Most recently published

Joseph Becker, Senior Vice President of Disaster Services, American Red Cross
Joseph C. Becker
September 19, 2007
The ARC’s new operational framework for the Age of Terrorism. National Preparedness Month. Working relationships with local and state agencies. Pet sheltering, the national shelter data system, and the ARC blood program.

Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.

Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.

Preparing Hospitals for Use as Fallout Shelters
Kirk Paradise
September 11, 2007
Forward-looking planners in Huntsville, Alabama, are seeking to determine the feasibility of using medical facilities as fallout shelters to cope with mass-casualty incidents involving a nuclear or “dirty” bomb.

Rear Admiral David P. Pekoske, USCG, and Rear Admiral Brian M. Salerno, USCG
John F. Morton, David P. Pekoske and Brian M. Salerno
September 11, 2007
Their views on current and future maritime-security operations, the USCG’s relationships with other agencies, new security standards being considered, and the service’s interface with the Navy, CBP, and various port stakeholders.

Debris Monitors – Cleaning Up and Clearing Out
Kirby McCrary
September 5, 2007
The crisis is not really “over” until the paperwork has been completed – in full, on time, and frequently in triplicate. In the field of debris removal adherence to that old saying is sometimes the difference between bankruptcy and prosperity.

James Lee Witt, CEO, James Lee Witt Associates
John F. Morton and James Lee Witt
September 5, 2007
The former FEMA administrator discusses the agency’s reorganization process, the proposed establishment of a national catastrophic-insurance fund, FEMA’s working relationship with the ARC, and the rationale for upgrading the agency to cabinet-level.

Systems and Solutions – The Gateways to Interoperability
Gary Simpson
August 22, 2007
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, brought to light, in stark reality, one of the greatest problems facing public safety entities around the world – communications interoperability. Since 9/11 many jurisdictions have spent millions of dollars to upgrade communications systems with features that are designed to improve their ability

Judith Miller, Author & Journalist
John F. Morton and Judith Miller
August 15, 2007
The Pulitzer Prize winner’s knowledgeable appraisal of how two of the nation’s largest metropolitan police departments – in New York City and Los Angeles – are coping with the unique and steadily growing threats posed by international terrorism.

The Doctors Plot – Its Implications for America
David P. Wright
August 15, 2007
Security experts dismiss the attempt by Islamic doctors to blow up a London nightclub as an “amateurish” operation. But that misses the real point, which is that physicians – people who know how to make biological weapons – are now on the terrorist team.

Area Maritime Security Committees – A Unified Effort for Securing U.S. Ports
Christopher Doane and Joseph DiRenzo III
August 8, 2007
The Coast Guard’s Captains of the Port have the primary responsibility for developing effective port-security plans for their jurisdictions, but it has to be an all-hands effort or there will be, in nautical terms, a bitter end.

The Next Wave of Synergy in Port/Maritime Security
Joseph DiRenzo III and Christopher Doane
August 3, 2007
Synergy, fusion, jointness, unity of effort – all are important characteristics to the success of the multi-agency operations needed to ensure the security of ports in the United States – but those laudable characteristics also are difficult to achieve, particularly when a broad spectrum of agencies control their forces from

Protecting Our Protectors: Defending America’s First Responders
Barbara Mikulski
October 3, 2007
It is unconscionable that the “American heroes” who protect “our homes, our businesses, and our communities” have not been given the tools they need to carry out their dangerous jobs. Now they will be, thanks to the initiatives pushed by this legislator.

Joseph Becker, Senior Vice President of Disaster Services, American Red Cross
Joseph C. Becker
September 19, 2007
The ARC’s new operational framework for the Age of Terrorism. National Preparedness Month. Working relationships with local and state agencies. Pet sheltering, the national shelter data system, and the ARC blood program.

Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.

Building a Strong Emergency-Management Profession
Kay C. Goss
September 11, 2007
One of the nation’s foremost experts in the still emerging field of emergency management provides her insider’s point of view of the guiding principles – including both a vision and a mission statement – on which this important new field was founded.

Preparing Hospitals for Use as Fallout Shelters
Kirk Paradise
September 11, 2007
Forward-looking planners in Huntsville, Alabama, are seeking to determine the feasibility of using medical facilities as fallout shelters to cope with mass-casualty incidents involving a nuclear or “dirty” bomb.

Rear Admiral David P. Pekoske, USCG, and Rear Admiral Brian M. Salerno, USCG
John F. Morton, David P. Pekoske and Brian M. Salerno
September 11, 2007
Their views on current and future maritime-security operations, the USCG’s relationships with other agencies, new security standards being considered, and the service’s interface with the Navy, CBP, and various port stakeholders.

Debris Monitors – Cleaning Up and Clearing Out
Kirby McCrary
September 5, 2007
The crisis is not really “over” until the paperwork has been completed – in full, on time, and frequently in triplicate. In the field of debris removal adherence to that old saying is sometimes the difference between bankruptcy and prosperity.

James Lee Witt, CEO, James Lee Witt Associates
John F. Morton and James Lee Witt
September 5, 2007
The former FEMA administrator discusses the agency’s reorganization process, the proposed establishment of a national catastrophic-insurance fund, FEMA’s working relationship with the ARC, and the rationale for upgrading the agency to cabinet-level.

Systems and Solutions – The Gateways to Interoperability
Gary Simpson
August 22, 2007
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, brought to light, in stark reality, one of the greatest problems facing public safety entities around the world – communications interoperability. Since 9/11 many jurisdictions have spent millions of dollars to upgrade communications systems with features that are designed to improve their ability

Judith Miller, Author & Journalist
John F. Morton and Judith Miller
August 15, 2007
The Pulitzer Prize winner’s knowledgeable appraisal of how two of the nation’s largest metropolitan police departments – in New York City and Los Angeles – are coping with the unique and steadily growing threats posed by international terrorism.

The Doctors Plot – Its Implications for America
David P. Wright
August 15, 2007
Security experts dismiss the attempt by Islamic doctors to blow up a London nightclub as an “amateurish” operation. But that misses the real point, which is that physicians – people who know how to make biological weapons – are now on the terrorist team.

Area Maritime Security Committees – A Unified Effort for Securing U.S. Ports
Christopher Doane and Joseph DiRenzo III
August 8, 2007
The Coast Guard’s Captains of the Port have the primary responsibility for developing effective port-security plans for their jurisdictions, but it has to be an all-hands effort or there will be, in nautical terms, a bitter end.
Hospital Evacuations: Planning, Exercises, and Common Sense
Joseph Cahill
August 1, 2007
“Full-scale” exercises sound like, and are, the ideal – but only in certain almost-perfect circumstances, and not without a firm foundation of individual and team training exercises to build on.
Debris Removal – How to Avoid Jurisdictional Disputes
Kirby McCrary
July 25, 2007
Several companies, each with a valid contract to clear debris from the same road. Who wins? Not the taxpayer, certainly. Advance planning can solve the problem, and a few federally funded programs will also help.
AIHA’s Mock Meth Lab Highlights Health and Safety Risks
Heather McArthur
July 18, 2007
Science may be wonderful, but it is also extremely lethal, particularly when used to manufacture illegal drugs. The clandestine meth labs set up in cities throughout the United States are prime examples of disasters waiting to happen.
Emergency Medical Services at a Mass Casualty Incident
Joseph Cahill
July 11, 2007
Standard operating procedures are by definition not enough when EMS responders are called to the scene of a mass-casualty incident. Extraordinary and/or non-standard procedures are not only permitted, therefore, but frequently mandatory.
The What If Possibility: A Chilling Report
John F. Morton
June 27, 2007
A new and, unfortunately, highly credible report on the devastating ramifications of nuclear terrorist attacks against the U.S. homeland suggests that it is high time for the nation’s elected leaders to start thinking about the previously unthinkable.
Mid-Atlantic States Brainstorm Planning for Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) GrantSubmissions
John F. Morton
June 20, 2007
Federal officials provide insight to mid-Atlantic states as they finalize statewide plans for PSIC grant submissions. Seven states & the District of Columbia share how they are implementing interoperable communications.
ASTM-E 2458: A Mandatory Sample of Common Sense
Jason Pastuch
June 13, 2007
HazMat and EMS technicians across the nation will be working from the same text, thanks to new biological-sampling techniques developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
Hampton University and ERVE: Academia Learns a Tragic Lesson
Teresa Walker
June 13, 2007
Even as the nation’s colleges and universities were still mourning the tragic loss of life at Virginia Tech, one school was taking the steps needed to make its own faculty and students safer and more secure.
Citizen-Participation Drills: Beyond Duck and Cover
Joseph Cahill
June 6, 2007
With fire-prevention programs serving as an example, there is much that “everyday citizens” can learn about protecting themselves and their families in a variety of emergency situations. The most important lesson is learning one’s own limitations.
The Homeland-Security Advantages of Telework
Tom Davis
May 23, 2007
One of the nation’s most highly respected Congressional leaders points out that “the Telework Option” for federal employees is not just another employee “perk” but an easy way to cut commuting costs and, just maybe, save hundreds or thousands of lives.
Expanding the Quarantine System at the Nation’s Borders
Mathew Thomas
May 16, 2007
The need for quarantine stations at U.S. borders was on the decline – until SARS & bioterrorism created a need for more stations on a continuing basis. Dulles International Airport (first one), has achieved much success & is a template for future use.
John F. Clark, Director, U.S. Marshals Service
John F. Morton and John Clark
May 16, 2007
Clark’s views on the security improvements already achieved, and the areas in which a greater effort is needed. Also discussed: The USMS’s Special Operations and Technical Operations Groups, and the support provided to state and local L-E agencies.
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