Mentoring Builds Better Professionals

CTEH has several channels through which it promotes professional mentoring in the company.

Two of these are formal programs: the Senior Emergency Response Team (SERT), and our Emergency Response Consultant (ERC) Program.

The SERT is activated when CTEH receives a call to mobilize for a chemical release emergency.  The on-call expert sends a group message to more than 30 participants, including CTEH founders, emergency response professionals and subject-matter experts on the panel. This initiates a conference call, during which the participants discuss the details of the necessary response.  The brief, focused call allows the on-call team responding to the incident to benefit from the collective experience of the SERT team members gained from responding to more than 1,500 incidents in the last 25 years.   SERT participants provide invaluable guidance for the many issues that can arise during chemical release emergencies. They suggest technical solutions and tactics and provide insight gained from experience on the ground. This group is one of the ways our founders stay involved in a meaningful way.

The ERC program is a formal mentoring program that includes an internal certification process.  ERC candidates are selected by existing Senior Emergency Response Consultants (SERCs).  At the time of selection they have already demonstrated that they possess a significant level of technical expertise, and have been involved in the CTEH^© Toxicology Emergency Response Program (TERP) as Project Technical Directors, Project Managers, and/or technical specialists on emergency response projects.  After acceptance as an ERC Candidate, they then participate in an extensive training program involving several elements, including one-on-one mentoring by SERCs and other subject matter experts and attendance at formal lectures on a wide variety of technical, administrative and operational topics.  The ERC Candidate must also successfully pass a written examination on the topics covered in the ERC Lecture Series.  Prior to being designated as an ERC, the candidate must demonstrate his/her experience as a Project Technical Director, Project Manager, or significant contributor during at least ten (10) chemical release emergencies.  Finally, the ERC Candidate must successfully pass an oral examination administered by three or more SERCs aimed at demonstrating sufficient ability to provide significant technical and administrative leadership associated with all phases of a chemical release emergency.  This program will contribute to CTEH’s ability to manage the experiential knowledge gained since its founding and take it forward to a new generation of leaders.

Beyond the formal mentoring programs, CTEH encourages growth by promoting from within and providing training and other opportunities for employees to learn new skills and subject areas. Some of the subject-matter experts we’ve brought in are specialists in toxicology, industrial hygiene, safety, occupational health, information technology, emergency response and response management.