THE ROLE OF VETERINARIANS IN WILDLIFE EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN BUSHFIRES

Veterinarians play a critical role in wildlife emergency response in bushfires. Primary responsibilities include welfare, triage, treatment, alleviation of pain, prescrip­tion of scheduled drugs, euthanasia, biosecurity and the protection of human health.

Under direction of the relevant jurisdiction’s wildlife agency, and dependent on relevant experience and train­ing, veterinarians may be recruited to the fireground as members of wildlife emergency response teams or to wild­life triage centres. General practitioners may be presented with burnt wildlife by members of the public, members of licensed wildlife volunteer groups or other agencies such as the RSPCA, police or local council officers.

Bushfire emergency response is managed in accord­ance with the Australasian Inter-service Incident Man­agement System (AIIMS), which has been adopted nationally and can be applied to all emergency types. It provides a common management framework for all haz­ards, including bushfires. It can be adapted for incidents of any size or complexity, used within a multi-agency response and uses common incident management termi­nology (DELWP 2021). In most states and territories in Australia, wildlife emergency response is integrated into the relevant jurisdiction’s incident management system (IMS). Depending on the size of the bushfire an incident management team (IMT) will be established (Fig. 27.2). The incident controller (IC), based on the advice of the IMT, will determine if a wildlife response is required and when it should commence. If it is determined that a wild­life response is necessary, then appropriately trained and

Safety

Before rescuing or treating wildlife impacted by bushfires consider your safety and that of others.

• Do not enter firegrounds to rescue animals without authority.

• Always wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

• Your role may be a component of an incident management team, coordinated by an incident controller. Always follow instructions fed down through this structure.

• Activities and self-deployment outside the IMS are dangerous to yourself and others.

Fig. 27.2. Example of incident management team structure with wildlife response and veterinary roles.

accredited personnel will be sought to fill key roles. Vet­erinarians may be recruited for some of these roles. It is essential that veterinary personnel respect the IMS and always follow instructions from the IC. Activities and self-deployment outside the IMS are dangerous to your­self and others and may result in poor welfare outcomes for wildlife.

3.