December 2018 Direct From CDC/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Services
Direct From CDC/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Services Column
December 2018 Journal of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ (Volume 81, Number 5)
Editor's Note: NEHA strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we feature a column on environmental health services from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal.
In these columns, authors from CDC's Water, Food, and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Services Branch, as well as guest authors, will share insights and information about environmental health programs, trends, issues, and resources. The conclusions of these columns are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC.
Emergency Response Training in California: Piloting the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Training in Emergency Response Operations Course in a Local ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Department
Marcy Barnett, MEP, REHS, CEM, California Department of Public Health
Bernice Zaidel, MS, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Martin A. Kalis, MA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Description
In fall 2017, San Diego County, with assistance from the California Department of Public Health, presented three sessions of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Training in Emergency Response Operations (EHTER Ops) course in a novel 2-day version. Until then, EHTER Ops had been offered exclusively at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama, as a 4-day resident course. EHTER Ops is a course that prepares participants to assess disaster-related environmental health conditions and perform tasks in a hands-on and field team focused approach. The course emphasizes the use of field equipment and instrumentation, including personal protective equipment (PPE), under disaster conditions. EHTER Ops is a companion to the EHTER Awareness Level course. This month's column describes the pilot training and provides future directions for the training.