The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces a new center designed to advance the use of forecasting and outbreak analytics in public health decision making. The Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics will bring together next-generation public health data, expert disease modelers, public health emergency responders, and high-quality communications. The new center will accelerate access to and use of data for public health decision-makers who need information to mitigate the effects of disease threats.
To assist public safety agencies, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) created the Public Safety Communications and Cyber Resiliency Toolkit to provide guidance and resources supporting the ability of communications networks to withstand damage and minimize the likelihood of a service outage. The toolkit is intended to identify and address emergent trends and issues, consolidate resources, educate stakeholders at all levels of government, and propose mitigations to enable resilient public safety communications.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the standup of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), a new agency effort to lead the development of cyber defense operations plans, and to execute those plans in coordination with partners from the federal interagency, private sector, and state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT) government stakeholders to drive down risk before an incident and to unify defensive actions should an incident occur.
Emergency responders face a variety of physical and behavioral health challenges every day. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) provides free tools and resources to help fire and emergency medical services departments foster a safety culture and support the mental and physical health of their members.
With the 2021 hurricane season in effect, emergency managers, shelter managers, and public health professionals are taking measures to reduce the possible spread of COVID-19 among people who seek safety in a disaster shelter during severe weather events. Find tips and resources to help prepare and lower the risk of infection while staying safe in a shelter.
The Emergency Management Institute will deliver two virtually facilitated offerings of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Train-the-Trainer in August and September. The audience for the course is CERT Basic Training course managers and instructors.
The popularity of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), or drones, has grown as the cost has become more affordable. Their nefarious capabilities continue to increase, as well. They can attain high speeds and move in three dimensions with the potential to carry dangerous payloads, smuggle contraband, and conduct illicit surveillance. The applications are endless, which creates a formidable challenge for national security agencies. Adaptation is key to ensuring resilience. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is supporting counter-unmanned aircraft systems research, testing, training, and evaluation across multiple DHS missions and components.
One of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) main mission focus areas is supporting the development of technologies that vital first responders need to stay safe. S&T and its partners contributed to the design and testing of a new Wildland Firefighter Respirator, which is currently being developed by TDA Research Inc. This has the potential to be a big leap forward in the fight against wildfires.
In response to the ongoing cybersecurity threat to pipeline systems, the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the issuance of a second security directive that requires owners and operators of TSA-designated critical pipelines that transport hazardous liquids and natural gas to implement a number of urgently needed protections against cyber intrusions.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced the final allocations for $475 million for seven Fiscal Year 2021 competitive preparedness grant programs. These allocations, together with the almost $1.5 billion in non-competitive grant funding announced earlier this year, total nearly $2 billion in FY 2021 to help prepare the nation against man-made threats and natural disasters.
