CDP trains Turkish responders
(L-R) Dr. Arslan Kagan Arslan, Director General of Turkey’s Emergency Health Services, discusses training options with CDP Superintendent Tony Russell.
(L-R) Dr. Arslan Kagan Arslan, Director General of Turkey’s Emergency Health Services, discusses training options with CDP Superintendent Tony Russell.
The ranks of Center for Domestic Preparedness alumni now include five healthcare professionals from Turkey.
The five responders – two physician-administrators from Turkey’s national emergency health services directorate, and three physician-administrators from provincial health directorates across the country – attended the CDP’s Health Care Leadership Course from October 15-19, and then attended the CDP’s Incident Command Course from October 22-24.
The responders chose those specific courses to “obtain as much information as they could about CDP training methodology and administration,” according to John McKenzie, a program specialist in the CDP’s Training and Education Directorate.
The responders are looking to design and implement a similar CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear)-related training program for healthcare responders in their home country, he said.
While the primary mission of the CDP is to train state, local, tribal and territorial responders from across the United States and its territories, it trains other responders, including those from allied countries, on a space-available basis. The training of foreign students must also be approved by FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State.
Other countries which have sent responders to the CDP for training include Barbados, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Palou, and Senegal.