In 2008, representatives from CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and NEHA brought the Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response (EHTER) train-the-trainer course to Sacramento, CA. This course was attended by 57 individuals from California. Two of those individuals, from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), initiated an effort to train the state’s Environmental Health Specialist workforce using the EHTER materials.
After spending 12 months modifying the CDC’s slide show to suit the state’s unique resources and hazards and creating a 300 page participants’ manual and other materials, the Cal-EHTER course was submitted to the California Office of Homeland Security for approval. This approval provided local jurisdictions access to funds to pay for travel costs to attend the training or host the course in their area. The course was also approved by the California Environmental Health Association for continuing education credit for Registered Environmental Health Specialists. CDPH obtained funding from the federal Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants to pay for the printing of course materials and related instruction supplies.
The California EHTER training effort spanned four years, from 2009 to 2012, through 25 sessions held in 20 counties that trained over 1,500 individuals.
Many of those trained have since used the knowledge obtained from the course to respond to emergencies, notably the fires of 2009 in Butte, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties and the 2010 natural gas line explosion in San Bruno. Some who attended the EHTER went on to assist with subsequent sessions as module presenters and course organizers –truly making this a county-to-county information sharing effort. Due to the generous support the EHTER received from state, local, and non-profit agencies and special districts, subject matter experts were always on hand wherever the course was given to enhance the learning experience.
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This year the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) has added a new way to participate in the Call for Abstracts process for the Annual Educational Conference (AEC) & Exhibition. It is called, "Be a voice" and it gives you the opportunity to tell us what you'd like to experience at the AEC. Tell us topics you'd like to hear about and speakers you'd like to see. Review abstracts and provide input.
Help NEHA develop a training and education experience that continues to advance the proficiency of the environmental health profession AND helps create bottom line improvements for your organization!To search for specific abstracts, please use the search box located at the top left of the page (*next to the Blogger icon).
HELPFUL LINKS: How to Participate and Use this Blog | Disclosure | NEHA Blog Policy and Participation Guide
ADDITIONAL WAYS TO PARTICIPATE: Suggest a Topic | Suggest a Speaker | Questions?
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