TEEX training for medical personnel addresses Ebola threat and more

COLLEGE STATION – The recent outbreak of Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever, has the medical community seeking information about how to identify the disease and manage patient care, while protecting themselves from contamination. TEEX has offered training in those topics for several years as part of its course in “Medical Management of CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) Events.”

Ebola has been included in the course curriculum for the past 15 years, says Juan Guerrero, Training Manager with TEEX Emergency Services Training Institute. Adult and pediatric human patient simulators are used as training aids to simulate the physiological effects of a virus like Ebola, as well as other toxic chemical agents or exposure to radiological or nuclear materials or explosive devices, he added.

“No other organization does mobile training with human patient simulators to prepare people for handling a CBRNE event,” Guerrero said. Each class uses adult and pediatric simulators that are shipped to locations across the nation. Since the course’s inception, more than 24,000 medical professionals have received this training.

“In the post-9/11 world, this type of training is imperative,” said Capt. William Grant of the 10th Medical Regiment of the Maryland Defense Force, part of the Maryland Military Department, who attended a recent course held at Brayton Fire Training Field in College Station. “This is one of the top three fire and EMS facilities in the country, and TEEX has great instructors.”

The course is designed for physicians, nurses, emergency first responders, hospital personnel, public health workers, emergency managers, dispatchers, and others who would be involved in responding to a CBRNE event. It is offered at no charge through TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center under the DHS/FEMA Homeland Security National Training Program Cooperative Agreement.