With this knowledge, they are more able to efficiently prepare for, prevent,
mitigate, respond to and recover from animal agriculture emergencies."
"Animal Agrosecurity and Emergency Management" was created by a
multidisciplinary team at the University of Kentucky that included experts from the
following fields: disaster and emergency preparedness and agroterrorism, animal and food
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science, veterinary medicine, public health and epidemiology, Land Grant Regulatory
Services milk and feed programs, biosystems and agricultural engineering, community and
economic development, Extension field programs, and distance education and online course
design.
Upon completion, the course was reviewed and approved by representatives of
federal and state agencies and peer universities, EDEN delegates, and a community
emergency response team.
The online course uses a multimedia format with Adobe Flash questions, movies and
other features and takes a total of approximately eight hours to complete, Husband said.
"The course will take about eight hours to finish, but participants can divide those
hours up any way they like - whether that means doing all eight hours at once, doing an hour
a day or even an hour a week," Cain said.
To register or for more information, visit the EDEN Web site at
http://www.eden.lsu.edu/LearningOps.
After finishing the course, participants will receive a certificate of completion.
Contact: Your Name, (your)phone-number, your@email
Writer: Jennifer Cummins, (765) 494-6682, [email protected]
Source: Steve Cain, (765) 494-8410, [email protected]
Related Web sites:
EDEN: http://www.EDEN.lsu.edu
"Animal Agrosecurity and Emergency Management" course: http://www.EDEN.lsu.edu/LearningOps/
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