Thursday, December 31, 2009

Jim Rush: Why emergency managers need to answer the call to be terror-ready

Posted by Jim Rush • December 29, 2009 • Printer-friendly

Salado TX--The Christmas Day terrorist attempt to bring down another airliner refreshes our collective recognition that terrorist organizations are still at war with the United States and still devoted to killing innocent citizens. Once again, we see how difficult it is to identify a person as a threat before an event, even though we have had years to refine watch lists and no-fly lists. Below is a discussion of some of the forces at work that prevent us from developing a true Readiness culture.

Refusal to accept reality. Even after the horror of September 11th 2001, we are determined to refuse the reality that we are at war with Islamic extremists groups. Many in positions of leadership hold on to the belief that this terrorism phenomenon is limited in both size and scope. The 9-11 Commission found that the terrorists were at war and America was not. We have once again returned to a “law enforcement model” of how we will proceed against terrorism. There seems to be a general refusal to accept the possibility that catastrophic events may be successfully carried out again. Catastrophic events are listed in the Federal Planning Scenarios for planning activities at the state, local and federal levels, but there is little evidence that there could be an effective response and recovery for any catastrophic event. There seems to be good progress in the prevention of large scale disasters, but almost no capabilities for “consequence management.” A National Healthcare Capabilities Plan to manage hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of affected human beings has yet to be developed. Our eggs are all in the Law Enforcement and Prevention basket.

Prejudice. As a people, we have made a prejudgment that the people engaged in terrorism are thugs, bad actors, mainly poor and exist in a small criminal subset of any population. As such, America has once again treated terrorism as a criminal enterprise. As such, we have reverted to the pre 9-11 mentality; the very mentality that resulted in the loss of nearly 3,000 innocent lives on September 11th, 2001. The fact that a highly trained Army Psychiatrist killed 13 innocent people and ruined the lives of their families, along with scores of wounded people and their families was simply inconceivable prior to recent events at Fort Hood. The only real reason for something so horrible must be a mental defect and not a sane and well thought through attack on folks who represent a bad society. The Christmas attack on a plane to Detroit by a man from a wealthy family was again, an anomaly created when an otherwise decent person was radicalized and indoctrinated by thugs. Many believe there is no possibility that Universities around the world have faculty who are current day drill sergeants turning out thoroughly trained and prepared officers and soldiers.

I lump the overused term Political Correctness in the category of prejudice. We have pre-judged that terrorists are criminals and not soldiers in a war against us. Just like any prejudice, it doesn’t make sense in the “real world,” but we cling to the prejudice just the same. That’s why we frisk little old ladies and gentlemen at airports and train stations. This is why real security professionals laugh at the practice. They know it’s wrong, it’s stupid, but it does allow DHS to show it’s doing something to protect us. We are also taking precautions based on what has happened in the last terrorist act as opposed to taking steps which will thwart the next attempt to attack the United States. We are doing little more than closing the door after the horse has left the barn and the bad guys know this and must be amused at what they can make those in free societies do.

Need for normalcy. A while back, I wrote an article for Big Medicine called “From Hysteria to Complacency” where I discussed how society shifts from a very high level of anxiety about security and wellbeing, and before long, shifts right back to complacency. It’s not that we are stupid people, we just really crave normalcy, where things work the way they are supposed to work and people behave the way they should behave. I have been advocating we adopt a calm but determined Readiness mentality. In order for this to occur, federal and state agencies need to use “Risk Communicators” by way of public service advertisements (PSA) who discuss terrorism in an open and honest manner.

I have always admired how the Israeli people go about their daily lives in a normal manner, yet remaining vigilant to events which seem suspicious or things that appear out of place. They have found a way to live with danger in a very dignified manner. Their transportation infrastructure is both robust and accessible. Other free societies will need to adopt that national paradigm if they are to survive in the future.

Optimistic Bias. Citizens should be free to go about the business of living their everyday lives with freedom of movement with only reasonable caution and vigilance. Planners and Readiness professionals are not afforded that luxury. Firefighters enter burning buildings to save lives. Policemen and women put their lives in danger to protect those they are sworn to protect. EMS professionals go places and do things that no ordinary person is expected to go or do. Is it sometimes horrific? Yes it is. All the emergency jobs mentioned above have very hard, very unpleasant and often deadly aspects of their jobs. These are not professions for the faint of heart. These people are wonderful examples of mankind and they take on risks that are above and beyond the normal responsibilities of the citizen. This is also true for elected officials, emergency managers and disaster responders.

Sadly, too many of the aforementioned professionals who have sworn to make their communities ready, choose to live with a lack of vigilance. They believe deep somewhere in their psyche that if the Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) depicts catastrophic events, the planning for those events is optional. If the health and medical consequences of a certain planning scenario are too sad to think about, they focus on less daunting scenarios for drills and exercises. Imagine a police officer or firefighter saying, “I’m not going in there …it’s just too dangerous.” Would they be guilty of dereliction of duty?

Imagine an EMS person saying “That person is dying and I can’t handle that.” Would that EMS person be guilty of dereliction of duty?

Then imagine a Federal disaster planner or emergency manager saying, “This HVA planning scenario is so horrific I’m going to just ignore it.”

Would this planner or emergency manager be guilty of dereliction of duty? Do we have to wait for a catastrophe to occur before we define dereliction of duty?

http://bigmedicine.ca/wordpress/2009/12/jim-rush-why-emergency-managers-need-to-answer-the-call-to-be-terror-ready/

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

European Security Research and Innovation Forum

ESRIF stands for the "European Security Research and Innovation Forum". It is a European strategy group in the civil security research domain that was established in September 2007. Its main objective is to develop a mid and long term strategy for civil security research and innovation through public private dialogue by 2009. It delivered its Final Report in December 2009.

ESRIF was set up and supported by the EU Member States and the European Commission together. Its members represented three different interest groups ("stakeholders"):

  • Those that will use and apply the achievements of security research – knowledge, technologies and products (often large systems): European, national and regional authorities, police, fire brigades, all kinds of emergency organisations and first responders, private and public operators of critical infrastructure etc. ("demand side");
  • Those that perform security research and turn its outcome into technologies and products: universities, research establishments, industry, including SMEs ("supply side");
  • And representatives of the citizens, often non governmental organisations or special think tanks, that are affected by both potential security incidents as well as the efforts to ensure their security ("civil society")
  • http://www.esrif.eu/index.html

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Scotland: Two deaths in ongoing Anthrax outbreak involving injecting drug users

Posted by Hal Newman • December 23, 2009 • Printer-friendly

Glasgow--Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) NHS Board is currently investigating an outbreak of anthrax affecting injecting drug users (IDUs) in Scotland. The source is suspected to be contaminated heroin or other drugs. Strathclyde Police are also involved in the investigation.

As at 18 December, two cases from Glasgow had been confirmed as having anthrax infections and three other possible cases were being investigated. The first patient presented with severe cellulitis which progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome and disseminated intravascular coagulation, and died despite appropriate antibiotic treatment. By 21 December 2009, three confirmed cases (including the fatality) had been reported as well as one probable case, and four additional possible cases with clinical pictures compatible with anthrax infection. The cases are six males and two females, between 26 and 44 years of age. They developed symptoms between 7 and 20 December 2009, and originate from Glasgow and the surrounding areas. The only link so far between the cases is that they are all heroin users.

A further death has been announced on 22 December.

An urgent cascade of information has been sent out to UK hospitals, GPs, emergency departments, microbiologists, and drug teams to raise awareness and to request that cases of severe soft tissue infection or sepsis in an IDU, who has died or has been sufficiently unwell to require admission to hospital, are reported to their local public health authority.

The investigation is receiving assistance from Health Protection Scotland and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and laboratory support from the HPA’s Special Pathogens Reference Laboratory at Porton Down. In addition, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have supported the outbreak response by supplying anthrax immunoglobulin for the treatment of confirmed cases. A team from CDC has been in attendance to monitor the use of the antitoxin supplies and assist the investigation.

If a contaminated batch of heroin or other drug is involved, it is possible that further cases will be seen. Further information on test results will be provided when available. HPS and the GGC NHS Board are also liaising with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Fw: jobs

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNER (NIMS COMPLIANCE OFFICER)
City of Alexandria - Alexandria, VA
Management System; Ensures Emergency Management... in emergency planning, emergency management, fire science public administration, public health or related... $51,499.19 - $85,214.45 a year From City of Alexandria

PPM II - LOGISTICS COORDINATOR FOR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Seattle, WA
coordination within Public Health - Seattle and King County's (PHSKC) Emergency Preparedness Section, and... report to Public Health's Preparedness and Medical...From GovernmentJobs.com

Senior Associate-Disaster Technical Assistance
ICF International - Bethesda, MD
behavioral health into their disaster preparedness... in the field of behavioral health/public health and knowledge of disaster preparedness/response is helpful...From washingtonpost.com

Medical Preparedness Analyst
Battelle - Hampton, VA
medical, public health and senior leader preparedness... in providing medical threat assessments, emergency medical support and preventive health care to DoD... From Battelle

Public Health/Emergency Management Planner
ICF International - Washington, DC
degree in Public Health or related, emergency services, health or medical field; Six-plus years of practical public health emergency preparedness and response... From ICF International

Disaster Recovery Administrator
Eclipsys - Westbury, NY
and most prestigious hospitals, medical centers and... currently seeking a Disaster Recovery Administrator who will be responsible for the management of all DR... From Eclipsys

Emergency Management Specialist
Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration - Indianapolis, IN
emergency management program of the Medical Center... work closely with the Area Emergency Manager of the Emergency Management Strategic Healthcare Group and... $46,776 - $73,568 a year From Federal Government Jobs

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

24 Hour Challenge

iGive.com just notified me that they are going to attempt to donate $5,000 in just 24 hours to the IAEM Scholarship program in the next 24 hours (by Noon, Thursday). We need your help to earn the money. Please read this whole message and help out. Let’s show iGive.com how the emergency management community can rally to meet this challenge!

For each person who joins iGive using the special link below and does just one web search on the site using the iGive search utility (like a google or yahoo search engine) between now and noon Thursday, iGive.com will give IAEM Scholarship Program a dollar, up to 5,000 new members. There is no purchase necessary.

Of course, if you search more (or buy something) you’ll earn even more money for IAEM Scholarship Program. Right now, we're donating $.02 per search and a bonus $5 for that first purchase plus the usual percentage. Shopping on iGive is easy. You visit the iGive mall which links you to more than 300 online stores. Follow the link to the store of your choice and a portion of what you are purchasing comes back to the IAEM Scholarship Program. I shop this way almost every time I am online shopping. I can go from iGive.com to the stores I usually buy from, such as Amazon.com, Ebay, Popcorn Factory, and many others.

If you are not already signed up for iGive.com, follow the link and set up your account. Your charity will be IAEM Scholarship Program. Then, use their search screen to do a search and $1.00 will come to the Scholarship Program. There is a button on the left hand menu that says “Search.” Just click on that and search for any site on the internet that you may want to find. (BTW, you can use this search screen at any time and a few pennies will be sent to IAEM. And, those pennies add up to scholarships for students.)

Here is that special link: http://www.igive.com/welcome/warm_reg_promo.cfm?m=256166

The details:

- Offer active between now and 11:59 a.m., December 17, 2009 (Chicago time).

- New members only (never have been an iGive member previously). All the normal rules of membership, searching, and purchasing apply, our site has the details.

- Once we've given away $5,000, the offer ends.

We only have 24 hours. I am confident that the emergency management community can meet this challenge. Let’s get 5,000 people signed up in the next 24 hours and earn the $5,000. Remember, this will only cost you a little bit of time and will mean a tremendous amount to the scholarship program!!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

THERE PROBABLY HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO APPLY TO THE NFA.

......Thanks Scott Glazer


Due to the current economic conditions, many governments are invoking "no travel" policies.  Even though the National Fire Academy reimburses the cost of travel to and from the campus and provides the training and a dorm room at no cost, some governments are not making any exceptions.  No travel means "no travel at all, no matter the cost or value." As a result, the number of applications is "down" from last year's application period.

THERE PROBABLY HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO APPLY TO THE NFA.

The application period for the second semester of National Fire Academy resident classes closes December 15 – YOU HAVE 6 DAYS TO APPLY.

All information about courses, applications and suggestions for successful completion of the application can be found at the following sites:

Course Catalog and schedules:

www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/catalog/index.shtm

Download Applications

Tips to completing your application:

Eight Tips for Completing a Successful NFA Application

Completed applications for resident courses must be sent to the following address:

Office of Admissions, Building I, Room 216
National Emergency Training Center
16825 South Seton Avenue
Emmitsburg, MD 21727-8998

Applications may also be faxed to (301) 447-1441.

For more information, please call the Admissions Office at (800) 238-3358, ext. 1035 or (301) 447-1035.

Please share this with your organizations, friends and colleagues.

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This service is provided to you at no charge by the U.S. Fire Administration.

Privacy Policy | GovDelivery is providing this information on behalf of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and may not use the information for any other purposes.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Public Health Exercise Community


Hello all,

I am working on expanding our organization's capacity to support exercise development and conduct, and would like to develop a resource for colleagues both inside WHO and outside, who are charged with the development of public health exercises.  My colleagues within the organization and in the broader field are frequently asked to develop or support exercises with little support to them in how the process works.  I would like to extend an invitation of membership in this online community for any member of this list who would like to participate.  Please email me (not the entire list please) if you would like an invitation.

My hope is that beginning in January, we can have one discussion per quarter, moderated by an expert in that field. 

If you choose to become a member of this community, please let me know if you would be interested in moderating one of these discussions and any topics you would like to suggest.

Thanks

Ms Tamara Curtin Niemi
Technical Officer
HSE/EPR/GAR

Tel. direct: +41 22 791 1267
Mobile: +41 79 594 6407
E-mail: curtinniemit@who.int
       

      World Health Organization
      20, avenue Appia
      CH-1211 Geneva 27
      tel: +41 22 791 2111
      fax: +41 22 791 3111
      visit WHO at: www.who.int

       


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Home Town Crisis Management Exercise - January 26, 2010




Click on Images to make bigger

PhilaU Connect - December 10, 2009

PhilaU Connect: Professional International Presentations

Will be presenting

“UK Medical Responses to Terrorism"

December 10, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)






The PhilaU Connect Professional International Presentations is proud to present Jennifer Cole who is Head of the Emergency Management research programme. She joined RUSI in 2007 from a background in journalism and is a serving military reservist, with operational training in CBRN response. She has run workshops on CBRN Resilience and the Role of the Media in Emergencies and has good formal and informal links with the UK CBRN response community including the Cabinet Office, Department of Health, Defra and the Home Office.

Instructions outlining how to join the PhilaU Connect will be sent via email prior to the event. Each PhilaU Connect presentation will include a certificate of attendance emailed to the attendee. Questions or to register, please contact Annette Solarski at solarskia@philau.edu .

Alumni Guest Speaker on Chat

The first chat for our Principles in DMM course is on December 16th at 1900 hours via Adobe Connect. The first guest speaker will be an alumni from our DMM program who graduated from Philadelphia University in May 2009, Adam Perper. Mr. Perper will speak about his new position at The University Hospital – University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) as the Program Development Analyst for planning and instructing in Disaster Preparedness. In this position, Adam is responsible for performing technical planning related to disaster preparedness, general hospital safety, and fire safety for University Hospital licensed facilities. In addition, he implements the National Incident Management System (NIMS) throughout the healthcare facility including all appropriate departments and business units. In addition, Mr. Perper works in conjunction with the Disaster Preparedness Department and Emergency Management Committee to develop and implement the annual Disaster Training and Education Schedule to ensure departmental compliance with the Joint Commission, state, federal, and other regulatory training requirements.