CDP to train medical responders in Puerto Rico

The Center for Domestic Preparedness is once again teaming with the Government of Puerto Rico to train public health and healthcare workers on the island how to respond to a variety of incidents both safely and efficiently.

The CDP will conduct its Health Care Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents (HCL) and Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents (HERT) courses May 13-16 at the Ramón Ruiz Arnau Hospital in Bayamon.  It will then conduct its Highly-Infectious Disease (HID) course, along with three one-day Health Sector Emergency Preparedness classes, from May 20-23 at the same location.

The HCL, HERT and HID courses will culminate with realistic and demanding exercises where students will have the opportunity to practice what they learned in class.

Puerto Rico continues to recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. As part of that effort, FEMA (including the CDP) and the Government of Puerto Rico have been working together to bolster the island’s emergency response capability and capacity by conducting a series of training opportunities. 

In 2018, the CDP taught its HCL and HERT courses on the island to about 100 nurses, doctors and healthcare administrators.

This year, the CDP anticipates training more than 500 medical professionals.