Emergency Preparedness News articles from April 2006

Emergency Preparedness News archives from April 2006

An election salvo was fired.(political parties )(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... AN ELECTION SALVO WAS FIRED last week by Congressional Democrats, who revealed that they are claiming emergency preparedness and homeland security as the issues that will project their party as the "tough and smart" choice at midterm election...

'Leaking like a sieve'.(arms smuggling capabilities in the ports)(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... 'LEAKING LIKE A SIEVE' is one expression that can be used to sum up a series of reports exposing the exploitable cracks that still exist at U.S. ports of entry (see story, p. 56). Sens. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who...

Spring migration heightens pandemic threat; wildlifers launch detection plan.
April 4, 2006... The spring migration of waterfowl and shore birds is usually a welcome harbinger in the United States of warm weather and outdoor living. This spring, however, U.S. wildlife professionals will be tracking bird migrations for a more ominous...

With flu pandemic looming, experts seek to speed up vaccine production.
April 4, 2006... "Conventional wisdom says that it takes 20 years to go from drug discovery to commercialization or getting it on the market," notes Arthur Heuer, a professor of industrial ceramics at Case Western Reserve University. With a worldwide avian flu...

Treatment can't be sole response to deadly pathogens, warns CEO.
April 4, 2006... The United States is virtually unprotected against a biological terrorist attack, or even a mutated virus like the H5N1 avian flu strain, contends James Joyce, chairman and CEO of Aethlon Medical, a developer of therapeutic devices based in San...

Democrats gear up for elections; will run on preparedness, security.(EPN News Roundup)
April 4, 2006... The Democratic Party has officially seized on emergency preparedness and homeland security as its number one Congressional election issue. Lawmakers last week unveiled "Real Security: The Democratic Plan to Secure America and Restore Our...

DOJ halts filing in AT&T lawsuit claiming National Security danger.(EPN News Roundup)
April 4, 2006... The Department of Justice has stepped into a lawsuit in which it is not a party to halt the filing of evidence against the National Security Agency's wiretapping and data mining activities (EPN, Feb. 21, p. 29). The Electronic Frontier...

Look abroad for inspiration, GAO tells U.S. rail security officials.(Government Accountability Office)(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... The Government Accountability Office is once again urging U.S. transit and passenger rail operators to consider adopting security practices used by rail systems abroad. GAO recommended that U.S. rail operators look to foreign systems for...

Health care system Katrina recovery stalled as residents slowly return.(EPN News Roundup)
April 4, 2006... The New Orleans health care system is mired in a chicken/egg dilemma, and six months after Hurricane Katrina, local officials have yet to reach a consensus on what to do, reports the Government Accountability Office. The availability of...

NIST studies RFID tracking technology to navigate responders in buildings.(EPN News Roundup)
April 4, 2006... Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are studying whether radio frequency identification technology can be used as a reliable, low-cost means to track firefighters and other responders inside buildings. RFID...

The National Academies.(Responder Resources)
April 4, 2006... The National Academies have prepared fact sheets designed to explain the scientific underpinnings and health effects of biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological terrorist attacks. The fact sheets were produced as part of the National...

After the Storm: Healing after Trauma, Tragedy and Terror.(book review)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 4, 2006... After the Storm: Healing after Trauma, Tragedy and Terror, by Kendall Johnson, describes how to stabilize victims in the immediate aftermath of crises such as natural disasters, violence, accidents or sudden loss and how to cope with the...

Political Psychology.(Responder Resources)
April 4, 2006... Political Psychology (April issue) has published a study by Deborah Small suggesting that different emotions direct people's attention to certain aspects of terrorism, possibly driving their reactions. Blaming individuals or governments may...

U.S. Department of Agruculture.(Grants & Contracts)
April 4, 2006... U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRUCULTURE is making $63 million in Emergency Conservation Program funds available to agricultural producers struck by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico region during calendar year 2005. Producers in counties that were...

Environmental Protection Agency.(Grants & Contracts)
April 4, 2006... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY is making available $150,000 in grants to organizations in communities impacted by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita to address local environmental or health issues stemming from the hurricanes. Local non-profit...

Disaster communications.(Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau formation )(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... DISASTER COMMUNICATIONS. The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously approved establishing a Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. The bureau will be organized into three divisions: Policy to develop and enforce rules on 911,...

Broadcaster preparedness.(Briefly Noted)
April 4, 2006... BROADCASTER PREPAREDNESS. Radio and television stations are significantly more prepared than they were three years ago to stay on the air during and recover from disasters, according to the National Association of Broadcasters. More than 800 TV...

Public vs. private.(private contracts for shippers security check denied)(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE. National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley has blasted a proposal by a senior Customs and Border Protection official to hire private contractors to check on shippers' security plans rather than expand the CBP...

Budget boost.(Briefly Noted)
April 4, 2006... BUDGET BOOST. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Me.) and Ranking Member Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) have successfully lobbied to have $986 million added to the Senate's fiscal year 2007 Budget Resolution. The amendment...

Corps called on cost/benefit.(Army Corps of Engineers calculation method outdated)(Brief article)
April 4, 2006... CORPS CALLED ON COST/BENEFIT. The calculations used by the Army Corps of Engineers to weigh the costs and benefits of projects for the Civil Works Program "were fraught with errors, mistakes, and miscalculations, and used invalid assumptions...

Faith-Based security.(Briefly Noted)
April 4, 2006... FAITH-BASED SECURITY. President Bush has directed by Executive Order that DHS form a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to better integrate local resources into the department's mission. The center will be part of the Preparedness...

Bioterror checklist.(Briefly Noted)
April 4, 2006... BIOTERROR CHECKLIST. As Congress considers reauthorization of the 2002 Bioterrorism Act, the Trust for America's Health has provided a checklist of key improvements needed "to fill the remaining gaps and vulnerabilities in our nation's...

Congressional watchdogs discover WMDs ease through U.S. ports of entry.
April 4, 2006... Five reports from two Congressional watchdog organizations are contending that detection measures at U.S. ports of entry are still no match for terrorists determined to smuggle the ingredients for weapons of mass destruction into the United...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 4, 2006... April 21: Terrorist Threats to Our Food Supply: Food Protection and Defense-Science, Ethics, & Law, Minneapolis, Minn. Topics will include public health responses, industry concerns, risk analysis, and defense. Contact: University of Minnesota,...

FEMA is locked in a race with Mother Nature, scrambling to staff up its decimated ranks and pull its act together before the June 1 start of another hurricane season.(Slants & Trends)
April 18, 2006... FEMA IS LOCKED IN A RACE with Mother Nature, scrambling to staff up its decimated ranks and pull its act together before the June 1 start of another hurricane season. The agency has a newly nominated leader (see story, this page)--current...

Paulison nominated to head FEMA; responder experience will be tested.
April 18, 2006... With New Orleans on a long, painful mend, the cataloging of Katrina response failures mounting (see story, p. 59), and the start of another hurricane season looming, President Bush has nominated Acting FEMA Director R. David Paulison to...

Competition for gulf contracts.(Gulf Recovery Updates)
April 18, 2006... Making good on his pledge, Acting FEMA Director David Paulison announced that his agency will open for competition the requirements contained in four large sole source contracts awarded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA will award 36...

Contract management struggles.(Gulf Recovery Updates)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... FEMA management of disaster recovery contracts suffers from three deficiencies, according to the Government Accountability Office: inadequate planning for the amount of goods and services needed, lack of clearly communicated responsibilities...

FEMA flood data.(Gulf Recovery Updates)
April 18, 2006... FEMA has released the advisory base flood elevations for the New Orleans area in order to guide communities on mitigating flood risks during post-Katrina reconstruction. FEMA requires the advisories' use for any rebuilding projects funded by...

Red Cross ramp up.(Gulf Recovery Updates)(improved disaster relief planning)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... Heeding the lessons learned with Katrina, the American Red Cross is expanding its disaster capacities, including dramatically increasing stockpiles of supplies in key states, pre-stocking one million debit cards for displaced families,...

FEMA-state disaster disconnect hampered Katrina response: OIG.(Office of the Inspector General)
April 18, 2006... The deteriorating relationship between FEMA and state emergency managers significantly affected the response to Hurricane Katrina, according to the DHS Office of the Inspector General in its long-awaited analysis of the Gulf Coast disaster. ...

Flood managers advocate roles for states, FEMA in levee safety.
April 18, 2006... Floodwater management professionals are applauding the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee's bill to create a national inventory of levees and an assessment of their condition. There has never been such an accounting, noted panel...

Industry wants Flood Insurance reform before start of Hurricane Season 2006.
April 18, 2006... The insurance industry is pressing Congress to reform the "ailing" National Flood Insurance Program before the 2006 hurricane season. The Property Casualty Insurers of America noted that the NFIP faced such financial strain in disaster-packed...

Government scientists dispense advice on how to handle a dirty bomb incident.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... The swift consequences of a dirty bomb attack by terrorists mean that responders must act expertly and decisively in the first 48 hours, according to scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. "By the time it...

Congress pushes again to accelerate U.S. Coast Guard's deepwater program.(EPN News Roundup)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... Congress has passed an $8.7 billion U.S. Coast Guard authorization bill (H.R. 889) including $1.6 billion for the Integrated Deepwater Systems Program to replace or modernize the ships and aircraft that perform the Guard's maritime security...

House panel passes measure to step up Maritime Security.(EPN News Rounds)
April 18, 2006... In answer to the public stir over selling U.S. port assets to an Arab nation (EPN, March 7, p. 33) the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has passed the Maritime Terminal Security Enhancement Act (H.R. 4880), which would require...

Special interest lobbying is stalling federal BSE prevention, groups say.(EPN News Rounds)
April 18, 2006... Special interest lobbying at federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget has helped stall reforms to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, according to a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest,...

Internet system speeds response, enhances post-incident analyses.(EPN News Roundup)(Vernon, Connecticut)
April 18, 2006... Vernon, Conn. -- population 30,000--is a relatively small town with some major preparedness challenges, and the Internet has been a boon to Emergency Management Director Michael Purcaro in taking his response team into the 21st century. ...

Dems demand rail regs.(BRIEFLY NOTED)
April 18, 2006... Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee have written DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff demanding an explanation of why the department's March 31 voluntary guidelines for railroads carrying toxic chemicals were not issued as...

CSI in Central America.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Container Security Initiative)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... The Port of Cortes, Honduras has become the 44th port in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Container Security Initiative, marking the first location in Central America to join CSI. In addition to assisting CBP officials with targeting...

Deadly storm names retired.(BRIEFLY NOTED)
April 18, 2006... The names Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, and Wilma will not reappear on the list of potential storm names that is otherwise recycled every six years. An international hurricane committee of the World Meteorological Organization retired the names...

Hurricane spending tally.(BRIEFLY NOTED)
April 18, 2006... The $100 billion mark has been passed by Congress in enacting legislation related to Hurricanes Katrina/Rita relief. That total exceeds by far the amount spent after Hurricane Andrew ($17.7 billion) and 9/11 ($43.9 billion). In addition, $27.4...

Quake, past and present.(BRIEFLY NOTED)
April 18, 2006... Scientists at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey have recreated the 1906 San Francisco earthquake as well as similar quakes along other California faults to learn about the possible effects if the quakes happened...

FBI/Coast Guard turf battle.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... A Department of Justice Inspector General's report has prompted Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) to write DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez urging them to sort out the roles each of their department's serve during...

Still no capital plan.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Office of National Capital Region Coordination)(Brief article)
April 18, 2006... The Office of National Capital Region Coordination has been working on a regional emergency preparedness plan for two years and estimates that the soonest one will be ready is September 2006, reports the Government Accountability Office. Much...

TSA, manufacturer launch pilot of 1st portable transit screener.(Transportation Security Administration)
April 18, 2006... TSA and its private industry collaborators have initiated a four-week pilot at a Washington, D.C., suburban train station of the first portable security system custom designed for the transit environment. TSA, the Technical Support Working...