COLLEGE STATION, Texas — As Coronavirus continues to dominate headlines, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is expanding its national training to include information on the virus.
"Coronavirus is one of those new, emerging diseases that we're talking about all the variations of," said Kathy Wall, a training coordinator for EMS/Public Health programs at TEEX.
TEEX's training for healthcare personnel does its best to stay up to date on the latest information that is going on around the world.
"If we are not traveling, we are literally in front of a computer researching the latest information on any disease or outbreak that is going on," Wall said.
With the Coronavirus becoming the latest epidemic, TEEX is including ways to teach medical and first responders how to identify the threat and care for patients. As well as dealing with ways to protect themselves from exposure.
"(What type of) personal protective equipment we would use when dealing with people that have already exhibited symptoms of the disease itself," said Browning, the associate training specialist and EMS/Public Health Programs.
The classes are not just in the Bryan-College Station area, the instructors take the training all over the country.
"We also learn a lot in those jurisdictions where we go and learning best practices," Browning said.
The course uses adult and pediatric human patient simulators to mimic the different effects of those exposed to the virus.
"This is the environment that our participates have an opportunity to do something wrong," Wall said.
The purpose of the courses through TEEX is to get people prepared on how to handle an incident, like Coronavirus.
"If they do something incorrectly, it's okay we reset everything and start over again," Wall said.
These training programs are offered nationwide at no charge through TEEX's National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center under the DHS/FEMA Homeland Security National Training Program Cooperative Agreement.
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