EMS

WebEOC Fusion for Disasters and Everyday Use Flexibility, versatility, and a quantum upgrade in overall capabilities are the biggest selling points of ESi's newest WebEOC system, unveiled last month at the company's fourth annual User Conference in Boston. read

Resource-Typing Implications for EMS and Emergency Management Attention to detail is frequently the principal difference between the success, or failure, of any human endeavor. That is particularly true in times of sudden disaster, when "mere words" - precisely expressed - may have life-or-death implications. read

Case Study

Quad City Interoperability Pilot Bolsters Regional Response Capabilities Cooperation & coordination among and between numerous city agencies and the Raytheon Company produce a best-practice example of how the public and private sectors can, and should, pool their resources to upgrade their collective response capabilities. read

Forensic Evidence & Nuclear Radiation: A New Course of Action in the State of Washington FEMT may be hard to pronounce, but it is becoming a key legal and organizational concept in the war against international terrorism, thanks to the forward-looking instructional approach developed and used by the State of Washington's Department of Health. read

Government Update

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Continues to Promote Neighborhood Watch Programs at Waterfront America's Waterway Watch program goes an extra step by calling on ordinary citizens who spend much of their time on America's waterways to assist in the War on Terrorism. read

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Announces New Aviation Security and Traveler Screening Enhancements The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced improvements aimed at strengthening the nation's aviation security while decreasing the "hassle factor" for travelers. read

Industry Update

Scott Health & Safety First to Offer Dual Air-Purifying and SCBA CBRN Protection in One Facepiece The NIOSH-approved Scott AV-2000 facepiece, which is a CBRN- (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) approved air-purifying respirator (APR), is the first facepiece that can be converted from CBRN APR to CBRN SCBA application without using tools. read

Rapiscan Systems Awarded Approximate $1.5 Million Contract Option With DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office The aim of the project is to improve the performance of existing nuclear threat-detection techniques through the development of integrated systems utilizing X-ray and neutron-based inspection methods. read

RAE Systems Introduces QRAE II Pump Next Generation Confined Space Entry Monitor The QRAE II is a full-featured, compact, one- to four-sensor toxic gas detector for oxygen, combustibles, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, or sulfur dioxide. read

Standards

Proactive Standards Development for Emergency Responders Anything worth doing is worth doing well - and in accordance with established standards not only acceptable to experienced professionals but also recognized by the community at large as both valid and necessary. read

CBRNE Attacks at Sea: Time to Revisit the Maritime SAR International The next terrorist attacks might be against the U.S. system of ports and waterways, where the nation is most vulnerable. read

Law Enforcement

Crowd-Control Challenges in Pandemic Emergencies Despite much improved health care throughout the world, when (not if) the "next pandemic" strikes it would almost certainly spread rapidly - and could kill millions, cause global economic chaos, and create widespread political unrest. read

Real ID: No Impediment to Law-Enforcement Photo Sharing There are still some political hurdles ahead, but law-enforcement agencies throughout the country should soon be able to thwart terrorist acts and stop other crimes by the simple exchange of drivers-license photos from one state to another. read

Viewpoint

Debris Recycling - Transforming Disasters Into Opportunities After the storm comes the rainbow. Supposedly. After a disaster comes the debris - and the problem of what to do with it. Surprisingly, perhaps, there are some profitable solutions that should be considered. read

The Creation of a Home Guard for Domestic Preparedness At a time when defense of the U.S. homeland is a major concern, the National Guard is playing a much-increased role in U.S. operations overseas. The best way to fill the capabilities gap is to establish a non-deployable Home Guard under the Department. read

Reports

U.S. Fire Administration and National Volunteer Fire Council Release Report on Emerging Health and Safety Issues in the Volunteer Fire Service This report, Emerging Health and Safety Issues in the Volunteer Fire Service, provides information on initiatives, programs, and strategies for reducing fatalities among volunteer firefighters. read

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Releases Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2008-2013 The plan supports one of the major goals Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has set for the department: to strengthen the nation's preparedness and emergency-response capabilities. read

Public Health Emergency Response: A Guide for Leaders and Responders - a Report from the Department of Health and Human Services A guide on public-health responses to emergencies that is specifically tailored for public officials (e.g., mayors, governors, county executives, emergency managers) and first responders (e.g., policemen, firefighters, EMS technicians). read

Public Health

The Myth of the Cordon Sanitaire The best way to cope with an avian-flu pandemic is to pre-designate certain hospitals as "flu-only" facilities - right? No - absolutely wrong! For a variety of practical, economic, and medical reasons. Here are some of them. read

Partnerships at Work in Public Health Planning The Commonwealth of Virginia once again provides a best-practices example of the best way to plan for a potential mass-casualty disaster: Ensure that all stakeholders, private-sector as well as government, are fully involved ahead of time, and practice. read

Emergency Management

Credentialing of Private-Sector Disaster Support Personnel When disaster strikes U.S. government agencies often turn to the private sector for assistance. But incident commanders cannot always be sure if non-government volunteers who show up are who they claim to be and/or possess the skills/training needed. read

U.S. Businesses Respond to Community Needs Three Cheers for three retail giants - WalMart, Home Depot, and Lowe's, all of which stepped forward to provide urgently needed building materials and the mountains of other supplies required to help restore order in the aftermath of Hurricanes and Rita. read

Editor In Chief

Election-Year Realities, and the Promise of Change The 2008 presidential election year could be the most important in U.S. history. All of the major candidates are promising "change" - but are usually short on specifics. An important point to remember is that not all change is for the better. read

The Mid-Atlantic All-Hazards Forum - Hugely Successful Those who attended the regional conference in Baltimore earlier this month found it eminently worthwhile and developed a long list of solutions to current problems - and an even longer list of new dangers and difficulties lurking just over the horizon. read

Resilience Tips

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Announces a New Website Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER) This website helps the nation prepare for and respond to urgent public health threats by providing strategic direction, coordination, and support for all of CDC's terrorism preparedness and emergency response activities. read

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Officials Offer Tips to Speed Assistance Following a Tornado Disaster recovery officials urge residents and businesses dealing with tornado and severe storm damage and loss to adopt a take-charge action plan to help speed the possibility of obtaining state and federal disaster aid. read

State Homeland News

South Carolina and California "Overweight" Hercules transporters carry out successful landings & takeoffs in Hilton Head, S.C., to test crisis-mode emergency airlift plan. Los Angeles strengthens maritime security by installation of new floating-boom barrier. read

Illinois and Texas Chicago's public schools should be safer from now on, thanks to the use of real-time safety cameras. Dallas focuses on disaster-response efforts in conference with statewide and possibly national implications. read

University Updates

New Department of Defense Contract Positions University of Maryland University College (UMUC) to Be First U.S. University Serving Troops on the Ground in Iraq Under this program, UMUC will provide undergraduate liberal arts coursework and several graduate-level programs to U.S. troops stationed in foreign countries, including Iraq. read

U.S. Fire Administration Announces Two New Self-Study Courses Offered by the National Fire Academy "These new courses incorporate the most recent changes to the National Response Framework and provide an excellent review tool for firefighters," said U.S. Fire Administrator Greg Cade. read

Eight Senior Fire Officials Selected for Harvard's Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program This 19-day program brings together state and local government officials from across the United States to focus on the complex roles and responsibilities of senior elected, appointed, and career officials. read

Health Systems

Mass-Fatality Management Planning - A Hospital Perspective Most U.S. hospitals & other healthcare facilities focus their efforts on saving lives & helping those who are seriously injured. The handling of the dead, sometimes a large number at the same time, is a different but almost equally important skill. read

Greater Responsibilities, More Recognition for Hospital Emergency Managers The healthcare failures during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina received more publicity than the many unpublicized successes. Nonetheless, a new look at hospital emergency management was obviously needed, and is now well underway. read

Grants

Connecticut Fire Department Receives $65K Firefighter Assistance Grant from FEMA The AFG continues to serve as a major effort by FEMA to ensure the nation's firefighters continue to have the basic capability they require to do their jobs, improve community safety and prevent the loss of lives. read

Round 30 of the Fiscal Year 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program Announced The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced the thirtieth round of fiscal year 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grants, awarding 47 grants totaling over $6 million to fire departments throughout the U.S. read

Fire HAZMAT

Incident Action Plans for Hazmat/WMD Incidents A quick but accurate analysis of unknown but potentially lethal agents detected by first responders at the scene of a mass-casualty incident can save many, many lives. That analysis requires skill, knowledge, and state-of-the-art analytical equipment. read

Incident Action Planning - A Step-by-Step Process The key to coping successfully with a mass-casualty incident or similar event is to plan ahead - as carefully and in as much detail as possible. It takes a lot of work, and all of it extremely tedious. But the end result is well worth the effort expended. read

National Guard

National Guard Takes Center Stage in HD/DO Op Orders Despite its heavy commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. National Guard has been quietly but steadily building up its homeland-defense and domestic-operations capabilities as well - at minimum cost to U.S. taxpayers. read

CERFPs: The Essential Elements Quietly and without much fanfare, the National Guard's multi-mission CERFPs have become key units in federal as well as state plans to deal with mass-casualty incidents on the U.S. homeland. read

Interviews

Thomas J. Lockwood, Senior Advisor, DHS Office of Screening Coordination How does the department manage, and reconcile, the complex and politically difficult task of identification security with privacy needs, site-access requirements, and the National Incident Management System process? read

Dennis R. Schrader, Deputy Administrator, National Preparedness, FEMA The new DHS "All Hazards" leader shares his views on the funding and operations of Incident Management Assistance Teams, Emergency Operations Centers, and other components of today's "forward leaning" Federal Emergency Management Agency. read

DOD

USMA's CTC Addresses Global Terrorism Threat West Point's Combating Terrorism Center plays a key role as U.S. colleges and universities upgrade their curricula to meet the new challenges of the 21st century. read

The TRP/ACU 1000: A Major Step Forward in Communications Interoperability Numerous first responders, each with a different comm system. And no unit can talk to any of the others. A versatile new multiagency JPS/Raytheon system may be the key to unraveling the Babel of silence at future disaster scenes. read

Coast Guard

Rescue 21 Update: Advanced Comm Capabilities for the New Century The upgrading of Coast's Guard communications capabilities is an achievement of life-and-death importance for those in distress at sea. The Rescue 21 system is now "operationally ready," says USCG Commandant Admiral Thad Allen. read

COTPs Updating Port Plans to Combat Maritime Terrorism U.S. ports and harbors are among the most vulnerable as well as most important targets for would-be terrorists. Protection of the U.S. maritime system is therefore now the primary mission of the Coast Guard's already overtaxed Captains of the Port. read

Transportation

The Highway Watch Program: Homeland Security on the Open Road! The innovative DHS/ATA "Highway Watch" program enlists tens of thousands of professional drivers as "Irregulars" in the homeland-security volunteer community and, as a bonus, makes the nation's highways and byways safer for all Americans. read

The Need for a National Port Readiness Standard A terrorist attack on a U.S. seaport could be much more costly, in lives as well as dollars, than the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and the WTC Towers. The DOD Readiness Reporting System could be a good model for a DHS maritime-security variant. read