TERRORISM ARCHIVES
Health/Medical Factors Critical in Pre-Planned Events
Raphael M. Barishansky
January 19, 2011
FEMA, the FBI, and the Secret Service have primary jurisdiction, appropriately, for the safety of National Special Security Events. But the literally life-or-death responsibilities of local medical and healthcare facilities and personnel mandates that they also are fully included in the long-range planning sessions preceding such events.
Lessons Learned in Tampa: Special Event Preparedness
Sophia Paros
January 12, 2011
As emergency-management and other homeland-security professionals well know, the forward-looking terrorists of the 21st century are always looking for new ways to kill large numbers of peace-loving civilians at minimum risk to themselves. After all, why murder one or two people when 100 or even 1,000 or more are available
Should U.S. ‘Take Out’ Julian Assange
Neil C. Livingstone
January 5, 2011
If not, why not? There are good reasons, both pro and con. And is Assange the only culprit? Also, why are senior U.S. officials hiding behind reassuring comments that provide little or no comfort to U.S. allies throughout the world – and/or to the American people, either. Finally, at a
A Breath of Fresh Air: The Best Respiratory Protection at the Most Reasonable Cost
Gary Dunn
December 15, 2010
Continuing budget constraints will make it very difficult for agencies at all levels of government – including the nation’s armed forces and homeland-security departments – to upgrade their “hardware” inventories during the coming year. For first responders, getting the most protection for the lowest acceptable cost could be a breathtaking
Lessons Learned: Mass Casualties and Communication Gaps
Sophia Paros
December 8, 2010
Emergency communications is key to incident management – and critical, both during and following, mass-casualty incidents (MCIs). On 7 July 2005, four suicide bombers detonated bombs between 8:50 a.m. and 9:47 a.m. on three underground commuter trains and a street bus in central London. Those bombings broke down the below-ground
A Mandatory Need for Gold Standard Sampling
Rodney Hudson
December 8, 2010
The sampling of toxic gases, vapors, etc., at mass-casualty scenes can be no better than the equipment used to gather the sample, whether intended for on-scene analysis or at a fully qualified laboratory. Lives are at stake, which means strict adherence to gold-standard measurements: at the scene, in the lab,
Bringing Greater Life-Saving Capabilities to the Incident Scene
Brad Stobb
December 1, 2010
Coming soon: New and highly capable CERFPs and better- trained and -equipped WMD CSTs. The acronyms are daunting and impossible to pronounce, but they represent another quantum leap in U.S. homeland-preparedness capabilities, with special significance at the state, local, and community levels of government.
The Hospital ICS: Mainstream Solution, or Barely Used?
Craig DeAtley
November 24, 2010
Most but not all HICS policy guidelines have been deemed by the nation’s health-care community to be both reasonable and acceptable. And most but, again, not all are being incorporated into local emergency-response policies and guidelines as well. So the system is not yet perfect. It is headed in the
Hospital Emergency Departments – Infectious Diseases: The First Line of Defense
Theodore Tully
November 24, 2010
Very few Emergency Departments in U.S. hospitals can cope with a major outbreak of infectious diseases. But there is much that could & should be done before an outbreak occurs. Improved communications between and among all major medical facilities in the same geographic area should be the first priority, along
Biodetection: Today, Tomorrow & Years Later
Glen Rudner
November 17, 2010
Most U.S. counterterrorism experts and senior DHS and DOD officials agree that the greatest danger now facing the nation is not a nuclear attack but a biological warfare agent – which would be extremely difficult to detect, much less counter. There has been some limited progress in U.S. detection capabilities,
‘Pathogens for Knuckleheads’: The Enemy Within – Invisible & Infectious
Christina M. Flowers
November 10, 2010
A possible nuclear attack against the U.S. homeland gets more attention, but homeland-security experts say an attack involving biological weapons could be much more devastating in its consequences. The warhead of such weapons would be pathogens – which, as this primer “for Knuckleheads” points out, are low in cost, easy
Field-Proven Medical Skills for Law-Enforcement Units
Joseph W. Trindal
October 27, 2010
Thanks to major improvements in military medical care, even on the battlefield itself, the U.S. combat KIA (killed in action) casualty rate has declined dramatically for more than half a century. Question: Could the same medical skills, training, and equipment be used to reduce the KIA rate of U.S. police
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