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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.
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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.
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The Myth of the Cordon Sanitaire

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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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.
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The Gateway Key to Synergistic Communications

Thanks to mutual-aid compacts between neighboring political jurisdictions, first-responder cooperation at mass-casualty incidents is often a multi-agency effort. But before the agencies can work together they must first be able to speak the same language.
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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.
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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.
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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 More »

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 More »

The Myth of the Cordon Sanitaire

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
Read More »

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 More »

The Gateway Key to Synergistic Communications

Thanks to mutual-aid compacts between neighboring political jurisdictions, first-responder cooperation at mass-casualty incidents is often a multi-agency effort. But before the agencies can work together they must first be able to speak the same language.
Read More »

Force Protection – First, Protect the Protectors

Not enough masks and/or medical supplies – those shortages can be overcome. But when there are not enough EMTs or paramedics, or if those who are available are among the early victims, there is no quick and easy way to find replacements.
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U.S. Businesses Respond to Community Needs

Three Cheers for three retail giants – WalMart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s, all of which stepped forward to provide urgently needed building materials and the mountains of other supplies required to help restore order in the aftermath of Hurricanes and Rita.
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Hospital Emergency Management: The Anatomy of Growth

Prior to 11 September 2001 the term “emergency management” was more an abstract theory than an operational mandate. Today it is a full fledged profession, particularly in hospitals & other medical facilities, so must be factored into all major planning.
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TVA and Protection of the Critical Infrastructure

The Tennessee Valley Authority is basically a huge and highly successful mega-corporation that has to deal with private-sector funding and operational realities while also adhering to federal, state, and local rules and regulations.
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Public-Health Planning: Partnerships Work

The Commonwealth of Virginia provides another best-practices example – this time in the public-health field – of how private-sector organizations can work with one another, and with their government counterparts, before rather than after a crisis erupts.
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Gap Analysis – A Long and Winding Process

Disaster planning is difficult, time-consuming, sometimes boring – but also absolutely necessary. And in the long run it conserves resources, permits the most efficient use of the usually limited medical staff available, and saves a lot of lives.
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Anatomy of a Near-Miss Radiation Disaster

The 2006 assassination of former KGB Colonel Alexander Litvenenko was eventually solved – but there are many questions still unanswered as well as strong suspicions about the operating tactics of Russia’s post-USSR political leaders.
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A Burning Question: National Fire Insurance?

The almost pandemic outbreak of wildfires in California & other western states last year has aroused interest in a sometimes proposed but never authorized partial solution: enactment of a federally subsidized program to help high-risk communities.
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The Management of Mass-Fatality Incidents

Reverence, respect, professional expertise, and detailed planning – all are among the essential tools needed by state and local planners to successfully deal with the aftermath of a major disaster causing a large number of deaths and injuries.
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Moulage Casts Reality With Mock Injuries

An ancient & honorable Renaissance word is put to good use at FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness, where moulage artists replicate broken arms, cuts, bruises, & other injuries to make first-responder training more realistic and more effective.
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