Video and photgraph courtesy of Lewis Geyer and Timescall.com

Too often we forget to “Thank” some of our Code 3 staff (family) for their dedication to professional training in adverse conditions. On Jan. 11th and 13th, 2012 Code 3 staff members Nan Stuart, Mike West, and Kelsey and Keester Stuart (4-legged Golden Retriever staff) assisted Mountain View Fire and Rescue with their field practical ice rescue training. Both Kelsey and Keester played the animal victim’s for the Fire Dept. teams to rescue.

Please note that both Kelsey and Keester are trained to work in disaster scenarios. Please do not use an animal for any type of emergency response/rescue training that is not specifically trained for that duty. Animals can respond unpredictably, and special precautions are taken during and after the training to safeguard the well-being of the animals used.

Below is a video shot by Timescall.com featuring Nan Stuart.

While conducting an Animal Disaster Responder Level I training in Reno, NV Nov. 14th-18th, Code 3 Staff were tasked to assist Washoe County Regional Animal Services with large animal evacuations in front of an actual wildfire that reportedly started around on the morning of Friday Nov. 18th. At about 5:30 A.M. on Nov. 18th Lt. Bobby Smith asked for Code 3 assistance in wildfire evacuations for the local fire that started due to powerlines sparking in high winds.

Lt. Smith reported over 30 horses, 35 dogs and 17 cats were sheltered due to the fire. Many more pets were kept in cars at the Evac Shelters. The property loss was 32 homes and 5 out buildings (total loss) some others with minor fencing/shrub damage. A total of 4000 homes were in danger; Animal Services were deployed for 35 hours.

Code 3 Staff members Jim Boller and Eric Thompson assisted with several large animal calls for service until released by Washoe County.

With hurricane season in full swing we continue to watch the tropics for further development of storms that may threaten the States. In preparation for future large scale deployments Code 3 has received a grant from the ASPCA that will aide in the expansion of resources for Code 3 Staff and volunteer responders. The increased resources will enhance Code 3 response to disaster and emergency response requests. Feel free to check out the training pages for upcoming ADR and technical large animal rescue courses. If you are interested in hosting training in your area, please contact Code 3 to make arrangements.

Volunteers from Code 3 Associates and Best Friends Animal Shelter along with shelters in Colorado, Kansas and South Dakota have teamed up to take care of both animals brought to the temporary shelter and animals found in the surrounding areas. Teams are overseeing and coordinating all animal operations in the Pierre and Fort Pierre areas – sheltering, responding to animal control calls and responding to calls in the surrounding areas where animals are in need of assistance.

Teams, upon request from local citizens, have been transporting animals to the shelter and have responded to calls of dogs playing in the water, animals running loose in the flood areas and more. The water team even rescued a young raccoon from the flood waters.

Code 3 boats along with water-rescue certified personnel are staged each day in Fort Pierre to be used for human rescue as well as animal rescue if the levees do not hold. The levees are currently doing a good job holding back the flooding Missouri River, and hopefully today’s rain won’t affect their success!

Code 3 Associates is on standby for assisting areas further south along the Missouri River, and teams will be moving downriver as needed. As a result of this and previous deployments Code 3 resources are running low. Small monetary donations have been dropped off at the shelter, but further assistance is needed. In order to support this mission and serve additional communities, Code 3 must be able to support the volunteers who take care of the animals, as well as supporting the animals themselves– donations are needed to provide meals and lodging for volunteers plus food, vaccinations and supplies for the animals. Code 3 Associates is a non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible. Donations can be securely made through PayPal or by calling (303) 772-7724.

BART and Code 3 teams assisted with performing animal rescue and recovery, along with assisting urban search and rescue teams in Joplin, MO. While on their way home from Missouri on Sunday they were requested by authorities in Pierre, South Dakota to assist in evacuation efforts in two counties in anticipation of the imminent threat of the Missouri River’s flooding.

The Code 3 team was tasked with coordinating emergency shelter and field operations for Pierre, Fort Pierre and Hughes County. Volunteers from South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas and Utah have set up and managed the shelter. Local news station KSFY has print and television coverage of this news.

As the Missouri River is expected to rise tomorrow, the Code 3 team has been reassigned to assist with human and animal search and rescue. This assignment is due to our team’s vast experience and certification in water rescue operations.

We hope to have more information for you in the coming days. As always, we appreciate your support and thanks for following our News from the Road!

Code 3 Associates has been requested by the state of Missouri and Humane Society of Missouri authorities to deploy to the Joplin area to assist with anticipated community wide post-storm search and rescue. BART and the core team left Longmont early this morning, and an additional team from the Kansas City area has been on the ground since this morning doing assessments.

Stay tuned for pictures and more information!

The team spent much of its time speaking with local residents about pre-event evacuation for themselves and their pets. We also transported animals out of potential impact areas for those residents that were evacuating and didn’t have a means to transport the animals themselves. We had overwhelming support and gratitude from residents for assisting them with their animal evacuations.

Code 3′s response teams have extensive technical training and field experience, which led to a request from local Emergency Management to integrate with human rescue teams in the event of levee failure that would have necessitated human evacuation and rescue.

Code 3 wishes to give special thanks to the Kennett Fire Department Station 2 for allowing our field responders to use their shower facilities and station while we were staged at the Delta Dunklin Fairgrounds.

Now as the event winds down in Caruthersville, and the rising floodwaters threaten communities further south on the Mississippi, BART and Code 3 teams are poised to continue our support of communities affected by this disaster. Volunteer rescue teams, in addition to those already assisting, have been placed on standby in the event this disaster escalates.

A reminder for residents along the Gulf and Atlantic Seaboards, as we enter the 2011 hurricane season, to be diligent and safe in the even a storm makes landfall. Code 3 Associates is always a resource to assist those jurisdictions if affected.

Look for future updates on this and future events! Thanks for following our news from the road, and as always your support is appreciated as it allows us to respond to the needs of communities affected by disasters.

As mentioned in last week’s post, Code 3 has partnered with the ASPCA Investigations and Disaster Response staff to once again help the residents of Caruthersville, Missouri. This is not the first time Code 3 has been in Caruthersville; in 2008 Code 3 partnered with Missouri Humane to assist in evacuation of animals for what was historic flooding in that year.

We are back again… Caruthersville has built a new levee system only to find that the river crest of 48.6’, a new record level, might come over the new levee. Seep water, a hazard of river levees and people living close to the levees, is forced into the ground, under the levee system, and surfaces on the other side of the levee as very soft area. These areas can show up as water seeping from the ground or as what they call a blowout, where the water is shooting out of the ground. The force of the water can also break sewer lines and water lines causing additional dangers to residents and rescuers.

These are some of the conditions we saw when we arrived in Caruthersville on May 2.

On May 3, Code 3 began work assisting the Caruthersville Humane and the Caruthersville Animal Control evacuate animals from Caruthersville and the Pemiscot County area near the levees.

On May 6, teams had evacuated 467 animals from the Caruthersville area, this included 12 horses, dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, and wildlife (injured turtle, injured heron). These animals were then transported to the Kennett Fair Grounds, in Kennett, Missouri to a temporary shelter.

On Sunday May 8, at the request of the Caruthersville Operations Center, Code 3 assumed the animal control duties for the area, to give local staff a day off. After the crest of 48.1’ on Sunday and the lifting of the curfew, some animals began to be reunited with their humans.

Code 3 teams transported 7 horses back to their owners, and 19 cats to an owner that had no way to come and get her animals. By 6:00pm Monday, May 9 some 140 animals had been released back to owners and teams are expecting that by 6:00pm Tuesday May 10, there will be far fewer animals in the shelter.

Code 3 and our teams would like to give Karol Wilcox, and her staff a job well done. The evacuation plan for Caruthersville, and Pemiscot County was a complete success, and was executed perfectly.

Kurt Cruickshank
Director of Field Operations

BART and the Code 3 Associates team are currently in Caruthersville, Missouri assisting with animal rescue and recovery in the wake of flooding along the Missouri and Tennessee border.

Bart and two Code 3 water rescue teams, whose members are from Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, are responding at the request of local emergency management and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). The request was received on Sunday evening, and BART was on the road just a few hours later.

Code 3 is working in cooperation with the ASPCA at the direction of local emergency management along the Missouri Tennessee border.