BROOKLYN — Derek May, Emergency Preparedness coordinator for the Northeast District Department of Health (NDDH), recently completed training offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Ala. 

Training at the CDP campus is federally funded at no cost to state or local emergency response professionals or their agencies.

May was one of 21 public health professionals from around the country who participated in the EHTER Operations course, a hands-on, performance-based training for environmental health professionals and other responders.

“The course provided students with operations-level knowledge and skills needed to respond to natural, technological, and human caused disasters,” said May. “Teams of students rotated through five full-scale exercises simulating a public health response to a county-wide flooding scenario. Students took on a different team role with each exercise.  Each exercise included realistic locations, props, and actors to create a challenging interactive experience.”

Using the incident command structure to manage personnel and resources, the exercises addressed sheltering, wastewater issues, hazardous materials, public information, and ensuring safe provision of food and water under disaster conditions.  

“I highly recommend that other responders and personnel consider taking advantage of these high-quality courses, May said. “I came away with a greater understanding of Environmental Health response and how NDDH could more successfully respond to a disaster in our district.”Three more members of the NDDH Environmental Health staff are slated to take the course in May.