CDP alum shares benefits of CDP training

An emergency management specialist and deputy coordinator for the New Mexico Department of Health, Lenda Greene relied heavily on her training from the Center for Domestic Preparedness while working as a member of her state’s Medical Reserve Corps during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trained as a firefighter and paramedic, Greene joined the corps more than a decade ago. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she was deployed to various areas within the state to assist with quarantining patients and establishing decontamination protocols.

At every location, she leaned on her training at the CDP, establishing hot, cold and warm zones for decontamination of staff entering and leaving each facility. She trained staff members how to properly don, doff and wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) and established protocols for decontaminating PPE, enabling longer use of the equipment during times of shortages.

Her first CDP course was Emergency Medical Operations for CBRNE Incidents, which she attended in 2015. Since then, she has attended the CDP’s Hazardous Materials Operations and Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents courses.

“There is no way to describe what the hands-on training at the CDP does for you,” she said.

Greene said the exercises she participated in during training gave her a real-world view of how to wear PPE as well as how to care for yourself and patients while wearing protective equipment.

An assisted living facility she was deployed to during the pandemic had a high level of disease transmission when she arrived. After establishing quarantine and decontamination areas and training the staff on PPE, Greene said she is proud to say there were no additional infections.

“I know, beyond a doubt, I was able to save lives because of my training at the CDP,” she said. “Learning to respect the hazard was some of the best training I’ve ever received.”

“As a Navajo woman, I am so grateful for the (CDP) training,” she added. “As a tribal nation, we are so vulnerable, and our people need to be better prepared and better trained for any disaster or incident.”