Welcome to the Intermountain Center for Disaster Preparedness

The mission of the Intermountain Center for Disaster Preparedness (ICDP) is to promote collaborative disaster readiness and support community resiliency. The ICDP focuses on integrated and collaborative all-hazards, prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation through education, training, and research. This unique center, located in the northeast corner of the third floor of LDS Hospital, offers two classrooms, 12 functional patient care rooms and a triage area — enabling participants to train together as they would work together in an actual disaster situation.  The space is also utilized for non-hospital related disasters, such as active shooter drills and facilitated group discussion.

The ICDP opened in March of 2012. Since that time the center has provided training and education to the whole community which encompasses fire, law enforcement, EMS, healthcare, individuals and families (including those with access and functional needs), businesses, faith-based and community organizations, nonprofit groups, schools and academia, the media, and government agencies.

Our Focus Areas

We align our activities with the core capabilities identified in the Department of Homeland Security National Preparedness Goal and the Healthcare Preparedness Capabilities National Guidance for Healthcare System Preparedness.

We support readiness and resiliency through four business areas:

  • Training and Education – Increase knowledge, skills, and abilities by promoting the application of best practices and the latest technology. 
  • Exercise – Plan, execute, and facilitate integrated workshops, drills, and exercises
  • Research – Expand the body of knowledge in disaster readiness and resilience
  • Assessment – Provide subject matter expertise to assess the effectiveness of Emergency Management Programs and assess hazards, vulnerabilities, risks, capabilities, and devise a program to mitigate issues. 

Our Personnel

profile-placeholder

Mark Shah | Co-Medical Advisor

Dr. Shah has been a practicing emergency physician since finishing residency in 2003. He has worked with Utah Emergency Physicians since 2006; staffing the emergency departments for Intermountain Healthcare in the Salt Lake area. Mark has been involved in disaster medicine since 2001. As the medical director for the New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), he oversaw the care of thousands of patients after Hurricanes Frances, Katrina, and Rita.

He is now the medical director for Utah DMAT, co-medical director for the Intermountain Center for Disaster Preparedness, and for Intermountain Healthcare’s Urban Central Region Emergency Management.

Dr. Shah’s recent disaster deployments have included the earthquake in Haiti and the typhoon in the Philippines.

Dr. Shah teaches extensively in the area of disaster medicine, as adjunct faculty with the University of Utah.

profile-placeholder

Taylor Moore | ICDP Specialist

Taylor is a Specialist with the ICDP who facilitates various disaster trainings.  He is also instrumental in developing the ICDP program to serve Intermountain caregivers and community partners alike. 

Taylor graduated from Weber State University in Health Administrative Services and began his career in the clinic side of healthcare. He has worked in Population Health and Emergency Preparedness at Tanner Clinic, as well as some other various healthcare positions as he studied his undergraduate degree. He accepted the position at the  ICDP to take on a new challenge and help to further grow the program.
profile-placeholder

Megan Curtis | ICDP Program Manager

In Megan’s five years with Intermountain, she served briefly as a health unit coordinator, then transitioned to the Clinical Informatics team before joining the ICDP in 2022.  During her time with the Informatics team, Megan facilitated EHR downtime drills and simulations, and participated in incident command at the hospital level.  Megan gets her inspiration from courageous front-line responders and receivers and is driven to improve their disaster preparedness confidence.