CDP grads help chemical accident victims
During HERT training at the CDP, healthcare students triage and ‘decontaminate’ a steady stream of mock ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients.
Six responders from Bronx, New York, put their CDP training to use recently, less than a week after graduating from the center’s Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents (HERT) Course.
On September 20, three days after they departed the CDP campus, an accidental mixture of chemicals at a local YMCA resulted in 11 individuals being taken to New York City-area hospitals. One of those hospitals was the Jacobi Medical Center, where the CDP grads were called upon to set up and operate a decontamination site.
One the things healthcare responders learn to do in the HERT course is operate an emergency treatment area for patients who have been contaminated with one or more hazardous materials.
During an exercise at the culmination of the three-day course, students work as members of a hospital emergency response team and must determine and use the appropriate level of personal protective equipment for a particular situation. They then triage and ‘decontaminate’ a steady stream of mock ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients.
To learn more about the HERT course or to apply to attend, visit https://cdp.dhs.gov/training/course/PER-902.
CDP training for state, local, tribal and territorial responders is fully funded by the Department of Homeland Security to include transportation, lodging and meals.