On-line training to become an AQIS Accredited Veterinarian DVD - A Post-Mortem Technique for Cattle.

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2.4 Training course and materials currently available

Training courses and materials on subjects related to live exports are available to veterinarians and stockpersons, some aspects of which are useful to the systematic conduct of disease investigations on cattle ships needed by this project. Stockpersons are not able to complete on-line AAV training because of the requirement that the candidate be a veterinary surgeon with current registration in an Australian State or Territory. The training courses, materials and their relevance to systematic disease investigation are as follows:

2.4.1 On-line training to become an AQIS Accredited Veterinarian

This training course, managed by Animal Health Australia on behalf of AQIS, is designed to ensure the knowledge of and compliance with the legislative responsibilities by veterinarians working in the live export industry. There are a series of modules – at the end of each is a quiz that if passed allows progression to the next module. The course takes approximately 6 hours to complete including the assessment. Once the training course assessment is completed, veterinarians are deemed qualified and designated as an Accredited AQIS Veterinarian to perform various functions such as preparing and certifying cattle and accompanying livestock vessels in the live export trade. Included in the course are background information on the live export process and the information requirements for daily voyage reports for which some disease investigation skills are required, however there is no information on how to investigate disease events. In addition to successful completion of the course, AAVet designation requires the veterinarian to be an Australian citizen, be registered by a stateterritory veterinary surgeon’s board and have completed Animal Health Australia’s Accreditation program for Australian Veterinarians APAV.

2.4.2 DVD - A Post-Mortem Technique for Cattle.

At the time this report was prepared there was a DVD available that provided 20 minutes of narrated footage of a post mortem examination. The DVD had been produced by LiveCorp in 2000, and was used in the Accredited Stockman Training. The DVD is considered unsuitable for training in how to do a necropsy. It is short, the necropsy technique shown is awkward and incomplete and some of the information is misleading. For example, it is not shown how to open the thorax and the narrator describes how pneumonia is diagnosed by haemorrhages in the lungs and froth in the airways, which is incorrect. There is also nothing on personal protective, dissection and sampling equipment required or how to collect specimens. The footage is however useful for lay persons needing introductory training on identifying organs and recognising normal appearance. There are excellent necropsy training DVDs available from a range of other sources; however, there are special conditions operating on cattle ships such as heat, humidity, dirty, Page 16 of 96 confined pen conditions and limitations on number and type of samples that can be collected and stored. The special conditions operating on export vessels means that development of a dedicated training DVD specifically for necropsy of cattle during export voyages would be the most effective way to provide suitable information for this industry.

2.4.3 Accredited Stockman Training Course