Satellite Facility Emergency Response Plan

Animal facilities may be subject to … unexpected events that severely compromise ongoing animal care and well-being. Facilities must therefore have a disaster plan. (Guide, p. 35)

Principal investigators and/or research staff should make all reasonable accommodations to continue daily care of animals in their satellite housing facilities (e.g. hotel stay during forecasted inclement weather). If research staff are unable to fulfill these daily requirements (e.g. health checks, providing food and water, administering necessary treatments, etc.) during an emergency, then other accommodations must be made.

• Holding Facilities. Arrangements must be made through YARC to have animals maintained in a laboratory for testing (up to 8 days) moved to the YARC Rodent Quarantine facility.
• Housing Facilities. Animals maintained in a laboratory for housing (greater than 8 days), and laboratory staff cannot provide daily care and oversight, contact YARC Quality Assurance (rodent.qa@yale.edu; 203-785-2144) as soon as possible.

In either case, do not move animals on your own from your satellite housing facility into a YARC vivarium.

Emergency Response and Proposed Action Plans

In the face of an unforeseen event that may endanger personnel, preservation of human safety is the first priority; every effort must be made to ensure that staff and students are not placed at risk. Emergency Response Instructions should be made available to all personnel with responsibilities in satellite holding and housing areas and those personnel should understand this Emergency Response Plan (Guide p. 74).

The IACUC’s expectation is that the outlined steps will be followed explicitly as written. Terrestrial- and aquatic-species housing have different needs, which should be considered when considering the plan outlined below. Please describe any deviations to the following designated emergency response plan to manage disruption to animal care in your satellite area.

All life support systems must be connected to the emergency power supply, so that a power outage will not jeopardize animal well-being.

Immediate Threat or Criminal Activity, including fire or arson, hazard spill, unforeseen natural disaster, harassment and assault, facility trespassing, vandalism of equipment or facilities, and theft of laboratory animals or equipment.

• Call 911 immediately and refer to the Emergency Response Instructions for evacuation procedures.  Proceed to your pre-determined evacuation site and communicate with Facility Operations and YARC/VCS that there are animals present in the laboratory and request a plan for re-entering the building.
• If the criminal activity is not an emergency, call University Police Dispatch (203-432-4400). Please do not to approach or engage the perpetrator.
• Connect with Yale Police Department (YPD) through the LiveSafe program. LiveSafe is an app that gives students, faculty, and staff on campus an effective way to communicate with YPD via a mobile device. Visit the LiveSafe webpage for more information on how to download the app and see more information on how to stay safe on campus.

Complications with Maintaining Appropriate Environmental Conditions, including minor floods, power outages, air-handling or temperature problems.

For any of the following situations, report scenario to Yale Facility Operations (203-432-6888) and indicate that there are live animals present.

• For flooding, move cages to an elevated position (e.g. counter top)
• For extreme heat (+ [Enter temperature] °F room set-point temperature) for >30 minutes
  • Use fans to increase airflow in immediate housing area.
  • If animals appear to be in distress (i.e. open mouth breathing), open the (static) filter-top cages (rodents) and contact VCS immediately.
  • Ensure an adequate water supply.
• For extreme cold (- [Enter temperature] °F room set-point temperature) for >30 minutes
  • Add nesting material and/or extra bedding of a type in which the animals can burrow.
  • Relocate racks to the warmest parts of the rooms (away from external walls) and/or to the top of the rack.
  • Cover racks/cages with drapes or other appropriate material to retain heat within the cages.
  • If possible, turn off or reduce room air exhaust.
• Contact VCS (203-785-2501) if extreme heat or extreme cold is occurring so that they may evaluate the animals’ well-being.
• Contact YARC Quality Assurance (rodent.qa@yale.edu; 203-785-2144) to discuss moving rodents into a YARC quarantine facility.  For non-rodent species, contact (203-785-2526) for more options.

Severe Weather Forecast or Significant Public Health Concern, including, but not limited to hurricanes, heat waves, snowstorms, localized hotspot or national/global pandemics.

• Do not start any new experiments. If possible, reassign any animals currently in the laboratory to an earlier experimental timepoint.
• Contact YARC Quality Assurance (rodent.qa@yale.edu; 203-785-2144) to discuss moving animals into a YARC quarantine facility where “essential staff” can care for the animals.
• If animals are to remain in the satellite housing location, perform a cage change, fill the hopper with food and fill the water bottle, or similar tasks for non-rodent housing.
• Make appropriate arrangements with laboratory staff to provide all standard husbandry practices (e.g. daily health checks, providing food and water, administering necessary treatments, etc.) throughout the event. Laboratories with similar husbandry animal care needs should consider cross-training each other to minimize presence on campus.
• Overnight temporary housing (e.g. hotel in walking distance) may need to be considered for satellite housing personnel.
• If you are unable to access the laboratory housed animals, call YARC emergency phone number (203-785-2526) to request emergency support.

Describe any deviations from the prescribed emergency response plan, if applicable. Please respond with “none” or “n/a” if there are no deviations.

Contact OARS (iacuc@yale.edu; 203-785-5992) if you need assistance developing a custom emergency response plan.

Contact Information