Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC)
Training for Rural First Responders
In 2004 Congress recognized a need for consistent quality training, specifically among the nation’s rural and tribal first responder communities. To address the training gaps identified, Congress authorized the creation of the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC or the Consortium). The Center for Rural Development (CRD) serves as Executive Agent for the Consortium. Located in Somerset, Kentucky, the CRD is a leader in delivering relevant, all-hazards training to small, rural, and tribal jurisdictions across the United States. Led by the CRD, the Consortium remains dedicated to ensuring that our nation’s emergency responders “prepare for the worst and train to be the best.”
Since its inception, the RDPC has remained an integral part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Training and Education System(NTES). These agencies, along with other national training entities, provide training resources utilizing a whole community approach. The RDPC has successfully trained more than 110,000 rural and tribal practitioners through multiple modalities.
The RDPC realizes the nation’s rural and tribal emergency responders face unique challenges when compared to their urban counterparts. As such, the RDPC is committed to providing small, rural, and tribal emergency responders and stakeholders with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to enhance the safety, security, and quality of life for their citizens through access to DHS certified training and resources developed specifically for rural practitioners and communities.
The RDPC is leading the rural first responder training initiative by developing courses that are created using a rigorous, standardized curriculum development process that ensures consistency with the principles and priorities set forth by the National Preparedness System (NPS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Once complete, the curriculum is certified and authorized by DHS for delivery at no cost to tribal and rural communities nationwide.
RDPC Mission
The CRD and the RDPC, through its Consortium Members, will provide small, rural, and tribal responders and communities with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to enhance the safety, and quality of life for their citizens through training, technical assistance, and information sharing.
RDPC Vision
Rural communities across America will have the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to enhance the safety, security, and quality of life for citizens.
“Prepare for the worst. Train to be the best.”
For more information or to register for tuition-free training, please visit www.ruraltraining.org or call (877) 855-RDPC (7372). Find the RDPC on social media by search @theRDPC.
The RDPC is led by the CRD, which is located in Somerset, KY. Established in 1996 through the vision of U.S. Congressman Harold Rogers(KY-05),the CRD is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization fueled by a mission to provide leadership that stimulates innovative and sustainable economic development solutions and a better way of life for the citizens we serve. The CRD is also a nationally recognized model for successful rural development.
The CRD has four Focus Areas: PUBLIC SAFETY, ARTS & CULTURE, LEADERSHIP, and TECHNOLOGY, serving a 45-county primary service area in Southern and Eastern Kentucky. We are committed to constantly expanding our capabilities in order to deliver a range of key services throughout Kentucky and beyond. The CRD’s Public Safety programs are reaching first responders and law enforcement professionals across the nation.
The CRD has expertise in developing and administering training programs, including curriculum design, development, and delivery, utilizing the in-house web and video conference systems required to reach the rural homeland security community.
As Executive Agent, the CRD also plays a key role as a technology provider to the RDPC program. The Center is responsible for the design, development, and continued support of the RDPC web presence as well as online training registration, evaluation reporting capabilities, and learning management systems. The CRD is a DHS/FEMA training provider.
Academic Members
Led by the CRD, the Consortium is comprised of 4 academic members and 1 affiliate that possess extensive experience and niche capabilities in developing and delivering homeland security curriculum to rural emergency responders. Each RDPC member and affiliate organization is a well-known and respected institution of higher education with staff that are experts in their field of education and experienced in instructional design. By combining the expertise each institution has to offer into a cohesive educational partnership, the RDPC is able to deliver training second-to-none. Below you will find helpful information regarding RDPC academic members and affiliates.
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) is a top-ranked historically black university and regional university in the south by U.S. News & World Report. The university serves as a hub for intellectual dialogue and discourse and a source of academic distinction and game-changing innovation for North Carolina, the United States, and the world. Founded in1910, NCCU is the oldest publicly funded liberal arts college founded for African Americans in the nation. Located in the state’s Research Triangle, NCCU has an enrollment of more than8,000 students from continents including North America, South America, and Europe.
The university offers bachelor’s degrees in 100 disciplines, master’s degrees in more than 40areas, and a Ph.D. in Integrated Biosciences. NCCU’s signature graduate and undergraduate degrees are housed in seven colleges and schools: College of Arts and Sciences; College of Behavioral and Social Sciences; School of Business; School of Education; School of Graduate Studies; School of Law; and School of Library and Information Sciences.
NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) was founded in August 1990 with 1,200students.Today, NWACC serves more than 15,000 students in college credit and non-credit courses in Benton and Washington counties. NWACC is a comprehensive, public two-year college that serves to empower lives, inspire learning, and strengthen communities through accessible, affordable, quality education. The commitment of NWACC to life-long learning can be seen in the quality of instruction it offers, and the variety of programs it has designed to move students into the job market in a minimum amount of time, enrich people’s lives, and prepare them to further their education.
Established in 2005, the Institute for Corporate and Public Safety (ICPS) is part of the Workforce and Economic Development division at NWACC. During its tenure, ICPS developed and maintains 8 active instructor-led and online courses that to date have been delivered throughout the United States and territories, training more than 16,000 people in more thanan500 communities.
The University of Findlay (UF), located in Findlay, OH, is an RDPC member. It is a private liberal arts college founded in 1882. It is home to over 5,000 students. The University of Findlay’s All Hazards Training Center (Findlay All Hazards) provides customized education, training, and information transfer programs focusing on environmental, safety, and health(ESH) issues as well as security management and emergency/disaster preparedness for both industry and emergency responders across the U.S.
Findlay All Hazards strives to keep the customer training needs paramount by the fact that 90%of training occurs on site at client locations. Since inception in 1986, the training center has trained over 250,000 people coast-to-coast. UF annually trains, on average, more than 11,000people in over 600 classes, over 40 states, across the U.S. and Canada. UF is one of a few institutions nationwide that integrates ESH, Emergency/Disaster Preparedness training, and the opportunity to earn ESH undergraduate & graduate degree programs.
University of California, Davis The Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (WIFSS) is a University of California, Davis program of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Our mission is to serve the global community by conducting research, developing training, and providing outreach programs that will enhance the health and security of people, animals, and the environment.
We serve as a valuable resource for state and federal agencies, academic institutions, the veterinary profession, interest groups, and the public on all matters related to food safety. Our extension and education programs apply a One Health approach in developing the means of identifying, and more specifically preventing future food-borne outbreaks. We focus on reducing the risk factors leading to contamination of raw agricultural products and reducing the pathogens associated with animal products.
Affiliate
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture The RDPC continues to work with the Center for Agriculture and Food Security and Preparedness (CAFSP) at the University of Tennessee(UT) to develop courses specifically for Tribal nations. Instructors from CAFSP work with Tribal nations to determine the needs of the community prior to each training. CAFSP currently has two courses tailored to meet the needs of the Tribal communities (see course titles below). MGT 449 addresses the distinctive challenges that Tribal nations face in effectively detecting, responding to, managing and mitigating all-hazard threats that include disease outbreaks and the occurrence of environmental health threats, using a whole community approach. Additionally, PER 333addresses the unique challenges that Tribal nations face in responding to a biological disease outbreak.
The University of Tennessee, through its colleges, research and education centers, and county extension offices, serves the people of Tennessee and beyond through the discovery, communication, and application of knowledge. UTIA working with the University of Tennessee -Knoxville, is committed to providing undergraduate, graduate, and professional education programs in a diverse learning environment that prepares students to be leaders in a global society. The Institute’s delivery of education, discovery, and outreach contributes to the economic, social, and environmental well-being of all Tennesseans and focuses on contemporary problems faced by Tennessee, the nation, and the world.