Resident attends homeland security training

DOWNEY - Claudia Marroquin-Frometa, a Downey resident and emergency management coordinator at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, recently completed training offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala

.The CDP is operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and is the only federally-chartered weapons of mass destruction training facility in the nation.

"Training at the CDP is a must for all professionals involved in disaster training and response at all levels of the healthcare spectrum," said Marroquin-Frometa. "Whether a leader in a hospital, clinical or non-clinical or public health, or a first responder, CDPs intense one-week trainings are designed to simulate real mass casualty incidents that forces us to make tough decisions in real-time and real-world scenarios."

The CDP develops and delivers advanced training for emergency response providers, emergency managers, and other government officials from state, local, and tribal governments. The CDP offers more than 50 training courses focusing on incident management, mass casualty response, and emergency response to a catastrophic natural disaster or terrorist act.

Training at the CDP campus is federally funded at no cost to state, local, and tribal emergency response professionals or their agency. Resident training at the CDP includes healthcare and public health courses at the Noble Training Facility, the nation's only hospital dedicated to training healthcare professionals in disaster preparedness and response.

"This outstanding program is the premier training ground for those who desire to sharpen their skills in the Incident Command System structure as well as overall incident/disaster management response," Marroquin-Fromete added. "I'm more prepared and confident today, than I did before attending the CDPs Healthcare Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents. The CDP training allows us to become more resilient in the face of disasters."

A number of resident training courses culminate at the CDP's Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological Training Facility (COBRA). The COBRA is the nation's only facility featuring civilian training exercises in a true toxic environment using chemical agents and nonpathogenic biological materials. The advanced hands-on training enables responders to effectively prevent, respond to, and recover from real-world incidents involving acts of terrorism and other hazardous materials.

Responders participating in CDP training gain critical skills and confidence to respond effectively to local incidents or potential WMD events.

********** Published: December 13, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 35