Emergency Management

Interim Housing Following Disasters: The FEMA Temporary Housing Program The once-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency displays determination as well as imagination in its innovative plans to provide temporary housing for those suddenly homeless in future times of disaster. read

Backups for Emergency Satellite Communications In today's fast-moving world comprehensive, rapid, & continuing communications are the key to business success - and, in times of conflict, success on the battlefield as well. But what happens if communications systems are destroyed or made inoperable? read

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

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EMS

Dead Reckoning: EMS, Death, and Resource Management The assumption that an accident victim who is not breathing is dead can be a fatal mistake - for the victim. Which is just one of many reasons why so many laws governing the handling of apparent deaths have been enacted by every state in the union. read

Sorting It All Out: Triage, CERT, and EMS Community Emergency Response Team members are often the only medical "reserve" available to a community hit by a mass-casualty incident. But, like the medical professionals they are helping, they face some difficult questions impossible to answer. read

Plan Nationally, Respond Locally Flexibility, common sense, and operational efficiency are the hallmarks of the new National Response Framework, which builds on the solid but sometimes too rigid foundation of its predecessor doctrine, the National Response Plan. read

Fleet Decontamination During a Pandemic Decontamination, disinfection, and the use of liquid hand cleaners - all are among the most important "weapons" in the first-responder community's fight against a potential flu pandemic. And it's a battle to the death. Literally. read

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

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Fire HAZMAT

Radiation Detection: Dosimeters Plus Common Sense "Thermoluminescent" - that is the futuristic-sounding name, and operational characteristic, of the high-tech radiation dosimeters coming into play to prevent first responders from becoming secondary victims of radiation incidents. read

NIMS Training Plans: An Effort Without End If eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, its twin, eternal preparation, is the price of readiness. And of prevention. And recovery, restoration, and resilience. Relaxation, though, is not even in the vocabulary. read

Detection Equipment - An Ever Higher Technology Ceiling New state-of-the-art detection instruments of all types are now being deployed to determine the presence of and specifically identify a broad spectrum of chemical, biological, and radiological threats threatening the United States and American citizens. read

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

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Law Enforcement

Local Emergency Management: The CFATS Challenge The development and promulgation of stringent Chemical-Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards represented a major step forward in U.S. preparedness planning. Adherence to those standards is the next step, and will be a long, steep, and costly process. read

First Responder Credentialing: Still a Secondary Priority State & local agencies set the pace in development of FRAC ID cards to meet HSPD-12 requirements, but incident commanders need additional assistance - and, while waiting, should be advised to keep track of the number of fire trucks at the disaster scene. read

The All-Seeing Eye of Video Surveillance Private-sector security forces have been growing both in numbers and in capability since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Far too often, though, their working tools - detection & surveillance systems, primarily - are in urgent need of updating & modernization. read

GIS & GPS: Making 'Police Presence' More Precise The global positioning system & the geospatial information system - a technological marriage that has profound implications for law enforcement, national defense, & homeland security. But there are some potential pitfalls that also should be recognized. read

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

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