Most recently published
Wisconsin (The Adjutant General) TAG Holds e-town Hall
Wisconsin National Guard
June 27, 2009
The online town hall session is one of the methods the Wisconsin National Guard is using to communicate with internal and external audiences.
Trauma & Burn Centers – Coping with MCI Disasters
Theodore Tully
June 24, 2009
Numerous mass-casualty incidents have demonstrated the value of building and staffing a number of medical centers dealing primarily with trauma and burn patients. But even those centers may not be able to care for all victims of a “mega-disaster” such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Now Possible Dream: Communications Interoperability
Kay C. Goss
June 24, 2009
Firefighters, policemen, EMS technicians, & other first responders agree that one of their biggest on-the-job difficulties has been their inability to communicate with their counterparts from other jurisdictions. That huge capabilities “”gap”” may soon be closed, thanks to improved technology and better planning.
ServNC Shapes Quick Response to Icy Kentucky
Ann Marie Brown and Jeffrey B. Peterson
June 17, 2009
Thanks to EMAC, ESF-8, and other mutual-assistance policies and programs, individual states no longer have to go it alone when facing a hurricane, an earthquake, a terrorist attack, and/or other disasters, natural or manmade.
NLE-09: A Major Test for the Obama Administration
Dennis R. Schrader
June 17, 2009
The former TOPOFF domestic-preparedness exercises designed to test the capabilities and fortitude of the U.S. defense/DHS hierarchy have evolved into a new format – which the nation’s new commander in chief will meet face to face next month.
When Disaster Strikes: Duty First – Then Remembrance and Reflection
Joseph Cahill
June 10, 2009
The children and grandchildren of the Greatest Generation that won World War II are worthy successors, serving their nation as firefighters, policemen, EMS technicians, and hazmat specialists. Many of them also demonstrate, with their own lives, the last full measure of devotion.
EMS and Suicide Bombings – Some Potentially Deadly Considerations
Raphael M. Barishansky
June 10, 2009
Most terrorist attacks against the United States have been large-scale incidents. But the demonstrated willingness of individual martyr-terrorists to serve as suicide bombers has changed the equation and requires much greater attention than it has been given so far.
NIMS: Not a Once and Done Proposition
Stephen Grainer
June 3, 2009
The “”revolutionary era”” of U.S. homeland security started with the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. A new era, focused on the maintenance and upgrading of hard-earned responder skills, is about to begin.
Ice Storm 2009: Kentucky’s Regional Response
Margaret Riggs
June 3, 2009
First-person report: How Kentucky coped with “frozen Hell” earlier this year by making full use of not only its own responder capabilities but also those available through CDC’s Career Epidemiology Field Officer program.
Preparing for the Worst in Cyber Security
Amit Yoran
May 27, 2009
The high-tech professionals entrusted to protect and preserve a company’s – or country’s – IT networks do not always recognize that their first operational priority should be the protection of their own equipment, specifically including detection and encryption systems and devices.
Mass Prophylaxis: The Brass Ring of Public Health Preparedness
Bruce Clements
May 27, 2009
It sounds like a mission impossible, but U.S. public health officials are determined to find a way to provide pandemic medications, within 48 hours, to everyone within a major metropolitan area endangered by pandemic influenza or a potentially lethal bioterrorism attack.
Questions of Preparedness: A Spring of Tragedy for Law Enforcement
Joseph W. Trindal
May 27, 2009
The murder of a police officer is both a community and personal tragedy. Better equipment and improved training are helping to improve survivability, but society’s criminal element has access to the same equipment and the result has been an increase in law-enforcement fatalities.
Virginia Guard Conducts Hurricane Preparedness Exercise
Virginia Guard Public Affairs and Cotton Puryear
June 30, 2009
The Virginia National Guard conducted a four-day hurricane preparedness exercise at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach with the goal of improving the Virginia Guard’s ability to plan and carry out domestic operations in conjunction with state agencies and local first responders.
Wisconsin (The Adjutant General) TAG Holds e-town Hall
Wisconsin National Guard
June 27, 2009
The online town hall session is one of the methods the Wisconsin National Guard is using to communicate with internal and external audiences.
Trauma & Burn Centers – Coping with MCI Disasters
Theodore Tully
June 24, 2009
Numerous mass-casualty incidents have demonstrated the value of building and staffing a number of medical centers dealing primarily with trauma and burn patients. But even those centers may not be able to care for all victims of a “mega-disaster” such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Now Possible Dream: Communications Interoperability
Kay C. Goss
June 24, 2009
Firefighters, policemen, EMS technicians, & other first responders agree that one of their biggest on-the-job difficulties has been their inability to communicate with their counterparts from other jurisdictions. That huge capabilities “”gap”” may soon be closed, thanks to improved technology and better planning.
ServNC Shapes Quick Response to Icy Kentucky
Ann Marie Brown and Jeffrey B. Peterson
June 17, 2009
Thanks to EMAC, ESF-8, and other mutual-assistance policies and programs, individual states no longer have to go it alone when facing a hurricane, an earthquake, a terrorist attack, and/or other disasters, natural or manmade.
NLE-09: A Major Test for the Obama Administration
Dennis R. Schrader
June 17, 2009
The former TOPOFF domestic-preparedness exercises designed to test the capabilities and fortitude of the U.S. defense/DHS hierarchy have evolved into a new format – which the nation’s new commander in chief will meet face to face next month.
When Disaster Strikes: Duty First – Then Remembrance and Reflection
Joseph Cahill
June 10, 2009
The children and grandchildren of the Greatest Generation that won World War II are worthy successors, serving their nation as firefighters, policemen, EMS technicians, and hazmat specialists. Many of them also demonstrate, with their own lives, the last full measure of devotion.
EMS and Suicide Bombings – Some Potentially Deadly Considerations
Raphael M. Barishansky
June 10, 2009
Most terrorist attacks against the United States have been large-scale incidents. But the demonstrated willingness of individual martyr-terrorists to serve as suicide bombers has changed the equation and requires much greater attention than it has been given so far.
NIMS: Not a Once and Done Proposition
Stephen Grainer
June 3, 2009
The “”revolutionary era”” of U.S. homeland security started with the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. A new era, focused on the maintenance and upgrading of hard-earned responder skills, is about to begin.
Ice Storm 2009: Kentucky’s Regional Response
Margaret Riggs
June 3, 2009
First-person report: How Kentucky coped with “frozen Hell” earlier this year by making full use of not only its own responder capabilities but also those available through CDC’s Career Epidemiology Field Officer program.
Preparing for the Worst in Cyber Security
Amit Yoran
May 27, 2009
The high-tech professionals entrusted to protect and preserve a company’s – or country’s – IT networks do not always recognize that their first operational priority should be the protection of their own equipment, specifically including detection and encryption systems and devices.
Mass Prophylaxis: The Brass Ring of Public Health Preparedness
Bruce Clements
May 27, 2009
It sounds like a mission impossible, but U.S. public health officials are determined to find a way to provide pandemic medications, within 48 hours, to everyone within a major metropolitan area endangered by pandemic influenza or a potentially lethal bioterrorism attack.
Worst-Case Scenario: Pakistan Falls to the Taliban
Neil C. Livingstone
May 20, 2009
Israel & India could be first in the line of fire if the resurgent terrorist group gains control of Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal, but the United States would not be immune from attacks that could potentially evolve into a global nuclear holocaust.
License Plate Readers: Automated Situational Awareness
Rodrigo (Roddy) Moscoso
May 13, 2009
LPR systems are resented by drivers who are caught speeding and/or running stoplights. The same technology can be used, though, to quickly identify stolen cars and for other equally important law-enforcement tasks.
Isolation, Quarantine, and the Compression of Time
Joseph Cahill
May 13, 2009
At one time it took 80 days to go around the world. It now takes only one day. The speed of person-to-person communications has dropped from several weeks to instantaneous. Unfortunately, medical capabilities have not moved forward at quite the same pace.
A Change in Fashions for the Well-Suited Responder
Glen Rudner
May 6, 2009
Today’s first-responder community is continually searching for the most effective technology to provide protection during a hazardous materials or WMD (weapons of mass destruction) incident. However, because most incidents to which first responders are dispatched do in fact involve hazardous materials, it is imperative that the responders are wearing
The Beslan School Massacre: A Threat with No Easy Solutions
Patrick D. Bird and Michael Allswede
May 6, 2009
The 2004 Chechen massacre of almost 400 students, parents, and teachers at Beslan School Number 1 shocked the entire world. The United States learned numerous lessons from that horrifying incident – but has yet to translate them into its own preparedness plans.
Green Building Plus Greater Safety Equals Survival
Joseph Cahill
April 22, 2009
Emergency management is an evolving discipline that requires a progressive emergency manager to fulfill new and expanding requirements for success. Successful leaders in this field follow a systematic problem-solving process and excel at coordinating multiple agencies and information sources rather than simply being experts in one subject. The seven and
Needed: More Effective Resources for Homeland Security
Dennis R. Schrader
April 22, 2009
Few if any states will reject federal funds earmarked for any purpose or program. But recent analyses suggest that a high percentage of federal-level allocations for local homeland-security plans and programs are not as well targeted as they should be.
TWIC Program Close to Full Implementation
Corey Ranslem
April 22, 2009
Most U.S. ports are now safer from sabotage and terrorist attacks than ever before in recent years. The safety imperative will soon be upgraded even more when the new Transportation Workers Identification Card regulations become SOP at all of the nation’s ports.
Funding & Capabilities: A New Look at DHS Grants
Timothy Beres
April 15, 2009
A new look at how DHS grant funds are being spent should be a major priority of the Obama administration. It will be difficult to find fault with the earlier focus on equipment, but it seems obvious that the previously neglected “planning factor” also deserves greater emphasis.
First-Person Report: Operation ‘CAMCO’ and How It Grew
John J. Burke
April 15, 2009
A first-person report from a veteran firefighter and incident-management professional tells how the Town of Sandwich, Mass., and local military units joined forces to synergistically enhance their individual and collective disaster-response capabilities.
A Consuming Need: Improved Security in the Food Chain
Steven Harrison
April 8, 2009
Safeguarding the nation’s food supply – from the farm to the fork, so to speak – is not only mandatory for health reasons but also, and increasingly, a national-defense/homeland-security requirement as well.
Food Safety: A Few Questions for the U.S. Government
Diana Hopkins
April 8, 2009
Most Americans eat too much and too often. Solving that problem is a personal dietary responsibility. Protecting the nation’s global food chain, though, is the government’s responsibility – one previously neglected, but now receiving close attention from a slim new president.
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