Debbie Brown of Redmond, the director of surgical services at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, recently completed Homeland Security training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama.

The CDP is operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. It is the only federally-chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training facility in the country.

Brown, a registered nurse, was in the 32-hour Healthcare Leadership and Administrative Decision Making Course. Responders are taught an incident command structure to handle all kinds of emergencies and disasters. The training included classroom instruction, tests and practical exercises in disaster preparedness and response. The classes were held in the Noble Training Facility, a former military base hospital

“I learned the importance of connecting with our resources both in the hospital and within our community during a disaster,” Brown said. “It became clear during our training that we never know what will come next and being prepared is essential.”

The 22-person Evergreen team included representatives from the medical, administrative, finance, IT, communications, human resources, security, supplies, pharmacy, plant operations and marketing areas. The group was led by Barbara Jensen and Warren Appleton, MD. Jensen is the manager of emergency preparedness and Appleton is the medical director of emergency response for the hospital.

Other participants included Libby Allgood, Warren Appleton, MD, Richard Bartz, Bob Blanchard, Joe Bojorquez, Lynn Brown, Tony Carrillo, Trish Falcone, Michelle Gordon, MD, Sherry Grindeland, Charles Hall, Nancy Hamilton, Kevin Hanson, MD, Barb Jensen, Ramona Koop, Tom Martin, Charlotte Olson, Shahid Rashid, Vicki Ravenscroft, Debbie Saknit and Lavon Weighall.

Additional information about CDP training programs can be found at http://cdp.dhs.gov.