About DQEMission | Expertise | History | Career Opportunities Since 1990, DQE has supplied first responders and healthcare professionals with the equipment, supplies, and services needed to better manage the varying nature and challenges of disaster-prone events. MissionDQE is dedicated to helping first responders and medical facilities attain a real, working level of emergency preparedness. We provide comprehensive equipment, supplies, training, facilitated exercises, and consulting services designed to support and enhance preparedness. ExpertiseDQE's emergency preparedness expertise has enabled national organizations, government agencies, and thousands of hospitals, fire departments, and law enforcement agencies better prepare for the consequences of natural and man-made disasters. The staff at DQE has used their personal experience from the front line – as emergency physicians, nurses, firefighters, emergency managers, and safety specialists – to develop and enhance products and services that are appropriate and practical. DQE has the expertise and resources needed to help hospitals enhance their readiness for an impending crisis - before it becomes a disaster. Our work includes developing and implementing emergency management programs for hospitals, writing mass casualty and pandemic influenza plans, preparing hospitals for decontamination emergencies, participating on expert panels, and authoring reports on these topics. HistoryDQE, Inc. started as a research project and evolved into an emergency preparedness brand that enhanced and changed the way first responders and healthcare professionals prepare, respond and recover from emergencies ranging from hazardous materials events to mass casualty incidents. The company’s founder, Howard Levitin, MD, FACEP, became interested in the role of hospitals in a hazardous materials incident after being confronted with two contaminated patients while working the night shift in the emergency department. While researching the methodology for handling contaminated patients in the ED he met a firefighter who was working to improve the design, quality, and dependability of portable decontamination equipment. They joined forces and the result is DQE. In 1990 DQE started out focusing on hazardous materials decontamination products and services (the company was originally named HAZ/MAT DQE – “Decontamination Quick & Easy”). Its initial endeavor to build a more functional decontamination shower proved to so successful that it sparked DQE’s passion for developing other innovative emergency response products. What started as a part time venture in the owner’s garage quickly grew into the development of hundreds of unique and practical products. Since its inception DQE has introduced several brand names including multi-functional and expandable decon showers (Quick Response™, MasCas™ and the Indestructo™), personal privacy and safety kits (Doff-it®, Don-it® and StatPaq™), mass casualty care systems (MasCache™ and the EveryBody® coffin) and emergency scene lighting (Prism Inflatable Light™). After training several hospitals on how to receive and treat contaminated patients, DQE and its principals drew attention from many national organizations. In 1991 DQE participated in a CDC panel that developed the medical preparedness guidelines for hospitals situated in communities that store military chemical weapons from WWI and then went on to provide training at the army’s chemical weapons school. Just prior to the start of the Olympic Games in 1996 DQE was tasked with training all of the hospitals in the Atlanta area. For many of these hospitals, DQE’s training was their first exposure to disaster preparedness. In 2001 DQE and its principals co-developed and delivered the medical training for the Domestic Preparedness Program which was the country’s first national initiative to provide instruction on the medical consequences of terrorism. This training was provided to hospitals in over 100 major US cities. The army, in 2000 tasked DQE with preparing all of its medical facilities in the US, Europe and Japan to treat contaminated patients. Starting in 2003 DQE participated on medical expert panels with the army, HRSA, and AHRQ developing a national model for providing mass medical care during an infectious disease outbreak, defining disaster preparedness standards for hospitals, and developing a readiness assessment tool for the US government. These opportunities matured DQE's understanding and know how about hospital all-hazards preparedness. Their unmatched experience in providing training, exercise and emergency management planning to hundreds of hospitals, positioned DQE as the premier provider of disaster preparedness services. Career OpportunitiesDiversity of backgrounds and practical experience gives DQE the unique perspective it needs to be a leader in providing products and services for emergency management and disaster preparedness. We look for exceptional people from a wide variety of fields to continue expanding DQE’s expertise. For information on training, consulting, sales, and other career opportunities, please send your resume to careers@dqeready.com. DQE Equipment & SuppliesDQE provides products that address the true needs of responders, emergency managers, and healthcare professionals everywhere. The products are developed to be appropriate and practical solutions. From single victim to mass casualty events, DQE products are designed to scale up or down, depending on your needs, to deliver the appropriate level of response. The DQE product line includes:
DQE Training & ConsultingDQE provides healthcare facilities with the planning, training, and technical support needed to manage disaster-prone events. DQE can help hospitals enhance their current state of disaster preparedness - and put together an all-hazards emergency management program that is consistent with national standards and their response objectives, from local HazMat emergencies to mass casualty incidents. DQE's founding partners and consulting staff use their personal experience on the front line – as emergency physicians, nurses, firefighters, EMS, public health, and emergency managers - to design and enhance readiness systems that are appropriate, accessible and practical. |