Emergency Preparedness News articles from October 2005

Emergency Preparedness News archives from October 2005

Blame game or lessons learned?(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2005... What will be the ultimate outcome of investigations into the response to Hurricane Katrina? With former FEMA Director Michael Brown called to Capitol Hill last week for his first public flogging, and appearances put in by state and local...

Officials appeal for more assistance as evacuees strain local resources.
October 4, 2005... Labeling the Hurricane Katrina response "a natural disaster followed by a manmade debacle," Chairman Susan Collins (R-Me.) opened the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's second hearing in its investigation of...

Responders conduct candidate search to fill DHS preparedness positions.
October 4, 2005... DHS preparedness officials should be drawn from the ranks of leaders with emergency management credentials, according to groups representing the nation's firefighters and chiefs. The Urban Fire Forum announced last month that the groups are...

House panel investigates: what did they know; when did they know it?
October 4, 2005... In a week of Capitol Hill testimony focused on federal, state, or local shortcomings in hurricane response and recovery, "two federal agencies passed Katrina's test with flying colors--the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane...

Live local weather tracking supports precision response.(Hurricane Katrina, 2005)(WeatherBug)
October 4, 2005... Accurate storm tracking has emerged as one of the bright spots in the dismal Hurricane Katrina response saga (see preceding story). The end of hurricane season is still more than a month away, however, and "having the most up-to-date weather...

Chemical plant risks prompt town to adopt automated notification.
October 4, 2005... When the citizens of Belmont, Mass., lobbied for an emergency notification system due to their proximity to chemical plant, the town's Emergency Management Agency chose an automated calling system called AlertFind from MessageOne Inc., a...

Activate NET Guard for technology response, senators urge certify.(EPN News Roundup)
October 4, 2005... Citing communications failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, two senators have called on DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to implement the National Emergency Technology Guard authorized in the 2002 Homeland Security Act. NET Guard,...

Maritime task force posts recovery data, solicits help from stakeholders.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2005... The Maritime Recovery and Restoration Task Force, created by the U.S. Coast Guard on Sept. 9, has begun posting measurements that describe short-term recovery and long-term restoration of the maritime transportation systems affected by...

TSA drops commercial data from Secure Flight launch.(Transportation Security Administration)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2005... The American Civil Liberties Union is applauding TSA's decision to drop commercial data from private brokers in its initial launch of the Secure Flight passenger screening program. Amassing files on travelers based on commercial data has been...

TSA Hazmat Truck tracking center to handle alerts, coordinate response.(EPN News Roundup)
October 4, 2005... TSA has launched its Hazmat Truck Security Pilot with a $3.1 million grant to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Buffalo, N.Y., to develop and demonstrate a prototype truck tracking center and its non-proprietary interface that will...

Employees rank DHS second to last in annual 'Best Places to Work' survey.(EPN News Roundup)
October 4, 2005... On the public hot seat for its responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and drawing fire from federal unions for its proposed personnel system (EPN, Sept. 20, p. 143), DHS has apparently lost favor with its employees as well. The department...

DHS.(Grants & Contracts)(Department of Homeland Security)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2005... DHS has awarded $141.97 million in grants to 36 U.S. ports to fund security enhancements. The grants were the first awarded using a new risked-based formula weighing threat, vulnerability, and consequence. All grant applications were reviewed...

U.S. coast guard.(Grants & Contracts)(Potomac Management Group)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2005... U.S. COAST GUARD has awarded a contract to Potomac Management Group, Alexandria, Va., to produce a regulatory analysis of current USGS operations and regulations for safety, firefighting, training, and other operations. The analysis will offer...

Department of Health and Human Services.(Grants & Contracts)
October 4, 2005... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES has awarded sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group, a $100 million contract to manufacture avian influenza vaccine to protect against the H5N1 virus strain that has caused an...

Food and Drug Administration.(Grants & Contracts)
October 4, 2005... FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION has granted Fast Track designation to DVC LLC, a Computer Sciences Corp. company, for three biodefense programs for the Department of Defense Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program Product Management Office. The DVC...

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.(Grants & Contracts)
October 4, 2005... NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES has awarded $37 million to 18 organizations for training to protect workers and their communities from exposure to toxic materials encountered during hazardous waste operations and chemical...

NIEHS.(Grants & Contracts)
October 4, 2005... NIEHS has also awarded an $863,000 contract to MDB, Inc., for the management of the institute's National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training. The clearinghouse serves as a source for curricula, technical reports, and weekly news...

Colorado North Central all-hazard's emergency management region.(Grants & Contracts)
October 4, 2005... COLORADO NORTH CENTRAL ALL-HAZARD'S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REGION has selected ICG Communications, Englewood, Colo., to provide fiber optic transmission for a homeland security initiative to improve communications reliability and coordination...

Correction.(Grants & Contracts)(Correction Notice)
October 4, 2005... CORRECTION: The firm of EAD & Associates LLC--Emergency Management and Special Needs Consultants, New York City, was incorrectly referred to in a previous Grants & Contracts column as "Emergency Management and Special Needs Consultants" (EPN,...

New Orleans Air Quality.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... The Environmental Protection Agency says it has begun "extensive sampling efforts" of air quality in areas hit my hurricane Katrina. EPA collected air samples across the New Orleans metropolitan area for eight days last month and found...

Katrina and the environment.(relief efforts and environmental cleanup standards)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2005... Industrial chemicals, raw sewage, oil spills, and existing Superfund toxic waste sites are among the public health threats in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, according to the U.S. Public Interest Group....

Public Safety at the FCC.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... The Federal Communications Commission is launching a blue ribbon panel composed of experts from the public safety and communications industry to perform a review of the impact of Hurricane Katrina, then make recommendations on how the FCC can...

DHS recovery leaders.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff has appointed Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, U.S. Coast Guard, as Principal Federal Official for incident management during the response and recovery operations in Texas for Hurricane Rita. Admiral Thad Allen, U.S....

Emotional rescue.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... The National Child Traumatic Stress Network is offering a variety of tools to assist mental health responders in treating hurricane survivors. The information applies to victims of other natural and manmade disasters as well. Go to...

Mapping damage.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are exploring through a cooperative research program airborne laser mapping systems to quantify coastal change caused by Hurricane Katrina. Elevation data from these...

Hurricane Incident Management.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... The U.S. Coast Guard has put up a "Hurricane Rita Incident Management Site" with news, photographs, and a link to a Katrina site. Contact: http://rita.uscgstormwatch.com/external/index.cfm?cid=1022.

FOIA requests.(Hurricane Recovery)
October 4, 2005... Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has sent Freedom of Information Requests to DHS, FEMA, and the State Department asking for records on topics such as how much of the DHS budget was spent on Gulf Coast preparedness, and Army...

Behavior, not technology, will solve interoperability issues, experts advise.(public safety communications)
October 4, 2005... The interoperability challenges in public safety communications are more "people" problems than technological hurdles, witnesses contended last week before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications. "What will it take to...

Calendar.(Calendar)
October 4, 2005... Oct. 24-27: 2005 Homeland Defense Symposium, Colorado Springs. Colo. Sponsored by NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command, conference exhibits and session topics include the national first responder agenda, the role of the medical community, and...

Local/state pols need more emergency training, preparedness experts advise.
October 18, 2005... Solving the interoperability problems exposed so painfully in the response to Hurricane Katrina lies less with technology than with teaching people how to communicate up and down the chain of command, according to Sue Mencer, former head of the...

DHS funding final amid contentions that preparedness gets short shrift.
October 18, 2005... Congress has passed and sent to President Bush a $30.8 billion DHS fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill (H.R. 2360), exceeding the FY 2005 total by more than a billion dollars. Some members of Congress are contending, however, that funding cuts...

Competitive training grant awards support DHS all-hazards mission.
October 18, 2005... Fifteen colleges and universities, research institutes, and states have received a total of $30 million in DHS Competitive Training Grants. The program funds organizations that create all-hazards training initiatives to prevent, deter, respond...

Delaware first in nation to become "StormReady".
October 18, 2005... Delaware has become the first state in the continental U.S. to be recognized by the National Weather Service for being "StormReady" under a voluntary program that helps communities develop plans to handle severe weather and flooding threats....

Katrina hazard handouts.
October 18, 2005... KATRINA HAZARD HANDOUTS. The Environmental Protection Agency has posted flyers on potential environmental and health issues that might be faced by residents and cleanup crews in the Gulf Coast region. Hazards include leaking natural gas lines,...

Coast Guard data vulnerable to attack; OIG calls for contingency planning.(EPN News Roundup)(Office of Inspector General)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2005... The U.S. Coast Guard's inadequate database security controls threaten the ability of its Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement system to recover from a cyber attack, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General. In addition to...

DHS privacy office needs sharper teeth, says ACLU.(EPN News Roundup)
October 18, 2005... "Congress must give the DHS privacy office more 'teeth' so it can serve as a true check and balance in an agency with enormous powers over many areas of Americans' lives," declared American Civil Liberties Union Legislative Counsel Tim...

COMCARE hospitals collaborating on patient tracking improvements.(EPN News Roundup)
October 18, 2005... The COMCARE emergency response alliance and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association are collaborating on improving integrated patient tracking systems during day-to-day and mass casualty incidents. The first task taken on by the...

FDA requires food facility data to track contamination events.(EPN News Roundup)
October 18, 2005... Domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for consumption in the United States must register with the Food and Drug Administration by Dec. 12 under a final rule issued by DHS and the Department of Health and...

FEMA Gulf rebuilding strategy favors competition, small/local businesses.(EPN News Roundup)(Federal Emergency Management Agency)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2005... FEMA will give priority to local and small disadvantaged businesses under a new competitive contracting strategy instituted for Gulf Coast hurricane recovery work as well as for future disasters. "In the immediate response phase for...

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.(Grants & Contracts)
October 18, 2005... NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES has awarded grants, totaling $87 million, for construction of four biosafety level-3 research laboratories at George Mason University, Manassas, Va.; Tufts University, North Grafton, Mass.;...

NIAID and Medimmune Inc.(Grants & Contracts)
October 18, 2005... NIAID AND MEDIMMUNE INC., Gaithersburg, Md., have signed a cooperative research and development agreement to produce and test multiple vaccines against avian influenza viruses--including H5N1--that have the potential to cause pandemics....

Health Resources and Services Administration.(Grants & Contracts)
October 18, 2005... HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (Department of Health and Human Resources) has awarded $26.1 million in grants for bioterrorism training. Nineteen grants worth $24.2 million will support continuing education programs for health...

TSA.(Grants & Contracts)
October 18, 2005... TSA has expanded its National Explosive Detection Canine Team Program to 10 mass transit and commuter rail systems: Chicago Transit Authority; Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Maryland Transit Administration;...

New York State.(Grants & Contracts)
October 18, 2005... NEW YORK STATE has awarded Aramsco, Inc., Albany, N.Y., a contract for a Hazardous Incident Response Equipment Program. Because New York is a member of the National Association of State Procurement Officials, other member states may join the...

Second-busiest hurricane season.(Briefly Noted)
October 18, 2005... SECOND-BUSIEST HURRICANE SEASON. The 2005 hurricane season is tied for the busiest on record, with 21 named storms. The 1933 season also saw 21 storms, but it occurred 20 years before storms received names. The last storm in this year's...

Explosive award.(Briefly Noted)
October 18, 2005... EXPLOSIVE AWARD. The Idaho Explosives Detection System, invented by scientists at Idaho National Laboratory, has received a 2005 Homeland Security Award from the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation in Washington, D.C. The detection...

No go for DHS personnel system.(Briefly Noted)(Department of Homeland Security)(Brief Article)
October 18, 2005... NO GO FOR DHS PERSONNEL SYSTEM. U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer has denied DHS's request to implement the pay-for-performance portion of its new personnel system while legal wrangling continues over the provisions governing labor...

Rail security rampup.(Briefly Noted)
October 18, 2005... RAIL SECURITY RAMPUP. The Government Accountability Office has urged DHS to complete its security risk assessment of passenger rail systems and finish developing a methodology so that other agencies and the private sector can also compare...

Environmental antiterror.(Briefly Noted)(Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment)(integrated anti-swimmer system of Coast Guard )(Brief Article)
October 18, 2005... ENVIRONMENTAL ANTITERROR. The U.S. Coast Guard has issued for public comment the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for its integrated anti-swimmer system. The IAS uses an active sonar system to detect, track, classify, and interdict...

High road rebuild.(Briefly Noted)
October 18, 2005... HIGH ROAD REBUILD. A report from the Economic Policy Institute asserts that maintaining wage standards, competitive bidding procedures, minority hiring rules, and a preference for local businesses results in a more economically sound rebuilding...

Technology to the rescue? Firms seek transit security at a rush hour pace.
October 18, 2005... Two companies have teamed to tackle a conundrum that has complicated public transit security --how to effectively screen passengers without major disruptions in system flow. GE Security, a subsidiary of General Electric based in Bradenton,...