May 1, 2006
Winchester Sun - Winchester, KY
In the days of Noah, according to the Book of Genesis, God instructed Noah to build an ark and take his family and the animals, two of each, a male and female, aboard. Noah did as he was told, the Holy Bible says, and the animals and his family were protected from the flood after 40 days and nights of rain.
Photo: Under the watchful eye of instructor Shelly Hamell, left, Barbara Falmlen practices CRP on a mannequin of a cat, complete with a heart beat and the ability to breath. The mannequin of a dog at right is receiving oxygen. Falmlen of Winchester and her daughter, Heather, of Louisville, were certified in early March as volunteers with Noah’s Wish National Animal Disaster Response Team. (Photos submitted)
Today, the saving of animals continues through the efforts of Noah's Wish, a not-for-profit animal welfare organization with just one focus - animal disaster relief.
The organization works exclusively to rescue and shelter animals in disasters, and never was this organization more needed than when Katrina hit the Gulf coast.
Because of their love of cats and interest in the well-being of all animals, Barbara Falmlen of Winchester and her daughter, Heather, of Louisville, became involved in Noah's Wish and recently spent a weekend training with National Animal Disaster Response Team Volunteers in St. Louis. Noah's Wish relies on this trained volunteer corps to respond when disaster strikes.
The mother-daughter team registered for the training and then had to meet the qualifications, including commitment to animals, prior disaster response experience and knowledge of emergency management practices.
The Falmlens had no problem meeting the qualifications as Barbara and her husband, Ben, came to Clark County in the late 1970s when he was director of the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
“We were familiar with commitment, we had disaster response experience and knew the emergency management practices,” Barbara said.
Other qualifications included prior supervisory experience, skill at motivating volunteers and the ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks at the same time.
“Due to our previous experience we were able to prioritize, motivate volunteers and because I am retired, I am able to travel within the United States and internationally when needed,” Barbara said. “Heather's employers are very understanding and she will be able to tend to the animals also.
“Noah's Wish is a well run organization,” Falmlen explained. “The founder, Terri Crisp, has more than 20 years experience on the front lines of animal rescue during floods, hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes and oil spills. She was determined to implement her long-held belief that animals deserve a professionally-managed national disaster relief program.”
Crisp began as a volunteer in 1982 at the Humane Society at Santa Clara Valley, Calif., and went on to volunteer for United Animal Nationals in 1988, first representing them during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. She has responded to more than 70 major disasters including last year's Hurricane Katrina, Falmlen said.
While attending the St. Louis workshop the mother-daughter team learned about evacuation and rescue, shelter outreach and management, partnership programs, disaster preparedness education and in-field training.
“Heather and I now are certified to help with animal rescue in any disaster, wherever it occurs. And we are thankful that there is an organization that looks out for the animals. Anyone that knows us knows that we are cat lovers, but we also care about all animals,” Falmlen said.
Many experiences of animal rescue following Katrina were used as examples during the training.
“Many people, in fact most people who have a pet love them as a child and when a disaster occurs, the pet's safety, after the safety of family members, is first and foremost in the owner's minds,” Falmlen said. “And after a disaster, their pet is the only thing some people have left.”
Pets cared for in the shelters include every kind of creature imaginable from dogs to cats to birds and even reptiles.
“Through Noah's Wish, shelters were set up as a site where lost animals were brought or animals that could not be taken with the family were taken and there they were cared for, well fed, dry, warm and most of all loved,” Falmlen said.
“We were told one story about a man who had lost his cat during the flood created by Katrina. He also had lost his home and his new pickup truck, but when he came to the shelter, all he cared about was the cat. It was not there when he first came, but he kept coming back, day after day until one day he and his cat were reunited.
“And the volunteers said it was a sight to see, this big man, wearing a white tee-shirt with sleeves rolled up to hold a package of cigarettes, holding his cat, crying like a baby. That was love,” Falmlen said.
“I hope and pray that we never have another disaster as bad as Katrina, but if we should I am thankful that Heather and I have been certified to help,” Falmlen concluded. “We will be at the shelters, wherever we are needed and when all the necessary care is given, the animals will know that they are loved. We will show them love until they are reunited with their owners.”
http://www.winchestersun.com/articles/2006/05/01/local_news/features/feature9989.txt