Local responders attend Homeland Security training
Emergency responders Jim Uruburu and Maryann Kiar, from Lassen County Public Health Department, recently completed training offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness, 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 training facility in the nation.
Uruburu and Kiar attended the Healthcare Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents which is a four-day course that addresses disaster preparedness at the facility and system level. Healthcare leaders must be prepared for any incident that results in multiple casualties, whether it is the result of a natural disaster; an accidental or intentional release of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives hazard; or a disease outbreak that results in an epidemic or pandemic.
Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Jim Uruburu and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program Assistant Maryann Kiar receive FEMA certificates in recognition of successfully completing Healthcare Leadership and Mass Casualty Incidents training in Anniston, Alabama.This course focuses on preparing healthcare leaders to make critical decisions in all-hazards disaster emergency preparedness activities. Responders learn essential disaster-planning response and recovery functions through lecture/discussion format that are then applied in a tabletop exercise and a three-day functional exercise.
Uruburu and Kiar were among the 10 individuals to be Integrated Capstone Event Team Leaders for the two-day functional exercise. Uruburu’s team leader position was the Incident Commander of the functional exercise, while Kiar’s team leader position was the public health incident commander.
Team leaders Uruburu and Kiar attended team leader’s planning workshops, where they exercised their Emergency Operations Planning skills, first responder briefings, media relations and various other emergency management responsibilities in the disaster life-cycle process-mitigation, preparedness response, and recovery –– for all-hazards disasters.
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 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 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 about the CDP, contact the CDP External Affairs Office, at (256) 847-2212/2316 or e-mail pao@cdpemail.dhs.gov.
