Chief of Emergency Medical Services Gene Bradley from Atchison-Holt Ambulance District, recently completed training offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama. The CDP is operated by the United States 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.
Gene, along with seven other health care leaders from Region H, participated in a Healthcare Coalition Response Leadership course. The three day course brought together EMS Leaders, Hospital Leaders, Healthcare Coalition Leaders, and an Emergency Manager from Region H to develop skills in a disaster that requires multiple agency response. The training was capped off with a disaster scenario that utilized the skills learned to handle a pandemic flu event that required a multi-state response with all disciplines affected. “This is one of the most intense training exper­iences I have attended in my 30 plus years of working in EMS,” stated Gene Bradley.
The CDP develops and delivers advanced training for emergency response providers, emergency managers, and other government officials from state, local, and tribal governments. The CDP offers more than 40 training courses focusing on incident management, mass casualty response, and emergency response to a catastrophic natural disaster or terrorist act. Training at the CDP campus is federally funded at no cost to state, local, and tribal emergency response professionals or their agency.
Resident training at the CDP includes healthcare and public health courses at the Noble Training Facility, the nation’s only hospital dedicated to training healthcare professionals in disaster preparedness and response.
A number of resident training courses culminate at the CDP’s Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological (COBRA) Training Facility. The COBRA is 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 participating in CDP training gain critical skills and confidence to respond effectively to local incidents or potential WMD events.
Information about CDP training programs can be found at http://cdp.dhs.gov. Visit the News & Media tab at the top of the site to download images, share CDP training articles, and find out what others are saying about CDP training. For more information, contact CDP External Affairs at (256) 8472212/2316 or pao@cdpemail.dhs.gov.