Medical responder touts value of CDP training

He’s taken most of the healthcare courses the Center for Domestic Preparedness offers, plus several others which involve training with toxic agents in the CDP’s Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological, or COBRA, training facility. He’s also a graduate of the CDP’s Incident Command Course.

But that hasn’t stopped Michael Piela, a registered nurse and emergency medical technician, from continuing to look for additional opportunities to train at the center.

“Instructors at the CDP are the best of the best,” he said, adding, “The southern hospitality and professional and courteous staff make each week at the CDP a most positive experience.”

Piela works at the Sansum Clinic Ambulatory Surgery Center in Santa Barbara, California, and his county’s Public Health Department. He also volunteers for his county’s medical reserve corps, the Disaster Healthcare Volunteers of California, and the American Red Cross.

His work with the latter has seen him deploy to Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia, in addition to multiple disaster response sites across his home state. This week, he traveled to Kentucky and Tennessee to help those impacted by recent tornados.

Piela credits the training at the CDP for enabling him to do what he does and do it well.

“Each time (I’m at the center), I leave stronger, more confident, and better prepared to serve my local community, county, and state,” he said.