A New Training Program to Help First Responders Protect Themselves from Infectious Disease

​A new program launched by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will help approximately 35,000 first responders protect themselves from infectious diseases, according to a June 1, 2016, National Institutes of Health press release. The NIEHS Worker Training Program will oversee the Ebola Biosafety and Infectious Disease Response Training, which will educate healthcare workers, along with workers in waste management, transportation, mortuaries, and other occupations with potential for exposure to infectious diseases. The need for this training program was identified during a 2014 Institute of Medicine workshop about Ebola virus.