Case Study

Bournemouth Report: The Conference Where Nothing Happened Working in close cooperation with the private sector - Thermo Fisher Scientific, to be more specific - the U.K.'s Dorset Police Department scored what Americans would call a "no hitter" at last year's Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth. read

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

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Government Update

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Agencies Protect U.S. Political Conventions DHS agencies work with local authorities at all times to meet their common goal of homeland security, but even more so before and during the Democratic & Republican National Conventions. read

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Announces That Public Health Emergency Law and Forensic Epidemiology Training Courses Are Now Available These self-contained training packages were developed by CDC for use by instructors in any U.S. jurisdiction who provide public health preparedness training to front-line practitioners. read

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Protecting America - National Joint Terrorism Task Force Wages War on Terror The National Joint Terrorism Task Force (NJTTF) promotes information sharing, provides analysis and guidance, and supplies resources to task force members in their fight to protect U.S. citizens from terrorism. read

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Industry Update

Advanced Respiratory Protection Training Seminar in Montreal Sponsored by ISRP (International Society for Respiratory Protection) - Americas Section The Americas Section of the ISRP is hosting a 6 October training seminar in Montreal, "Respiratory Protection Issues in Emergency Response and Healthcare," on the most current areas of interest in respiratory protection. read

Hobson Industries Develops Skirt Protection Kit in Record Time The solution had to allow the vehicle to carry out normal duties with a sealed area below the chassis. A development team working around the clock produced the first prototype in three days. read

Virginia Tech Implements New Multi-Media Emergency Notification System From Inova Solutions "OnAlert is a simple, secure way for authorized school officials to issue emergency alerts," said Gerry Gorman, vice president of Inova Solutions. "The wall-mounted LED displays are visible from over 100 feet, inexpensive to install, and easy to operate." read

Avineon Wins SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase II Contract from the Department of Defense Under the contract, Avineon will continue transforming the Naval Sea Systems Command's existing Afloat Master Planning System (AMPS) into a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) designed to support the Navy's Strike Force Interoperability (SFI) initiative. read

Scott Health Is Visibly Changing the Fire Service with the Introduction of Its Latest Thermal Imaging Camera - The Scott Eagle Imager(TM) 320 The Eagle Imager 320 - a rugged, technologically advanced, feature-rich, thermal imaging camera is ideal for firefighter search & rescue applications & as an infrared detector for a variety of law-enforcement, security, hazmat, & industrial applications. read

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Reports

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Tell First Responders: Protect Your Employees with an Exposure Control Plan First responders are easily exposed to blood and other potentially infectious bodily fluids which put them at risk for contracting blood-borne pathogen infections. This guide will help protect responders with a written control plan. read

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Review of the Transportation Security Administration's Air Cargo Screening Exemptions Report TSA's report addresses the five key areas required by section 1602(b) of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 and its methodology was consistent with TSA's mission for the air cargo program. read

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Defense Critical Infrastructure: Adherence to Guidance Would Improve DOD's Approach to Identifying and Assuring the Availability of Critical Transportation Assets GAO recommends that the U.S. Transportation Command implement established criteria to identify critical transportation assets, and discontinue use of vulnerability assessments as the primary tool for identifying its critical assets. read

U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Releases Report on Fire Department Preparedness for Extreme Weather Emergencies and Natural Disasters This report examines the impact of extreme weather and natural disasters on the fire service and the types of service calls most likely to arise as a result of these disasters. read

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State Homeland News

South Carolina and Virginia South Carolina relies on new SeaHawk ops center to keep port of Charleston up and running in times of crisis. New Virginia Tech study says "not if, but when" in grim new global flu pandemic scenario. read

Indiana and California A multi-victim washdown was a major component of a decontamination exercise at a U.S. post office in western Indiana. Southern California earthquake serves, literally, as a shakedown drill for future and more massive temblors in the foreseeable future. read

Maryland and Kentucky Maryland Governor O'Malley takes executive action to remedy state's long-standing communications problems. Kentucky Air National Guard provides neighborly help to earthquake "victims" in a West Coast state that looks suspiciously like California. read

Nevada and Washington, DC Dual-use potential of Nevada One cited by that state's emergency responders in setting up new triage center. "Suspicious Activities Initiative" promises better and faster intelligence information, but civil-liberties groups have some major concerns. read

Missouri and Colorado A Missouri training team travels to China to assist in the Middle Kingdom's preparations for a disaster-free Olympics. A dirty bomb "explodes" in downtown Denver as Colorado gets ready for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in the mile-high city. read

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