Members of the media were invited to attend the final day of a three-day hazardous material (HAZMAT) training course being given to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center employees on Thursday, April 1, 2004.

Sponsored by the 1199 SEIU Labor Union Training and Education Committee, the training was intended to expand and formalize the Hospital's already existing decontamination protocols. Thirty-five Jamaica Hospital Emergency Department physicians, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, Respiratory Therapists, Pharmacists and other front-line employees received expert HAZMAT training from one of the country's leading authorities in this area.   Paul Penn is a recognized national figure on HAZMAT response and is also the developer of HAZMAT for Healthcare curriculum, which he has taught all over the country in recent years.

Sine the September 11 attacks, Jamaica Hospital has been at the forefront in bioterrorism preparedness, taking aggressive steps to educate its employees, area physicians, and the community at large. The Hospital has incorporated decontamination showers in its Emergency Department entrance and has purchased all latest state-of-the-art equipment.   Jamaica Hospital has held several mock drills for its employees and participated in last month's city-wide disaster drill. Earlier this year, Jamaica Hospital 's parent organization, MediSys was given special designation as on of four New York City Center's for Bioterrorism Preparedness.

Jamaica Hospital believes that the additional training they received only strengthened their preparedness and reinforced to the community its dedication to protect them as well as its employees.

The training was be both didactic and hands-on, with actual decontamination set-up taking place on Thursday, April 1, at 1:00 pm outside Jamaica Hospital 's Emergency Department.