Coastal Carolina University Contingency Plan for Animal Research Facilities
Required by the Animal Welfare Act, USDA/APHIS
Approved by Vice President for Research and Emerging Initiatives, July 23, 2013
Introduction
This document addresses the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service’s (APHIS) final rule, published December 31, 2012, requiring all dealers, exhibitors, intermediate
handlers, carriers, research facilities and other entities regulated by the agency under the Animal
Welfare Act (AWA) to take additional steps to be better prepared for potential disaster situations. The
rule can be found in its entirety at (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-12-31/pdf/2012-31422.pdf).
Under this rule, Coastal Carolina University (CCU) is required to have a contingency plan to respond to
and recover from emergencies most likely to happen to CCU animal research facilities. These facilities
are animal holding facilities that are approved and inspected by the CCU Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee (IACUC)). This document does not need to be submitted to or approved by APHIS, but it
should be available for review and comment during annual USDA facility inspections.
Objectives
The objective of the CCU Contingency Plan for Animal Research Facilities is to:
1. Define disaster and emergency response activities for CCU animal research facilities that
minimize personnel injury, property damage, and animal loss; and maximize the continuation of
mission critical activities.
2. Maximize animal care and use staff member awareness of procedures and communication
pathways used during emergencies.
Potential emergencies
The following emergencies are examples of potential scenarios at CCU that could trigger the
contingency plan. These could potentially produce a limited period (hours to days) without access or
power to the animal facilities, or they could result in structural damage and/or loss of the use of the
facilities for an extended period.
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Extended electrical outage and loss of HVAC
Structural fire
Hurricane
Tornado/high winds
Wildfire
Snow/ice storm
Flooding
Earthquake
Animal escape
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Response Procedures
In order to ensure the safety and well-being of both humans and animals, a clear action plan is required
to respond to emergencies. This plan includes specific actions to be taken and identifies the individuals
or positions responsible for those actions and the chain of command for decisions and notifications.
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Responsible Parties
1. Primary Responders:
CCU animal facilities are generally small in scale. Existing and likely future animal facilities
for rodents, reptiles/amphibians, or fishes are in single rooms or portions of rooms and
generally support the research activities of one or two faculty members and their students
at a time. Given the individual nature of these facilities and research projects, the primary
responsibility for action lies with the faculty members who oversee each of these facilities.
These faculty are considered “Primary Responders” for emergency response related to their
animal facilities and are identified during semi-annual facility inspections by the IACUC each
semester.
2. Supervisory Team:
Emergency actions and decisions by Primary Responders should be reported to the IACUC
Chair, the Dean(s) of the college(s) overseeing the impacted facilities, and the Vice President
for Research and Emerging Initiatives. This Supervisory Team will review the actions and
decisions of the Primary Responders and can require alternative or additional actions. The
team will make decisions based on consensus, and in cases of disagreement among the
team, the Vice President for Research and Emerging Initiatives will make the final decision.
This group may also recommend changes or additions to the Contingency Plan (this
document). The IACUC Chair will oversee the revisions, with final approval by the
supervisory team. For campus-wide emergencies, notifications to the campus community
will be coordinated through the university’s Emergency Communication Plan, as described
in the CCU Emergency Response Manual (http://www.coastal.edu/emergency/
EmergencyManual.pdf). These notifications may include prior warnings, such as hurricane
evacuation orders, real time emergency alerts, and notifications regarding post-emergency
recovery and return to facilities. Localized (Type 1) emergencies may not warrant a campuswide response, and in these cases, Deans overseeing animal facilities are responsible for
ensuring that emergency notifications have been communicated to their faculty, including
Primary Responders.
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Response Actions
The required response will vary depending on the nature of the emergency and specific animal
requirements. In general, Primary Responders will:
1. Assess the situation: facility damage, facility support capability, emergency equipment
availability, animal colony status
2. Focus emergency support to ensuring personnel safety, maintaining study integrity,
conserving resources, and protecting animal life and well-being
3. Provide emergency support to the animal colony as needed
4. Notify the Supervisory Team of all actions and decisions
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Human safety is always of primary concern, and Primary Responders must follow the directives
of CCU safety officers regarding evacuation timelines and procedures or permission to return to
facilities following an emergency. Detailed campus-wide response plans to specific types of
emergencies are described in the CCU Emergency Response Manual
(http://www.coastal.edu/emergency/EmergencyManual.pdf).
For short term disturbances, animals may simply remain in their facilities, and responders must
ensure adequate food, water, climate controls, and power. Longer term disturbances may
require moving animals to an alternate facility, and responders should identify safe and humane
transportation procedures and a suitable facility that can maintain the health and well-being of
the animals and also maintain human safety standards.
Emergency events in a research animal setting often cause the loss of room access,
environmental control, or safe working conditions which limit animal care and veterinary
service support options. If alternative housing is not possible due to an emergency situation,
euthanizing injured or distressed research animals in these situations may be the only way to
relieve animal pain and suffering. Direction in this situation is frankly stated in the 8th Edition of
the Guide for Laboratory Animal Care and Use (NAS Press, 2011): “Animals that cannot be
relocated or protected from the consequences of the disaster must be humanely euthanized.”
The AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia (AVMA Press, 2007) address disaster-related instances
where deviations from standard euthanasia methods are necessitated with the following
statement: “Under unusual conditions, such as disease eradication and natural disasters,
euthanasia options may be limited. In these situations, the most appropriate technique that
minimizes human and animal health concerns must be used.” In a disaster scenario, human
safety, the animal species, and the urgency to relieve animal pain and distress outweigh study
considerations such as data gathering, sample collection, and experimental endpoints.
Consequently, the euthanasia method for a set of study animals based on experimental
priorities may not be the appropriate euthanasia method to use on the same set of animals in a
disaster event. Therefore, a decision to euthanize animals in a method not covered by a study’s
IACUC protocol should be approved by the IACUC Chair and a veterinarian member of the IACUC
Committee, unless the emergency situation precludes such approval.
In situations where animals have escaped, the Primary Responder must notify the Supervisory
Team and proceed with recapture plans. If the escaped animals pose a potential threat to
human safety or well-being, the responder should notify Campus Safety personnel immediately.
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Recovery Actions
Post-emergency, the main responsibilities of the Primary Responders are to:
1. Re-establish stable animal environments (return to evacuated or damaged CCU facilities
should only occur after access has been cleared by CCU safety personnel)
2. Re-establish pre-emergency food, medications, equipment, and supply levels
3. Review the effectiveness of the emergency response, recovery actions, and overall
Contingency Plan with the Supervisory Team
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Training and Preparation
All Primary Responders must verbally review the Contingency Plan with the IACUC Chair, including
specific response plans for their units. Reviews will occur annually during the fall semester semi-annual
IACUC inspection of animal facilities. The IACUC Chair must inform the Primary Responders of any
revisions to the Contingency Plan. Primary Responders should be able to:
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Identify the chain of command and decision-making authority for animal support activities
during an emergency response
Describe emergency response plans for the treatment, evacuation, and husbandry of animals in
their facility. This should include options for short term on-site care, alternative housing,
transportation, and/or euthanasia if required.
CCU Emergency Resources
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Coastal Carolina University Emergency Response Manual
(http://www.coastal.edu/emergency/EmergencyManual.pdf)
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To report a campus emergency, contact:
CCU Public Safety
When PS cannot be reached
Calling from on campus
Ext. 2911
Ext. 9-911
Calling from off-campus/cell
(843) 349-2911
911
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