CDP to promote new HSEP II course to healthcare coalitions

In July, the Center for Domestic Preparedness, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, will begin messaging healthcare coalitions across the country to announce the availability of Health Sector Emergency Preparedness II training. At that time, coalitions interested in hosting the training can coordinate with the CDP for either an instructor-led, non-resident class at their location or a virtual delivery of the course.

HSEP II is a 16-hour course providing participants – primarily healthcare providers and suppliers – with the tools to develop their own comprehensive emergency management program.

The course delves further into the emergency preparedness information in HSEP I, which provides an overview of the fundamentals of emergency management as they relate to healthcare.  

HSEP II teaches participants to craft a viable emergency 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.

HSEP II was first offered this month to various healthcare organizations in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as part of the CDP’s Caribbean Area Initiative.  By the first week of July, about 100 professionals in those territories will have completed the training.

HSEP I and II were both developed to support a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule issued in 2016. The rule requires health care providers and suppliers to establish and maintain an emergency operation plan and procedures and to conduct associated employee training and exercises in order to receive Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement for patient care.

HSEP I is currently available in the CDP’s online catalog at https://cdp.dhs.gov/training/course/AWR-336-W.