SAVEM’s Role
SAVEM is a Tier 2 volunteer Emergency Service working in all phases of Emergency Management: Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery, deploying to all hazards emergencies in South Australia. In an Emergency response, SAVEM is activated under legislated State arrangements. SAVEM is a registered Charity and has Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status.
SAVEM’s Response mission is to assess, triage, treat, shelter and return to owners, habitat or suitable long-term care, animals of all species, and assist animal owners and guardians as required. In Prevention and Preparedness, SAVEM’s role is outreach, information and education for at-risk communities, for the purpose of building resilience and disaster risk reduction. In Recovery, SAVEM facilitates community resilience with supporting actions within impacted communities. Field experience is that SAVEM is often the only agency visibly remaining on an incident ground in the transition between response and recovery.
Latest News
SAVEM Exercise Respond 2026
The day began in sunshine for Exercise Respond 2026. This year we used a hypothetical bushfire scenario in the Wildland Urban Interface (the WUI) of the Adelaide Hills face. Many Adelaide suburbs are nestled in foothills bushland – an idyllic setting, but potentially...
SAVEM Peacetime Online Training
SAVEM has been busy training during peacetime, 2026. In July and August we offered SAVEM veterinarians and veterinary nurses the opportunity to learn from master wildlife veterinarian, Dr Ian Hough. We ran four one-hour webinars covering Decision Making; Burns, Drugs...
SAVEM Coordinator presents
WATCH THE SAVEM COORDINATOR'S PRESENTATION HERE - WARNING - This presentation contains images of deceased animals and injured animals. In June 2026, RSPCA NSW hosted the second Animals in Emergencies conference at their Sydney Education Centre. The SAVEM Coordinator...
SAVEM Sponsors and Supporters
