In an effort to reach more diverse EM audiences, CDRP has undertaken two new training projects. The first, in partnership with Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and the Florida Emergency Preparedness Assocation (FEPA) is an academic partnership with the annual EM Academy. This program allowed Academy students to earn college credit from FSU for the instruction they recieved.

The second program was undertaken with the North Dakota National Guard and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Four CDRP staff members travelled to Africa to teach a week long course on Emergency Management. This course will become the foundation for a new 'disaster management' curriculum at GIMPA, and CDRP is proud of our efforts there.

The Florida Department of Health has partnered with CDRP to design and conduct a series of seven full scale exercises throughout Florida. 'Turbulent Tide' is designed to test the response of environmental health, epidemiology, and other strike teams at the county and regional level.

Working with local county health departments, DOH hopes to see how these various assets will function during a response to a single event requiring multiple disciplines. More info will be posted once the series is complete.

In partership with the Florida Home Builders Association, CDRP has designed and deployed reConstructFL.com. This web portal is designed to give the construction industry in Florida critical information on how stimulus funds can be used in the state. With an extensive database of programs, and several trainings offered throughout the state, the portal will help Florida's contruction indstry recover from the recession.

CDRP has completed a series of exercise in state universities and community colleges. This exercise is designed to test response to a violent event on a campus, and was comprised of three tabletop exercises (FAMU, UCF, and Santa Fe Community College) and a Functional Exercise at Florida State Univeristy. This HSEEP-compliant series was hailed as effective and engaging, and provided valuable feedback to the participating institutions as well as the educational community in Florida.

Shots-A-Lot is a drill exercercise designed to test the Volusia County Health Department's ability to set up and run a "Drive Through Point Of Distribution (POD)" for the mass imunization of local residents against the H1N1 influenza virus. This exercise was designed not only to evaluate the VCHD's abilility to operate the POD, but to identify other challenges they may face should a full scale activation of the plan be necessary.

Watch the Shots-A-Lot video from Volusia Magazine: Shots-A-Lot

The Florida Department of Health and the Center for Disaster Risk Policy at Florida State University undertook a series of tabletop and drill format exercises to help enhance Florida's pre-hospitalization response capabilities through evaluating and strengthening the concept of Alternative Medical Treatment Sites (AMTS).

Entitled "BETA Fish Exercise", the Florida counties of Leon, Martin and Orange were identified to test their AMTS plans via these exercises. Contained in the BetaExercise website (no longer available) are the exercise documents which outline how the series of exercises were developed, designed and facilitated along with the various tools used to make this series of exercises both a learning opportunity and a capacity building initiative.

As mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Tallahassee Regional Airport held its disaster exercise (conducted every 3 years) on runway 18-36. Multiple local and state agencies particiapted in this mock-terrorism scenario inwhich a gunman opens fire on a plane on final approach for landing. CDRP team members were there to assist with moulage application and volunteer coordination. Please view our picture gallery of this event.

Version 8 of CDRP's popular virtual tabletop exercise software is now available. New features in this release include; an updated look and feel, improved reporting features, more integration with HSEEP standards and additional inject types. For more information on T.E.S.T. or to schedule a demonstration, please contact us today.

The Florida Pandemic Influenza Preparedness initiative included the development of Pandemic Influenza Annexes to the Department of Health State and County Emergency Operations Plans. The goal of the Pandemic Influenza Exercise Program and "ice" specifically was to provide counties with a flexible tool to use as they continue to refine their local plans. The exercise format within "ice" is modular in design, allowing the individual jurisdictions to test selected functions and objectives which are most relevant to their individual planning sequence. The exercises were designed to meet minimum exercise requirements as outlined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Cooperative Agreement, Pandemic Influenza Supplemental Funding Guidance for 2006-07, and in compliance with the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP). All 67 counties in the state of Florida were invited to participate in this exercise.

The Zoonotic Table Top Exercises were two tabletop exercises based on an avian flu event. Participating agencies that were invited to attend these half-day events, included but were not limited to; DEP, FWC, DoACS, DOH, and USDA. The Zoonotic Exercise was designed to walk state and local stakeholders through the steps involved in responding to an avian flu outbreak in animals, specifically wild and domesticated birds. The education piece of this exercise focused on initial detection and the possibilities of a human crossover of the strain.