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Hospital staff attend Homeland Security Training
Training program is the most comprehensive for disaster preparedness and response
JULY 10, 2008 – Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital staff members participated in training courses conducted at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) located in Anniston, Alabama. The CDP is operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and is the only federally chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training facility in the nation.
Since January, six hospital staff members have attended various courses including Hospital Emergency Response Training (HERT), Fundamentals of Healthcare Leadership in Emergency Management, and Advanced Public Information Officer: Health and Hospital Emergencies. Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital expects to send members from its nursing leadership to Healthcare Leadership and Decision-Making later this year.
“At Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital, we believe it is of utmost importance to care for our Tempe community,” says Billy R. Porter, CEO of Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital. “Through these training programs at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, our staff receives the most up-to-date training for disaster preparedness and response.”
The three-day HERT course provides guidance to hospitals, EMS, healthcare facilities and citizens who may become involved in a mass casualty incident as a result of a WMD event. Participants in the four-day Fundamentals of Healthcare in Emergency Management receive an overview of healthcare-oriented emergency management planning and coordination with local and regional emergency operations plan. At the four-day Advanced Public Information Officer: Health and Hospital Emergencies training, attendees participate in exercises to learn public information skills in a disaster situation.
The CDP provides federally funded, interdisciplinary training for emergency responders from across the United States and U.S. Territories for a variety of disciplines, including Emergency Medical Service and Healthcare. Public Health and Healthcare training is conducted at the CDP’s Noble Training Facility, the nation’s only hospital facility dedicated to training hospital and healthcare professionals in disaster preparedness and response.
Many training courses culminate at the CDP’s Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological Training Facility, the nation’s only facility featuring civilian training exercises in a true toxic environment using chemical agents. The advanced hands-on training enables responders to effectively prevent, respond to, and recover from real-world incidents involving acts of terrorism and other hazardous materials.
Responders attending CDP training are specially selected from the nation’s 11 million emergency responders. Training at the CDP ensures that responders gain critical skills and confidence to be better prepared to effectively respond to local incidents or potential WMD incidents.
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