Emergency Manager Jay McAmis, from Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services, recently completed Homeland Security training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala.

The CDP is operated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and is the only federally chartered weapons of mass destruction training facility in the nation. It was the first course McAmis has attended at the CDP.

“The CDP is one of the best-run facilities that I have encountered in my 30 years of government service,” he said. “I would recommend attendance at the CDP for any professional emergency manager or first responder.”

The CDP provides federally funded, interdisciplinary training for emergency responders in Mobile Training Teams across the United States and the U.S. Territories, for 10 response disciplines: emergency management, emergency medical service, fire service, governmental administration, hazardous materials, health care, law enforcement, public health, public safety communications, and public works.

Resident training at CDP’s campus includes health care and public health training at the CDP’s Noble Training Facility, the nation’s only hospital facility dedicated to training hospital and health-care professionals in disaster preparedness and response.

A number of resident training courses culminate at the CDP’s Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological Training Facility, 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 resident and nonresident training courses are selected from the nation’s 11 million emergency responders. The training ensures that responders gain critical skills and confidence to be better prepared to effectively respond to local incidents or potential WMD incidents.

— Jay McAmis is an emergency manager for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services.