FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press information contact:
Darla Guevremont
Executive Protection Systems
540-662-4640
Three EPS Employees Complete Hospital Management Incidents Course
Winchester, VA (January 19, 2007)—Three employees from Executive Protection Systems, a leading turnkey provider of emergency preparedness solutions, equipment and training, recently completed a 40-hour Hospital Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (HM-CBRNE) Incidents Course at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Edgewood, Maryland.
EPS Employees, Dan Cunningham, Vice President of Operations; Mark Ponicsan, Senior Program Coordinator; and Michael Chase, Special Programs Coordinator spent their week learning how to apply skills and knowledge necessary to maintain hospital operations when impacted by mass casualty incidents of all types, including those involving weapons of mass destruction.
The course is designed to equip military and civilian hospital-based medical and management professionals with skills, knowledge and information resources to carry out the full spectrum of health care facility responsibilities required by a chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, explosive, (CBRNE) or mass casualty event.
Classroom and practical application instruction focused on diagnosis, treatment, and incident management in response to mass casualty events of all types, including incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. The course provided healthcare professionals with management skills necessary to deal with the medical, physical, economic and other challenges posed by such incidents.
According to Cunningham, the class was a real benefit because it provided information on how a hospital responds to hazards and created an understanding on how EPS, with their expertise can be of assistance during an incident.
“What was so beneficial for us was that we at EPS typically focus on the needs and roles of the ‘First Responder,’ but this course was geared toward ‘First Receivers’ and what they need to have in place to provide services—that was an eye-opening perspective for us,” said Cunningham.
In addition to field training exercises, demonstrations and hands-on practice the course content also included specific discussion of and compliance strategies related to the newest Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Environment of Care standards, including requirements concerning hospital roles in response to terrorist incidents.
Executive Protection Systems, headquartered in Winchester, Virginia, is a small, service-disabled veteran-owned business dedicated to providing the finest WMD, industrial safety protective equipment, training and consulting services nationwide. EPS corporate headquarters is located at 230 Aviation Drive in Winchester. Website: www.epssafety.com.