CDP trains 700-plus in Puerto Rico

The CDP on Thursday said that it trained more than 700 healthcare professionals from across Puerto Rico during two consecutive weeks of training it conducted on the island.

The CDP conducted the training earlier this month at the request of the government of Puerto Rico to improve public health and healthcare workers’ ability to respond to disasters.  The training included the CDP’s Health Care Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents (HCL), Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents (HERT), and Barrier Precautions and Controls for Highly-Infectious Diseases (HID) courses, along with multiple one-day Heath Sector Emergency Preparedness classes.

“It is always important to train first responders and first receivers on competencies they need to apply when faced with adversity,” explained CDP Superintendent Tony Russell. “In particular, health and medical resilience in Puerto Rico is critical, and the CDP is doing its part to help achieve that end.”

An official of the U.S. commonwealth was very complimentary of the CDP’s efforts.  

“Excellent,” said Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Health, Rafael Rodriquez-Mercado, in a comment to a story about the training posted on Facebook.

“Very grateful for your help and commitment to the American citizens of Puerto Rico,” he added.

This was the second time the CDP conducted training on Puerto Rico since it was struck by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Last year, the CDP taught its HCL and HERT courses to about 100 nurses, doctors and healthcare administrators.