Skip to Main Content

Local Responder Michele A. Riley Attends Homeland Security Training - Archived

FlagetMemorialHospital.png

For More Information:
Barbara Mackovic, Senior Manager, Media Relations
502.587.4230 or 502.641.5461
[email protected]

Local Responder Michele A. Riley Attends Homeland Security Training

Bardstown, Ky. (February 5, 2016) — Emergency Responder Michele A. Riley from Flaget Memorial Hospital recently completed training offered by the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), in Anniston, Ala. The CDP is operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is the only federally-chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training facility in the nation.
 
“This was an incredible experience and I encourage all emergency service providers to attend this training,” Riley said. “The week of lectures and exercises taught me to consider everyone in the community as a vital part of readiness and preparation, should an emergency situation occur.”
 
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 40 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.
 
“We are changing the way that we prepare for emergencies,” said Riley. “Emergency planning now includes natural disasters like tornadoes and floods, as well as emerging disasters, like pandemics and terror attacks. Planning takes a full-circle approach, including medical centers, business and other critical services such as power, fuel sources and communication, to name a few.”
 
During the training, Riley served as the public information officer in incident command. She noted that the role opened her eyes to the challenge and importance of communicating accurate information in a timely way to responders and the public. “The newscasters sure make it look easy,” she said.
 
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.
 
A number of resident training courses culminate at the CDP’s Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological (COBRA) Training Facility. The COBRA is the nation’s only facility featuring civilian training exercises in a true toxic environment using chemical agents. 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. 
 

For more information about the CDP, call 256.847.2212/2316 or email [email protected]
 
About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health, the largest and most comprehensive health system in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations including, hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.  The system is made up of the former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System, along with the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. KentuckyOne Health is proud of and strengthened by its Catholic, Jewish and academic heritages.
 

Publish date: 

Friday, February 05, 2016