An international research team has begun patient enrollment in a clinical trial testing multiple investigational Ebola therapies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The randomized, controlled trial is enrolling patients of any age with confirmed Ebola virus disease at a treatment unit in the city of Beni operated by ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action), a medical humanitarian organization.
The first test of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Squad X Experimentation program successfully demonstrated the ability to extend and enhance the situational awareness of small, dismounted units. Squad X provides Army and Marine dismounted units with autonomous systems equipped with off-the-shelf technologies and novel sensing tools developed via DARPA’s Squad X Core Technologies program.
On 13 November 2018, the United States House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass legislation creating the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The CISA Act (H.R. 3359), which passed the Senate in October and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law, would reorganize DHS’ National Protection and Programs Directorate into a new agency and prioritize its mission as the Federal leader for cyber and physical infrastructure security.
On 16 November 2018, President Trump signed into law the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018. This landmark legislation elevates the mission of the former National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) within DHS and establishes the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). This is the Factsheet released for the new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
A computer simulation system called Simulation-Based Decision Support System for Water Infrastructural Safety (DSS-WISE™) Lite can generate maps of inundation scenarios caused by dam or levee failures by calculating the speed at which the water would advance, the depths, and the extent of land and infrastructure it would impact. This system is jointly sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Armed with such information, emergency managers can plan for dam/levee breach incidents.
Calling all company-level officers, chief officers, and supervisors who have department-level Emergency Medical Services (EMS) quality assurance/quality improvement responsibilities. This six-day course defines the critical components, background and principles associated with the implementation, or enhancement, of a department’s Quality Management Program. Course openings are available in February 2019, May 2019, and September 2019. Register today!
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that an emergency use authorization (EUA) has been issued for a rapid, single-use test for the detection of Ebola virus. This is the second Ebola rapid antigen fingerstick test available under EUA, but the first that uses a portable battery-operated reader, which can help provide clear diagnostic results outside of laboratories and in areas where patients are likely to be treated.
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Sandia National Laboratories are creating more precise drone detection capability through visuals alone. The novel temporal frequency analysis being tested at Sandia analyzes the frequency of pixel fluctuation in an image over time, eventually obtaining a “temporal frequency signature” for videoed drones.
The FY 2018 Fire Prevention and Safety grant application period will open at 8 a.m. ET Monday, 12 November 2018 and will close on Friday, 21 December 2018 at 5 p.m. ET. The Fire Prevention and Safety Grants are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grants and support projects that enhance the safety of the public and firefighters from fire and related hazards.
FLIR Systems Inc. announced it has been awarded the first option phase on a five-year, cost-plus fixed fee contract by the United States Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency. This option totals $1.2 million for continued development of the FLIR Agentase C2 chemical agent disclosure spray (ADS) for detection of nerve agents and a new formulation for fentanyl detection.
