When the Center for Domestic Preparedness, located in Anniston, Alabama, was founded in 1998, it was envisioned as a resident training facility that would train a maximum of 10,000 responders per year. In FY 2009, the CDP staff trained more than 98,000 responders from across the United States and its territories, well exceeding the initial expectations of the late 1990s.
In an Oct. 9th ceremony, the CDP added another milestone to its young, 11-year history. Firefighter Ralph Thompson became the 500,000th emergency responder to graduate from a CDP training course. A sergeant with the District of Columbia Fire Department, Thompson has served the response community for over 23 years, and is a graduate of 15 CDP courses.
As a young man, Thompson started his response career at the age of 16 while serving as a volunteer firefighter. However, his love for fire fighting was put on hold in 1988 when he was unable to take the entrance exam to fire fighting school, and was placed on a waiting list. Determined to serve, he accepted a testing slot in 1990 for the D.C. Police Department and soon began serving the citizens of the nation’s capital as a police officer. It wasn’t until 1997 that he was allowed to take the fire fighting entrance exam. He passed—beginning his professional career as a full-time firefighter.
“我相信在训练和建立有价值的技能s,” said Thompson. “Each CDP course has provided information that you can relate to real life events. Without training like this, we become stagnant in what we do. A person never wants to feel unprepared, and as long as you’re constantly training and preparing yourself, you can handle anything if it happens.”
Deputy Administrator ofFEMA蒂姆·曼宁（Tim Manning）的准备局向大批CDP员工和响应者学生讲话。
“It’s a wonderful occasion,” he said. “The employees at the CDP have done an amazing job preparing America’s responders for the worst of disasters. To be able to graduate 500,000 students means responders around the country have the tools they need when response is required. I’m proud to represent the DHS Secretary and FEMA Administrator here today.”
Dr. Todd Jones, CDP superintendent, said reaching such a milestone only shows the level of better preparedness America’s communities have achieved.
琼斯补充说：“这意味着有500,000个准备好的急救人员可以在时间打电话时帮助这个国家的公民。”“成为其中的一部分是一种荣誉和特权，CDP为国家做出了重大的准备。”
CDP进入该国唯一的为平民响应者的大规模杀伤性武器（WMD）培训设施进入第12年，CDP将继续专注于培训，以确保准备全国各地的社区。CDP是联邦紧急事务管理机构的组成部分，并为州，地方和部落应急人员提供独特的动手培训经验。
“This was an honor. Being the 500,000th graduate was unexpected,” added Thompson. “To be selected from among impressive response personnel is humbling. All the responders, whom I’ve met during CDP training are very knowledgeable, and have the same desire to become more prepared. This was truly an honor.”
Learn more about the CDP athttp://cdp.dhs.gov.
