NY hospital system conducts first ‘indirect’ HERT class

The Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) in New York recently conducted its first indirect delivery of the Center for Domestic Preparedness’ (CDP’s) Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents (HERT) Course.

Fifteen Mount Sinai Queens (MSQ) hospital personnel attended the training, which was instructed by six MSHS trainers who had attended training through the CDP.

Indirect courses are delivered by volunteer responders to others in their organization, community, or both. The volunteer responders must be graduates of the courses they instruct as well as the CDP’s Instructor Training Course.

HERT is a three-day course which prepares healthcare responders to activate and operate an emergency site and treat patients of a mass casualty incident who’ve been contaminated with chemicals or other hazardous materials. 

“The class was a great learning experience for our Mount Sinai Queens students, as well as our inaugural training cadre,” said Dr. Al Villacara, director of emergency management for MSHS. “The participants were so engaged throughout the training and have been telling their colleagues they must join the next session.”

“We are grateful for our partnership with the CDP and look forward to further developing our system decontamination capabilities through HERT instruction,” he added.

The next MSHS indirect HERT deliveries are scheduled for October and November at two of the system’s Manhattan hospital campuses.

MSHS is comprised of eight hospital campuses, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an extensive ambulatory care network across the New York metropolitan area.

For more information about HERT, visit https://cdp.dhs.gov/training/course/PER-902.