Our goal is a public health and medical preparedness workforce that is well-trained and ready to respond to disasters in the State of Texas. DSHS coordinates with public health, medical, and emergency management partners to provide training for agency partners and stakeholders at the regional and local levels, based on specific and identified needs. Available training can be found on Texas TRAIN.

The following are public health, medical, and emergency management training resources that may be helpful to other state and local partners.

• FEMA Emergency Management Institute 
• FEMA Independent Study Training
• Jurisdictional Risk Assessment 
• National Domestic Preparedness Consortium
• Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium
• National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Training 
• Texas A&M Engineering and Extension Services (TEEX) 
• Texas Emergency Management Preparedness (Preparing Texas)

Exercises help build preparedness for threats and hazards by providing a low-risk, cost-effective environment to identify resource requirements, capability gaps, strengths, areas for improvement, and potential best practices. Exercises build preparedness by examining plans, policies, and procedures, validating training, and supporting inter-agency coordination.

The CHEPR Exercise Team supports the State Medical Operations Center (SMOC) and Regional Health and Medical Operations Centers (RHMOCs) in designing, developing, conducting, and evaluating state and regional preparedness exercises, and creating SMOC After Action Reports for real-world incidents. The Exercise Team coordinates with HHS and public health stakeholders for public health components of multiagency exercises and provides limited consultative assistance to support local exercises.

Exercise training is available through the FEMA Independent Study program.

• IS-120c An Introduction to Exercises
• IS-130a How to be an Exercise Evaluator 

FEMA Preparedness Toolkit, www.preptoolkit.fema.gov, provides a plethora of guidance, templates, tools, and even prepared tabletop exercises.

• Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Guidance
• HSEEP After Action Report and Improvement Plan Template
• HSEEP Integrated Preparedness Plan

Exercise design, planning, and/or evaluation assistance can be requested by contacting the DSHS Public Health Region that services your jurisdiction.

For additional exercise-related information or questions, please email PreparednessExercise@DSHS.Texas.gov.