The planning and construction of oiled wildlife facilities can be a daunting task both before and during oil spill responses. The understanding of the general activities involved in such work, in combination with an appreciation for the infrastructure necessary to complete these activities, is necessary in order to develop a care center able to provide adequate care for impacted animals. To address this need, this paper reviews the overall flow of oiled animals through a spill center, and details the requirements (in terms of space and utilities) of each of the defined areas in a facility. It also presents a recently-created dynamic modeling tool designed to better plan and establish such facilities, and tests this model by presenting the results of three separate scenarios where changes to care protocols and available resources were included to test how such alterations impact the overall success of an oiled wildlife response.

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