Most recently published
Radiation Detection: Dosimeters Plus Common Sense
Glen Rudner
August 13, 2008
The reality of a radiation emergency differs little from that caused by a chemical or biological release – any or all of them are either accidental or intentional. But in either case the emergency-response community is tasked with determining the type, size, and impact that the incident has on the
Dead Reckoning: EMS, Death, and Resource Management
James Mason
August 13, 2008
The assumption that an accident victim who is not breathing is dead can be a fatal mistake – for the victim. Which is just one of many reasons why so many laws governing the handling of apparent deaths have been enacted by every state in the union.
Standards Organizations: A Helpful Road Map for Emergency Responders
Diana Hopkins
July 23, 2008
Where are standards these days? And who (or what agency) decides on them, determines their content, announces and implements them, and – if necessary and permitted by law – enforces them?
Bournemouth Report: The Conference Where Nothing Happened
Steve Fortado
July 23, 2008
Working in close cooperation with the private sector – Thermo Fisher Scientific, to be more specific – the U.K.’s Dorset Police Department scored what Americans would call a “no hitter” at last year’s Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth.
CDC’s Career Epidemiology Field Officer Program
Ruth Marrero
July 23, 2008
The innovative CEFO Program represents a new national resource that is already being used by 21 states to strengthen their own epidemiological preparedness capabilities, with other states sure to follow in the near future.
The Gap Analysis Tool: Building Blocks for Preparedness
Kelly R. McKinney and Joseph Picciano
July 16, 2008
Best-case estimates provide a shaky foundation for all-hazards disaster plans; worst-case estimates may cost more in the short term, therefore, but are a better working tool for post-incident response and recovery efforts.
Sorting It All Out: Triage, CERT, and EMS
Joseph Cahill
July 9, 2008
Community Emergency Response Team members are often the only medical “reserve” available to a community hit by a mass-casualty incident. But, like the medical professionals they are helping, they face some difficult questions impossible to answer.
Politics and Science: A Glowing Combination?
Jerry Mothershead
June 25, 2008
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.
Proven Reliability: Always the Most Essential Consideration
Diana Hopkins
June 25, 2008
Those responsible for buying emergency-response products such as instruments and devices can be easily overwhelmed by the huge number of choices available. For that reason, it is important that purchasing departments (and individual buyers) develop and implement a prioritized purchasing system – one that places proven reliability as a principal criterion in
Military and Civilian Burn Management: Lessons Learned
Christopher Holland
June 18, 2008
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.
Interim Housing Following Disasters: The FEMA Temporary Housing Program
Kay C. Goss
June 18, 2008
After presidentially declared disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers Direct Assistance – in the form of campers, trailers, and mobile homes – to those who are without shelter. Direct Assistance is available to eligible applicants in addition to cash grants.Disaster survivors are often assigned a camper, trailer, or
NIMS Training Plans: An Effort Without End
Stephen Grainer
June 16, 2008
From George Washington’s days to the present, U.S. leaders have adhered to the credo that “Eternal Vigilance” is “the price of freedom.” Today, those wise words of warning are applicable, with only a slight modification, to the efforts of federal, state, and local officials seeking to meet National Incident Management
Hospital Decontamination: Many Questions, But Few Answers
Theodore Tully
August 20, 2008
From “two-lane” decon lanes to high-tech detection equipment and personal protective gear, most U.S. hospitals are behind the curve in preparing to deal with mass-casualty decontamination incidents. What can be done about it?
Radiation Detection: Dosimeters Plus Common Sense
Glen Rudner
August 13, 2008
The reality of a radiation emergency differs little from that caused by a chemical or biological release – any or all of them are either accidental or intentional. But in either case the emergency-response community is tasked with determining the type, size, and impact that the incident has on the
Dead Reckoning: EMS, Death, and Resource Management
James Mason
August 13, 2008
The assumption that an accident victim who is not breathing is dead can be a fatal mistake – for the victim. Which is just one of many reasons why so many laws governing the handling of apparent deaths have been enacted by every state in the union.
Standards Organizations: A Helpful Road Map for Emergency Responders
Diana Hopkins
July 23, 2008
Where are standards these days? And who (or what agency) decides on them, determines their content, announces and implements them, and – if necessary and permitted by law – enforces them?
Bournemouth Report: The Conference Where Nothing Happened
Steve Fortado
July 23, 2008
Working in close cooperation with the private sector – Thermo Fisher Scientific, to be more specific – the U.K.’s Dorset Police Department scored what Americans would call a “no hitter” at last year’s Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth.
CDC’s Career Epidemiology Field Officer Program
Ruth Marrero
July 23, 2008
The innovative CEFO Program represents a new national resource that is already being used by 21 states to strengthen their own epidemiological preparedness capabilities, with other states sure to follow in the near future.
The Gap Analysis Tool: Building Blocks for Preparedness
Kelly R. McKinney and Joseph Picciano
July 16, 2008
Best-case estimates provide a shaky foundation for all-hazards disaster plans; worst-case estimates may cost more in the short term, therefore, but are a better working tool for post-incident response and recovery efforts.
Sorting It All Out: Triage, CERT, and EMS
Joseph Cahill
July 9, 2008
Community Emergency Response Team members are often the only medical “reserve” available to a community hit by a mass-casualty incident. But, like the medical professionals they are helping, they face some difficult questions impossible to answer.
Politics and Science: A Glowing Combination?
Jerry Mothershead
June 25, 2008
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.
Proven Reliability: Always the Most Essential Consideration
Diana Hopkins
June 25, 2008
Those responsible for buying emergency-response products such as instruments and devices can be easily overwhelmed by the huge number of choices available. For that reason, it is important that purchasing departments (and individual buyers) develop and implement a prioritized purchasing system – one that places proven reliability as a principal criterion in
Military and Civilian Burn Management: Lessons Learned
Christopher Holland
June 18, 2008
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.
Interim Housing Following Disasters: The FEMA Temporary Housing Program
Kay C. Goss
June 18, 2008
After presidentially declared disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers Direct Assistance – in the form of campers, trailers, and mobile homes – to those who are without shelter. Direct Assistance is available to eligible applicants in addition to cash grants.Disaster survivors are often assigned a camper, trailer, or
Developing Competency for Disaster Medical Response Situations
Michael Allswede
June 4, 2008
The treatment of victims of mass-casualty incidents is probably the greatest challenge facing the U.S. medical community – but, in most of the nation’s medical schools, ranks lowest on the academic priority list.
The Intro 650 Debate: NYC’s Controversial Threat-Detector Legislation
Diana Hopkins
May 28, 2008
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.
Backups for Emergency Satellite Communications
Kay C. Goss
May 28, 2008
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?
Excellence in Education: Georgia’s New CHEC Course
Gina Piazza
May 28, 2008
The duties & responsibilities of hospital emergency coordinators are extremely complex and specialized. A new course of studies sponsored by the Georgia Department of Human Resources provides the framework needed for three levels of CHEC certification.
Detection Equipment – An Ever Higher Technology Ceiling
Glen Rudner
May 21, 2008
Emergency-response teams across the nation have a continuing need for portable, reliable instruments that can be used to quickly and accurately characterize the hazardous materials known or likely to be encountered on the scene of a broad spectrum of incidents ranging from traffic accidents to chemical explosions to major fires.
Three to Get Ready
James D. Hessman
May 21, 2008
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.
The Design of the Future U.S. Hospital System
James Augustine
May 14, 2008
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.
Fleet Decontamination During a Pandemic
Joseph Cahill
May 14, 2008
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.
WebEOC Fusion for Disasters and Everyday Use
Joseph Cahill
May 7, 2008
Flexibility, versatility, and a quantum upgrade in overall capabilities are the biggest selling points of ESi’s newest WebEOC system, unveiled last month at the company’s fourth annual User Conference in Boston.
Proactive Standards Development for Emergency Responders
Diana Hopkins
April 23, 2008
Anything worth doing is worth doing well – and in accordance with established standards not only acceptable to experienced professionals but also recognized by the community at large as both valid and necessary.
Mass-Fatality Management Planning – A Hospital Perspective
Craig DeAtley
April 23, 2008
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.
The Myth of the Cordon Sanitaire
Michael Allswede
April 16, 2008
The operational as well as theoretical concept of the “cordon sanitaire” – a French phrase literally translated as “quarantine line” – is one of containment. Originally, cordon sanitaire referred to the segregation of persons suffering from communicable and untreatable diseases from their healthy fellow citizens through use of a physical
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