Most recently published
Friends and Neighbors, Duties and Responsibilities
MaryAnn Warren
October 24, 2007
A timely first-person report from Susquehanna County (Pa.) on the unforeseen (and to some extent unforeseeable) difficulties in coping, personally as well as professionally, with torrential rain, widespread floods, and other disasters.
Glenn Cannon, Assistant Administrator for Disaster Operations, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Glenn Cannon
October 24, 2007
His views on the post-Katrina reorganization mandated by Congress, his directorate’s working relationships with other FEMA branches, and the challenge of coping with both “notice” and “no-notice” disasters and emergencies.
The Sorting – Life-or-Death Decisions on the Scene
Joseph Cahill
October 17, 2007
When requests for aid overwhelm the resources available, whether the medical situation occurs in a small town or a big city, life-or-death decisions must be made – immediately, in many cases – about which patient receives immediate help and who waits. During day-to-day operations triage is largely a function assigned
Healthcare Reform and the Building of Additional Medical Response Capacity
Michael Allswede
October 17, 2007
Healthcare reform could be a major sleeper issue in next year’s elections, and deservedly so. But reforms that make matters worse would be counterproductive. Here are some suggestions that the winning candidates might consider.
The Hospital Incident Command System – No Longer HEICS
Craig DeAtley
October 10, 2007
The professional guidelines developed to help the nation’s hospitals cope with a broad spectrum of emergencies have been so successful and so well-received that they have been expanded, revised, and refined to encompass non-emergency situations as well.
EMS Professionals and the CERTification of Volunteers
Joseph Cahill
October 10, 2007
The willingness of so many citizen volunteers to serve on Community Emergency Response Teams adds an extra dimension of capability to already overworked (and sometimes overwhelmed) EMS staffs. There are a few precautions also worth noting, though.
Protecting Our Protectors: Defending America’s First Responders
Barbara Mikulski
October 3, 2007
It is unconscionable that the “American heroes” who protect “our homes, our businesses, and our communities” have not been given the tools they need to carry out their dangerous jobs. Now they will be, thanks to the initiatives pushed by this legislator.
Joseph Becker, Senior Vice President of Disaster Services, American Red Cross
Joseph C. Becker
September 19, 2007
The ARC’s new operational framework for the Age of Terrorism. National Preparedness Month. Working relationships with local and state agencies. Pet sheltering, the national shelter data system, and the ARC blood program.
Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.
Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.
Preparing Hospitals for Use as Fallout Shelters
Kirk Paradise
September 11, 2007
Forward-looking planners in Huntsville, Alabama, are seeking to determine the feasibility of using medical facilities as fallout shelters to cope with mass-casualty incidents involving a nuclear or “dirty” bomb.
Rear Admiral David P. Pekoske, USCG, and Rear Admiral Brian M. Salerno, USCG
John F. Morton, David P. Pekoske and Brian M. Salerno
September 11, 2007
Their views on current and future maritime-security operations, the USCG’s relationships with other agencies, new security standards being considered, and the service’s interface with the Navy, CBP, and various port stakeholders.
The 2006 All-Hazards Report: Yesterday’s Warnings to Meet Today’s Disasters
John F. Morton
October 24, 2007
The states of the Mid-Atlantic region provide a helpful all-hazards primer that their sister states throughout the rest of the country should read and heed. Eight new “pillars of wisdom” are discussed in meaningful detail, and numerous lessons learned.
Friends and Neighbors, Duties and Responsibilities
MaryAnn Warren
October 24, 2007
A timely first-person report from Susquehanna County (Pa.) on the unforeseen (and to some extent unforeseeable) difficulties in coping, personally as well as professionally, with torrential rain, widespread floods, and other disasters.
Glenn Cannon, Assistant Administrator for Disaster Operations, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Glenn Cannon
October 24, 2007
His views on the post-Katrina reorganization mandated by Congress, his directorate’s working relationships with other FEMA branches, and the challenge of coping with both “notice” and “no-notice” disasters and emergencies.
The Sorting – Life-or-Death Decisions on the Scene
Joseph Cahill
October 17, 2007
When requests for aid overwhelm the resources available, whether the medical situation occurs in a small town or a big city, life-or-death decisions must be made – immediately, in many cases – about which patient receives immediate help and who waits. During day-to-day operations triage is largely a function assigned
Healthcare Reform and the Building of Additional Medical Response Capacity
Michael Allswede
October 17, 2007
Healthcare reform could be a major sleeper issue in next year’s elections, and deservedly so. But reforms that make matters worse would be counterproductive. Here are some suggestions that the winning candidates might consider.
The Hospital Incident Command System – No Longer HEICS
Craig DeAtley
October 10, 2007
The professional guidelines developed to help the nation’s hospitals cope with a broad spectrum of emergencies have been so successful and so well-received that they have been expanded, revised, and refined to encompass non-emergency situations as well.
EMS Professionals and the CERTification of Volunteers
Joseph Cahill
October 10, 2007
The willingness of so many citizen volunteers to serve on Community Emergency Response Teams adds an extra dimension of capability to already overworked (and sometimes overwhelmed) EMS staffs. There are a few precautions also worth noting, though.
Protecting Our Protectors: Defending America’s First Responders
Barbara Mikulski
October 3, 2007
It is unconscionable that the “American heroes” who protect “our homes, our businesses, and our communities” have not been given the tools they need to carry out their dangerous jobs. Now they will be, thanks to the initiatives pushed by this legislator.
Joseph Becker, Senior Vice President of Disaster Services, American Red Cross
Joseph C. Becker
September 19, 2007
The ARC’s new operational framework for the Age of Terrorism. National Preparedness Month. Working relationships with local and state agencies. Pet sheltering, the national shelter data system, and the ARC blood program.
Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.
Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.
Preparing Hospitals for Use as Fallout Shelters
Kirk Paradise
September 11, 2007
Forward-looking planners in Huntsville, Alabama, are seeking to determine the feasibility of using medical facilities as fallout shelters to cope with mass-casualty incidents involving a nuclear or “dirty” bomb.
James Lee Witt, CEO, James Lee Witt Associates
John F. Morton and James Lee Witt
September 5, 2007
The former FEMA administrator discusses the agency’s reorganization process, the proposed establishment of a national catastrophic-insurance fund, FEMA’s working relationship with the ARC, and the rationale for upgrading the agency to cabinet-level.
Systems and Solutions – The Gateways to Interoperability
Gary Simpson
August 22, 2007
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, brought to light, in stark reality, one of the greatest problems facing public safety entities around the world – communications interoperability. Since 9/11 many jurisdictions have spent millions of dollars to upgrade communications systems with features that are designed to improve their ability
Judith Miller, Author & Journalist
John F. Morton and Judith Miller
August 15, 2007
The Pulitzer Prize winner’s knowledgeable appraisal of how two of the nation’s largest metropolitan police departments – in New York City and Los Angeles – are coping with the unique and steadily growing threats posed by international terrorism.
The Doctors Plot – Its Implications for America
David P. Wright
August 15, 2007
Security experts dismiss the attempt by Islamic doctors to blow up a London nightclub as an “amateurish” operation. But that misses the real point, which is that physicians – people who know how to make biological weapons – are now on the terrorist team.
Area Maritime Security Committees – A Unified Effort for Securing U.S. Ports
Christopher Doane and Joseph DiRenzo III
August 8, 2007
The Coast Guard’s Captains of the Port have the primary responsibility for developing effective port-security plans for their jurisdictions, but it has to be an all-hands effort or there will be, in nautical terms, a bitter end.
The Next Wave of Synergy in Port/Maritime Security
Joseph DiRenzo III and Christopher Doane
August 3, 2007
Synergy, fusion, jointness, unity of effort – all are important characteristics to the success of the multi-agency operations needed to ensure the security of ports in the United States – but those laudable characteristics also are difficult to achieve, particularly when a broad spectrum of agencies control their forces from
Sheltering Against the Ultimate – A Nuclear Detonation in a U.S. City
Kirk Paradise
August 1, 2007
The good news is that the fallout shelters built during the Cold War never had to be used. The bad news is that they might have to be resurrected, refurbished and reconditioned, and made available as “just in case” protection facilities.
Hospital Evacuations: Planning, Exercises, and Common Sense
Joseph Cahill
August 1, 2007
“Full-scale” exercises sound like, and are, the ideal – but only in certain almost-perfect circumstances, and not without a firm foundation of individual and team training exercises to build on.
Debris Removal – How to Avoid Jurisdictional Disputes
Kirby McCrary
July 25, 2007
Several companies, each with a valid contract to clear debris from the same road. Who wins? Not the taxpayer, certainly. Advance planning can solve the problem, and a few federally funded programs will also help.
AIHA’s Mock Meth Lab Highlights Health and Safety Risks
Heather McArthur
July 18, 2007
Science may be wonderful, but it is also extremely lethal, particularly when used to manufacture illegal drugs. The clandestine meth labs set up in cities throughout the United States are prime examples of disasters waiting to happen.
Emergency Medical Services at a Mass Casualty Incident
Joseph Cahill
July 11, 2007
Standard operating procedures are by definition not enough when EMS responders are called to the scene of a mass-casualty incident. Extraordinary and/or non-standard procedures are not only permitted, therefore, but frequently mandatory.
The What If Possibility: A Chilling Report
John F. Morton
June 27, 2007
A new and, unfortunately, highly credible report on the devastating ramifications of nuclear terrorist attacks against the U.S. homeland suggests that it is high time for the nation’s elected leaders to start thinking about the previously unthinkable.
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