New Emergency Response Training for Environmental Health Professionals.

Nearly 10 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Environmental Health Ser­ vices Branch (EHSB) delivered the first En­ vironmental Health Training in Emergency Response (EHTER) Awareness Level course at the National Environmental Health Associa­ tion’s 2006 Annual Educational Conference & Exhibition in San Antonio, Texas. Based on the tremendous success of this introductory level course, EHSB and the Federal Emergency Man­ agement Agency’s (FEMA’s) Center for Domes­ tic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama, are pleased to announce a new EHTER course focused on emergency operations. The EHTER Operations course is a fourday, hands-on, performance-based training for environmental health professionals and other responders. The course provides opera­ tions level knowledge and skills needed to respond to natural, technological, and human caused disasters. Participants are trained to identify problems, hazards, and risks; plan for team response; select appropriate equip­ ment and instrumentation; perform required tasks using environmental health response protocols; and report and participate in fol­ low-up activities as instructed. Most of the course involves hands-on operations practice and response to simulated events. Participants perform environmental health responder tasks while wearing appro­ priate personal protective equipment. The course also includes training at CDP’s Chemi­ cal, Ordnance, Biological, and Radiological Training Facility, where participants engage in scenario-based exercises to sharpen skills in selecting and using appropriate equipment and sampling instruments.