Fire HAZMAT

Detection Equipment - An Ever Higher Technology Ceiling New state-of-the-art detection instruments of all types are now being deployed to determine the presence of and specifically identify a broad spectrum of chemical, biological, and radiological threats threatening the United States and American citizens. read

Incident Action Plans for Hazmat/WMD Incidents A quick but accurate analysis of unknown but potentially lethal agents detected by first responders at the scene of a mass-casualty incident can save many, many lives. That analysis requires skill, knowledge, and state-of-the-art analytical equipment. read

Law Enforcement

GIS & GPS: Making 'Police Presence' More Precise The global positioning system & the geospatial information system - a technological marriage that has profound implications for law enforcement, national defense, & homeland security. But there are some potential pitfalls that also should be recognized. read

Crowd-Control Challenges in Pandemic Emergencies Despite much improved health care throughout the world, when (not if) the "next pandemic" strikes it would almost certainly spread rapidly - and could kill millions, cause global economic chaos, and create widespread political unrest. read

Emergency Management

Interim Housing Following Disasters: The FEMA Temporary Housing Program The once-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency displays determination as well as imagination in its innovative plans to provide temporary housing for those suddenly homeless in future times of disaster. read

Backups for Emergency Satellite Communications In today's fast-moving world comprehensive, rapid, & continuing communications are the key to business success - and, in times of conflict, success on the battlefield as well. But what happens if communications systems are destroyed or made inoperable? read

State Homeland News

Missouri and Colorado A Missouri training team travels to China to assist in the Middle Kingdom's preparations for a disaster-free Olympics. A dirty bomb "explodes" in downtown Denver as Colorado gets ready for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in the mile-high city. read

Georgia and Wisconsin ATF training exercise in Atlanta simulates the potential havoc that could be caused by a terrorist WMD lab in heart of Georgia. DHS-funded exercise in Green Bay tests ability of Wisconsin agencies to adhere to Lake Michigan Area Maritime Security Plan. read

Health Systems

The Design of the Future U.S. Hospital System U.S. healthcare officials, working in close cooperation with long-range planners & political decision makers, are already pondering what the nation's future hospital infrastructure should look like. Here are some ideas to consider. read

Mass-Fatality Management Planning - A Hospital Perspective Most U.S. hospitals & other healthcare facilities focus their efforts on saving lives & helping those who are seriously injured. The handling of the dead, sometimes a large number at the same time, is a different but almost equally important skill. read

Viewpoint

Debris Recycling - Transforming Disasters Into Opportunities After the storm comes the rainbow. Supposedly. After a disaster comes the debris - and the problem of what to do with it. Surprisingly, perhaps, there are some profitable solutions that should be considered. read

The Creation of a Home Guard for Domestic Preparedness At a time when defense of the U.S. homeland is a major concern, the National Guard is playing a much-increased role in U.S. operations overseas. The best way to fill the capabilities gap is to establish a non-deployable Home Guard under the Department. read

Grants

Assistance to Firefighter Grants Program Releases 5-Year Summary of Equipment and Vehicle Awards The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program has released a five-year statistical breakdown of the equipment and vehicles that have been funded under the "fire grants." read

Department of Homeland Security Announces $79 Million in State Grants for REAL ID Grants will fund state-specific projects such as improving the physical security of licenses, upgrading facility security, and modernizing document imaging and storage. read

Industry Update

Leading Government Services and Software Development Firm, ElanTech, Wins Major DHS Technology Contract ElanTech and Murray State University are to develop and deliver an Incident Management Decision Support System (IMDSS), which is an interoperable, web enabled, geospatially oriented incident management communication software by 2010. read

Over 400 Delta Scientific DSC2000 Barricades Deployed "The DSC2000 is one of our more popular products because, due to its shallow foundation, the arrays can be quickly set up to protect an entrance," explains Delta Scientific Senior Vice President David Dickinson. read

Shared Spectrum Company (SSC) Successfully Demonstrates Enhanced, Frequency-Agile Military Radios To demonstrate the capabilities of the DSA technology on multiple hardware platforms, SSC installed the DSA software on fielded tactical radios & demonstrated the frequency agility & robustness of its technology using multi-band DSA-2100 radio prototypes. read

Coast Guard

Rescue 21 Update: Advanced Comm Capabilities for the New Century The upgrading of Coast's Guard communications capabilities is an achievement of life-and-death importance for those in distress at sea. The Rescue 21 system is now "operationally ready," says USCG Commandant Admiral Thad Allen. read

COTPs Updating Port Plans to Combat Maritime Terrorism U.S. ports and harbors are among the most vulnerable as well as most important targets for would-be terrorists. Protection of the U.S. maritime system is therefore now the primary mission of the Coast Guard's already overtaxed Captains of the Port. read

Resilience Tips

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Red Cross Want You to Be Informed and to Understand the Terms Quarantine and Isolation The term "quarantine" applies to more than just people. Click on to find out more. read

Active 2008 Hurricane Season Predictions Reinforce the Need to Prepare The American Red Cross urges the public to renew hurricane preparedness - by recommending that everyone dust off their disaster supplies kit and get better prepared now for a variety of possible disasters. read

EMS

Plan Nationally, Respond Locally Flexibility, common sense, and operational efficiency are the hallmarks of the new National Response Framework, which builds on the solid but sometimes too rigid foundation of its predecessor doctrine, the National Response Plan. read

Fleet Decontamination During a Pandemic Decontamination, disinfection, and the use of liquid hand cleaners - all are among the most important "weapons" in the first-responder community's fight against a potential flu pandemic. And it's a battle to the death. Literally. read

Standards

Proven Reliability: Always the Most Essential Consideration EMS Buyer Beware! Price is always an important factor in the purchase of high-tech systems and devices, but the first and absolutely most important factor must be performance. In other words, it either works as advertised, or it does not. read

The Intro 650 Debate: NYC's Controversial Threat-Detector Legislation Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Council say that passage of Intro 650 is essential to protect NYC from future terrorist attacks. Opponents see fatal flaws in the bill, and want answers to some important questions. read

Public Health

Politics and Science: A Glowing Combination? How does a democracy work? Not always quite the way it should, particularly when substantive evidence has been presented for only one side of an issue and the media compensates by giving more, and more favorable, publicity to the other side. read

Military and Civilian Burn Management: Lessons Learned The U.S. military and civilian medical communities mingle, mix, and learn from one another, particularly in the highly specialized, but extremely important, field of burn care. read

Editor In Chief

Containing the Threat: Eleven Million Challenges CBP falls short in its efforts to start implementing the "100-percent screening" mandate issued by Congress. The issues involved are numerous, costly, and extremely complicated. Nonetheless, failure is not an option. read

Three to Get Ready The could-have/should-have (but did not) scenarios of the past serve as abundant reminders that the cost of national preparedness is only a fraction of the much higher cost that must always be paid for not being prepared. read

Case Study

Quad City Interoperability Pilot Bolsters Regional Response Capabilities Cooperation & coordination among and between numerous city agencies and the Raytheon Company produce a best-practice example of how the public and private sectors can, and should, pool their resources to upgrade their collective response capabilities. read

Forensic Evidence & Nuclear Radiation: A New Course of Action in the State of Washington FEMT may be hard to pronounce, but it is becoming a key legal and organizational concept in the war against international terrorism, thanks to the forward-looking instructional approach developed and used by the State of Washington's Department of Health. read

Government Update

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Issues Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) The proposed NBAF is a joint DHS effort with the Department of Agriculture that would establish a state-of the-art high-security laboratory facility to study both foreign animal & zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans) read

Transportation Security Administration Announces New Airport Airside Security Initiative The Airside Vulnerability Reduction Team program will strengthen the coordination of work by TSA and its law-enforcement, airline, and airport-security partners to reduce vulnerabilities to airport airside operations. read

Reports

TSA: Driver's License or Passports Preferred IDs at Checkpoints Beginning this week (26 May 2008), adult passengers (over the age of 18) are required to show a U.S. federal or state-issued photo identification card. read

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Reminds Summer Travelers of the 'Three Simple Steps' to Security As the summer travel season begins, the TSA reminds travelers that coming to the checkpoint fully prepared for the security process will lead to shorter lines and less travel stress. read

The U.S. Fire Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation Complete Study of Traffic Incident Management Systems This report provides technical guidance and training programs in traffic incident management for fire and emergency service providers. read

University Updates

Federal Emergency Management Agency's Citizen Corps Forms Partnership with American Association of Community Colleges A newly formed affiliation between FEMA's Citizen Corps and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) will help to promote and improve community emergency preparedness, disaster-response training for the public, and volunteer service. read

St. Louis University School of Public Health Announces Three One-Week/On-Site Bioterrorism Courses The three courses cover Global Terrorism in the 21st Century, Bioterrorism and Safety for Laboratories, and Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases. read

U.S. Fire Administration Announces The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Self-Study Now Available NFIRS, an online self-study course, is the comprehensive method for detailed tracking of fire, emergency, and related incident responses. read