Target Audience/Disciplines

Environmental Health Responders assigned to a local, State, Territorial, or Tribal Emergency Response Team, who perform environmental health tasks in emergencies and disasters.

Overview

The Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response Operations (EHTER Ops) is a four-day course which provides participants with the operations-level knowledge and skills needed to respond to incidents of natural- or human-caused disaster and to use appropriate protocols and equipment to achieve mission objectives. Participants are trained to assess problems and risks, plan for a team response, select equipment and instrumentation appropriate to the event, perform the required tasks according to the Environmental Health response protocol, and perform reporting and follow-up as instructed. The majority of the course is conducted through hands-on operational practice or response to simulated events. Participants perform Environmental Health Responder tasks while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) Levels C and D. The course also includes training at the outdoor Northville Training Complex, part of the Chemical, Ordnance, Biological, and Radiological (COBRA) Training Facility, where participants engage in scenario-based exercises in which they employ critical-thinking skills related to the selection and use of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) detection and sampling instruments.

• Prepare as a team to respond to suspected water supply contamination in a potentially hazardous environment.
• Determine remediation options for chemical and bacterial water supply contamination.
• Calculate health and safety requirements for the displaced population and estimated length of stay using the CDC Environmental Health Assessment Form for Shelters.
• Recommend equipment and upgrades needed to create a healthy and safe environment for proposed shelter population.
• Assess food sources for emergency mass-feeding operations and food handling of providers. Identify potential for, address, and report on foodborne illness.
• Identify non-structural building-related safety and health hazards. Communicate complex environmental health and safety information to non-technical audiences including media and members of the public.

Prerequisites and Requirements

To be eligible for the course, the student must successfully complete the following courses:

• AWR-160, WMD/Terrorism Awareness for Emergency Responders;
• IS-100.b, Introduction to the Incident Command System or any of the available ICS-100 series;
• IS-200.b, ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents or any of the available ICS-200 series;
• IS-700.a, National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction;
• IS-800.b, National Response Framework, An Introduction; and
• Environmental Health Training in Emergency Response (EHTER) Awareness-level course is available on the National Environmental Health Association e-Learning Website.
• Students must be physically capable of standing and walking for prolonged periods while wearing PPE during this course.

Exceptions to any of the above prerequisites may be granted on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the CDP Registrar.