Pandemic Preparedness: The Driver for Most Suppliers
John F. Morton
January 31, 2007
Question: Is the United States prepared to deal with a biological-warfare attack? Answer: Not yet –
but the nation’s private-sector biotech labs are working closely with state, local, and federal
governments to detect, prevent, and/or deal with an attack.
Passenger Rail Security: Enhanced Federal Leadership Needed to Prioritize and Guide Security Efforts
Domestic Preparedness
January 30, 2007
This testimony, is based primarily on GAO’s September 2005 report on passenger rail security (GAO-05-851) and selected program updates obtained in January 2007. http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-07-225T
Command Profile: Strengthening the U.S. Army's Helping-Hand Agency
Brent Bankus
January 24, 2007
The U.S. Army’s warfighting record speaks for itself – numerous victories and too many heroes to count. The service’s peacetime contributions are just as glorious and have contributed significantly to the common good.
Wicked Problems, Virtuous Solutions: How to Design a Risk-Based Medical Facility
Michael Allswede
January 24, 2007
The setting of national standards for the personal protective equipment worn and training received by first responders working in a hazardous-materials environment is a positive step forward.
Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Chief Preparedness Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
W. Craig Vanderwagen
January 24, 2007
Domestic Preparedness met with Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Chief Preparedness Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Chief Preparedness Officer, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt’s principal advisor on bioterrorism and other public health emergencies, addresses the guiding principle “one team, one fight.” In his remarks, he discusses the team-orientation approach used by the Public Health Service (PHS), the transfer of the National Disaster Management System (NDMS) to HHS, and the emphasis on building local capacity buttressed by regional support.
Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response andChief Preparedness Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
W. Craig Vanderwagen
January 24, 2007
His views on, among other topics, his department’s disaster-response missions, capabilities, and
accomplishment; the PHS’s team-orientation approach; IRCTs and the HHS “deployable force”; resiliency
& prepositioning; and tsunamis & other natural disasters
Realities of the Conflict Between Islam and Unbelief, by Shaykh Ayman al-Zawahiri
Laura Mansfield
January 24, 2007
A manfesto. Reprinted as a reminder of the seriousness of the threat. Well worth the time to
read.
The Highway Watch Program: Homeland Security on the Open Road!
Joseph DiRenzo III and Christopher Doane
January 17, 2007
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.
FIPS 201 Compliance for State and Local Agencies
Joseph Watson
January 17, 2007
NIMS has spoken, and must be obeyed: A new “common identification standard” for federal employees and contractors is now required. State and local agencies would be well advised to adopt the same standard.
Admiral John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Domestic Preparedness
January 10, 2007
In most fields, basic training is part of the learning process. Fire, law enforcement, the military, and other disciplines have training academies for building competencies and testing new recruits. An exception to these types of requirements is the field of emergency management. This new training academy will ensure that all emergency managers are trained to the same standards regardless how much boots-on-the-ground experience they bring with them.
