Courses Offered
Cost of courses: Basic Animal Rescue Training is supported by charitable donations and grants. In March of 2008, BART’s Small Animal Curriculum became a DHS approved state-sponsored course and FEMA grant funding is available to help cover the costs for training departments.
To date Basic Animal Rescue Training has performed the majority of the fundraising to support the costs of training and equipping departments. However, several Fire/EMS departments have assisted us by requesting to pay some of the costs of their training and kits, or by assisting us with fundraising efforts in their community to support their training. Donations from departments undergoing training are graciously accepted, but are not required. All assistance with funding or fundraising is greatly appreciated and allows BART to continue to meet the increasing demand for training and medical kits, without charging the departments.
If you are interested in helping support the cost of BART training or emergency medical kits, Please Visit our Donations Page.
You may download a BART brochure here.
Available Courses
BART Small Animal
BART Large Animal
To send us a request for BART training, please download the form here. If you have any questions after reviewing the form, please don’t hesitate to email or call us.
BART Request for Training Form
Basic Animal Rescue Training – Small Animal (BART-SA)
This is the first BART course developed, and was designed for firefighters and first responders, focusing on basic life support and small animal (SA) response. The course is a two hour class beginning with a 30 minute orientation and awareness lecture which builds a bridge between the emergency responder and veterinary communities. The majority of the course time is devoted to hands-on training, with the Fire/EMS personnel rotating through three stations: pet restraint and handling, patient assessment/first aid and pet CPR. Station 1 teaches how to appropriately approach, handle and transport dogs and cats, as well as other household pets, safely out of dangerous emergency situations (i.e., house fires) in which other secondary animal response teams would not be allowed. In addition, how to safely move or restrain pets so that they do not interfere with efforts to assist or rescue humans is covered. Station 2 teaches the normal vital sign parameters for dogs and cats, how to triage and assess these pets and how to supply on-the-scene medical care, including oxygen support and bandaging. The local veterinary resources for the community are also reviewed and discussed. At station 3, CPR on dogs and cats is taught.
Classes are taught by 4-6 volunteer veterinarians, certified veterinary technicians and veterinary students. The volunteer trainers bring their own dogs and cats to assist in teaching the restraint and vital signs/first aid stations. CPR is demonstrated with a “Critical Care Jerry” state-of-the-art manikin dog. Classes are taught on-site, with the department being trained providing the location. Class sizes of 20-30 are recommended to enable all attendees to participate; many departments schedule several classes to train all of their personnel.
In addition to the training, the departments receive a BART emergency medical kit that contains all the materials and supplies demonstrated in the course, including oxygen face masks.
How many BART kits does my department need? BART discusses this with each department that schedules training. The number of kits a department needs is decided by how emergency vehicles are deployed and the number of stations a department has; the goal is to ensure that a BART kit goes on each call the department responds to, so that after training the BART equipment is always available to the emergency responders.
BART Curriculum Gains National Approval
On March 3, 2008 the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved the curriculum for the Basic Animal Rescue Training (BART) Small Animal Basic Life Support as a state-sponsored course. Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) approved the course for delivery in Minnesota in 2007 and assisted the BART organization with the course approval application process. DHS approval makes the BART class a national standard course for training first responders in safe pet handling and rescue on the scene of emergencies making BART and departments it trains eligible for federal funding.
Basic Animal Rescue Training – Large Animal (BART-LA)
This course teaches equine and livestock restraint and rescue and was requested by many departments that took the BART-SA class. It is an optional one-hour supplement to the BART – Small Animal class. Material covered in the 30 minute lecture includes restraint and rescue principles for many species. The lecture is followed by a hands-on station which uses models to familiarize trainees with basic horse and livestock restraint equipment and how to use it, as well as tips on how to be safe and effective when working with these animals.
Classes including BART-LA are taught by 6-8 volunteer veterinarians, certified veterinary technicians and veterinary students. When this course is requested as a supplement to BART-SA, a class size of up to 40 is acceptable due to the addition of the 4th station for hands-on training.
A BART emergency medical kit with large animal supplies is under development and will be available for purchase by departments and groups that have undergone the training.
Large Animal Curriculum Photos
