Reports

Geographic Information System Lifecycle Best Practices Guide for Next Generation 911

SAFECOM and the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators Next Generation 911 working group, with support from Cybersercurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), have released a new Geographic Information System (GIS) Lifecycle Best Practices Guide to provide public safety administrators, managers, and officials with best practices and resources for implementing geographic information systems.

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2020 National Preparedness Report

The 2020 National Preparedness Report provides an overview of the risks that communities face, how vulnerabilities present in those communities drive those risks, and how risk management principles can be employed to manage those risks. The report describes the capabilities needed to manage those risks and how close communities are to meeting target goals. Finally, the report highlights four critical considerations that underscore the complexity of managing the nation’s risks and that offer a path forward for emergency management across the nation.

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Crisis Services: Meeting Needs, Saving Lives

This report, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, includes the “National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit” and related papers on crisis services. The toolkit offers relevant clinical and health services research, review of top national program practices, and replicable approaches that support best practice implementation. The related papers address key issues relevant to crisis services, homelessness, technology advances, substance use, legal issues impacting crisis services, financing crisis care, diverse populations, children and adolescents, rural and frontier areas, and the role of law enforcement.

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Science & Tech Spotlight: Tracing the Source of Chemical Weapons

The forensic chemical attribution process seeks to trace chemical agents used in attacks. Investigators take a sample of the agent from a victim or site, and then analyze its physical and chemical properties. The data can be used to identify a “chemical fingerprint,” which could provide information to investigators about how the agent was made.

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SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center Supplemental Research Bulletin: Women and Disasters

While research suggests that women may have greater awareness of hazards in their area, it also puts forward that women are less likely than men to be prepared for disasters. Additionally, studies have found women to be more likely to experience distress after a disaster, including an increased likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder. This bulletin reviews research on how women experience disasters.

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Diagnostics for Biodefense: Flying Blind With No Plan to Land

In a recently released special focus report, “Diagnostics for Biodefense – Flying Blind With No Plan to Land,” the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense provides an approach that would ensure the United States can rapidly develop innovative point-of-care and point-of-need diagnostic tests for COVID-19 and other novel, emerging, and reemerging infectious diseases when they occur.

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National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, 2020-2025

The National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB), 2020-2025, presents coordinated, strategic actions that the United States Government will take in the next five years to improve the health and wellbeing of all Americans by changing the course of antibiotic resistance. This plan continues to prioritize infection prevention and control to slow the spread of resistant infections and reduce the need for antibiotic use.

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Department of Homeland Security 2020 Homeland Threat Assessment

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2020 Homeland Threat Assessment is a first-of-its-kind report synthesizing threat assessments across DHS including intelligence and operational components. This report is a whole-of-department effort with input from operational components throughout the DHS, such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Coast Guard, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Emergency Services Ergonomics and Wellness

This handbook provides corrective measures that will help to increase the safety of emergency responders, reduce the costs of worker's compensation claims, maximize the longevity of emergency service careers, and assist with sending personnel into healthy retirements.

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Why Law Enforcement Needs to Take a Science-Based Approach to Training and Education

The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training and its Partner Advisory Committee have released a new science-based learning digital report to serve as a reference point for chiefs, sheriffs, mayors, risk managers, Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) directors, training academy directors, and all those who have an investment in police training and education. This digital report is designed to increase the quality and sustainability of training and education in law enforcement agencies.

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