"You can't fight the forces of nature," says John Stevens of Animal Medical Center in Port Charlotte, Fla. But practitioners can take precautions to protect their homes and practices. Above, clean-up continues in Mississippi along Highway 90 after Katrina.

"Home and family truly comes first. That's where the survival mode comes in. If you are exposed and totally damaged, then you are not going to be helping anybody else," says Dr. John Stevens, proprietor of Animal Medical Clinic in Port Charlotte. "So you first need to get into that survival mode and get that secured, and then you can go on and help other people."

Operating a veterinary practice during a disaster requires preparation and wherewithal, but Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT) leaders say practitioners will be rendered useless to the animal population if they fail to take proper care and preparation at home first.

Some of the same steps needed to sustain a practice can keep a home secure. First, a generator back-up system can provide emergency electricity, phone service, charge cell phones and provide critical home operations. A one-week fuel reserve for the generator can keep freezers and refrigerators operational until primary power is restored.

Preparedness Checklist

Third, have a network of family and friends who might be able to take you in should your community be declared a disaster zone or be uninhabitable for a time. Try to select family or friends who will not be impacted by a far-reaching disaster, such as a large storm or forest fires.

Fourth, understand your insurance policy. Your agent and the companies they work for will be swamped if disaster hits, so you'll want to know what policy coverage entails prior to a disaster. It's a good idea to use a video recorder to catalog a home so you and your insurer can assess the damage properly.

Practice vigilance

When securing a practice, back-up power is critical to keeping practices afloat during compromised infrastructure.

"Generator capability is probably the single biggest thing we can do to prevent major consequences after a storm whether it be small or big, whether it be local or statewide," says Dr. Barry Kellogg, VMAT 1 founder and medical director for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Disaster Services. "There are a couple of really good back-up systems out there that are automatic. They click on to test themselves to make sure they are working. They don't allow back current into the utility lines that endanger people who are working on them. They aren't that unreasonable in terms of cost; just the loss of refrigerate-able drugs alone would almost cover the cost of a generator."

Back-up systems for computer-dependent practices are critical, too. Medical records, inventory/accounting mechanisms and ways to take payment might need to be done manually.

A periodic videotaping of inventory can help protect practice owners from theft, fire, flooding or other unforeseen events as well.