ABSTRACT
As disaster plans failed miserably for world governments and industry when deployed against the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears that some industries adapted far better than others. Those that had plans that only revolved around natural disasters and utility outages needed to make swift adjustments. Amassing feed and supplies does not compute when decisions about cutting down rodent populations have to be made to follow stay-at-home guidelines or staffing absences due to COVID-19. We surveyed lab animal institutions across North America to determine effectiveness and impacts on disaster plans. Over 91% of respondents (n = 32) indicated their disaster plan would require modifications to address a pandemic situation. While our survey was focused on disaster plans, we were also interested in the human components that are not usually addressed in disaster plans. Survey topics included corrective actions, budgets, feed, supplies, vendor access, the working environment, plus staffing schedules, policies, and training. As our organization is geared towards sharing data for continuous improvement, the Vivarium Operational Excellence Network (VOEN) developed the survey specifically about this situation with the intent of sharing results of the survey for learning purposes. Briefly, we were able to identify trends which emerged from diverse organizations that implemented various disaster plan alterations and assessed human impacts that have sometimes been overlooked as an element of disaster planning. Staffing and staff-related issues were a reoccurring theme at most locations. The sharing of information allows others to improve their disaster plans and use the data to effectively navigate novel disaster situations in the future.