CDP continues building Caribbean Area Initiative

FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness continued its Caribbean Area Initiative last month, training nearly 90 healthcare workers in Puerto Rico through Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) opportunities.

More than 50 participants took the CDP’s Healthcare Facility Emergency Management Program (HCV6), while another 34 completed the Health Sector Emergency Preparedness II (HSEP II) course.

The three-hour HCV6 teaches effective creation of a healthcare facility emergency management program. Discussions include considerations and procedures for designating an emergency program manager, developing an all-hazards emergency operations plan, coordinating with external entities, and preparing individuals and teams through training.

HSEP II is a more in-depth, 16-hour course teaching healthcare providers and suppliers to craft an emergency management plan, develop a program to train their personnel, conduct exercises to reinforce the training and create a network of community partners to assist in times of emergency. An analysis of threats which may impact a community or facility is also discussed and the course concludes with a four-hour ‘response and recovery’ exercise where students put their plans into action in support of an integrated community health response.

The CDP’s Caribbean Area Initiative builds on training the center conducted in Puerto Rico in 2018 and 2019, following hurricanes Irma and Maria, when it trained more than 1,000 public health and healthcare workers in preparation for future disasters.

In 2021, 650 students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands completed VILT courses through the initiative.