PhilaU Connect TOPOFF

Below is the recorded link to the PhilaU Connect Session Top Off given by Jack Whitney on June 30, 2009. Copy and paste link into your web browser http://philau.na4.acrobat.com/p90212470/

The Operational Value of Threat, Risk, and Vulnerability Assessments

The Operational Value of Threat, Risk, and Vulnerability Assessments is a course designed by the National Domestic Preparedness Coalition in cooperation with George Mason University for the U.S Department of Homeland Security, under the 2007 Competitive Training Grant Program. The 3-day training course will be presented throughout the United States to assist homeland security professionals, from all emergency response disciplines and the private sector, responsible for managing risk, to understand and use operationally, information gathered in various threat, risk, and vulnerability assessment methodologies.

Course content focuses on helping homeland security professionals analyze and apply information gathered in the assessment process to enhance operations, including: patrol and tactical operations, intelligence gathering, community programs, emergency planning, resource allocation, response to Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) color-code changes and DHS Alerts, response and recovery, and selection of technology. Participants will receive a Participant Manual, access to a web-based post-course resource site, and a resource CD. Additionally, participants will receive 2.4 CEU credits from George Mason University and a certificate of attendance from DHS and the National Domestic Preparedness Coalition.

http://www.ndpci.us/opvaltrva.html

Summer DHS Funded Courses

Summer DHS Funded Courses

There are slots available for the IRTB classes between July 21-24 and July 28-31 as well as all of August classes.

There are also slots open for the PRSBI classes August 10-14 and August 17-21.

This is fully funded DHS training. Further details regarding this training are listed below.

If you have any questions or I can be of assistance, do not hesitate to ask.

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The challenges facing the emergency responder community are evolving rapidly in today's security aware climate. EMRTC has been a leader in providing DHS approved training to qualified First Responders from all over the nation. EMRTC will continue to provide training to our nation's First Responders to help them effectively respond to events involving explosives.
Course Offerings

Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings (IRTB)
Prepares emergency responders to react effectively, work cooperatively, and apply countermeasures in any incident involving explosives.

* DHS sponsored and certified train-the-trainer course in Socorro, New Mexico
* Awareness and performance level classes available locally

Prevention of and Response to Suicide Bombing Incidents (PRSBI)
Provides senior state, tribal and local emergency responders with the knowledge and skills needed to develop policies for the prevention, interdiction, response, and mitigation of a suicide bombing attack.

* DHS sponsored and certified train-the-trainer course in Playas, New Mexico
* Awareness and performance level classes available locally

A Practitioner's Guide to Understanding Insurgency and Dealing with it Effectively

A Practitioner's Guide to Understanding Insurgency and Dealing with it Effectively
by Colonel G. L. Lamborn, Small Wars Journal


"The author has been a student and observer, and sometimes a participant, in various insurgencies since his "initiation" in Vietnam in 1969. What is presented in this work is a distillation of those experiences and studies gathered over approximately forty years on four continents, to include some firsthand experience with the contemporary American struggles in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as some experience in working with insurgent movements in the 1980s. This short work is intended to give the reader an understanding of the true nature of insurgency and a glimpse at the reasons why we have not always dealt with it effectively. If the reader gains some insight into insurgency, and can apply his knowledge intelligently, Jimmy Doolittle's wish will come true: we will start fighting more from the neckline up - and less from the neckline down."

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/263-lamborn.pdf

DEFENDING THE CITY

DEFENDING THE CITY: NYPD'S COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIONS

An overview of the NYPD counterterrorism program...
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/falkenrath20090623.pdf

Ten Lessons Learned From Past Rail Accidents

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

By Andrew Moseman

The death toll from Monday's terrible rail accident in Washington, D.C., hasn't yet been verified, but early estimates put it at nine people, with scores of others injured.

While rescuers continue to search the wreckage for survivors, investigators from both Washington's Metro and the National Transportation Safety Board have begun their investigations into the deadliest train wreck in D.C. history.

Months may pass before we know exactly what caused one train on the Metro's Red Line to slam into the back of another, jackknifing on top of it. Early speculation holds that the operator never hit the brake before slamming into the train in front.

When investigators find out more, this week's crash will join other crashes scattered through the years that taught train operators valuable safety lessons.

1. Paris, 1903

The Crash: By the official count, 84 people died in the Couronnes Disaster, a tragic rail fire in turn-of-the century Paris. After the train caught fire, many passengers tried to flee, but found no escape from the tunnel.

Here's the original New York Times story on the disaster, which reported that 100 were dead, "Suffocated in Tunnel by Smoke From Burning Train."

The Lesson: Transit historian Brian Cudahy, who wrote about the disaster in "A Century of Subways," tells Popular Mechanics that that the French disaster led companies to adopt some of the fire-safety procedures we're familiar with today. Most notably, it established the idea that fire exits should be available and marked.

2. Brooklyn, 1918

The Crash: Multiple factors conspired to make Nov. 1, 1918, a dangerous day to ride a train in New York City. A union of locomotive engineers had just gone on strike, pressing an inexperienced motorman into service. And the tunnel on Malbone St. in Brooklyn had just opened.

That day, operator Edward Luciano took a tight corner at more than 30 miles per hour, wrecking the train. Cudahy wrote an entire book about the disaster. In his research he confirmed 93 fatalities, though other sources claim as many as 103.

The Lesson: Cudahy says that by 1918 New York's subways were already using "dead man's controls," which stop the train if the driver is incapacitated. And some had controls that automatically slowed a train that was going too fast, especially downhill. But unfortunately, "the line over which the fatal train was operating did not have such hardware," Cudahy says.

3. Chicago, 1977

The Crash: The Windy City's most catastrophic rail accident came in 1977, when three cars fell off the elevated tracks after two trains collided at the Ravenswood stop downtown.

Chicago had just installed a system that made a train brake automatically if it sensed another ahead, much like what was supposed to happen but didn't in the D.C. accident Monday.

However, Chicago operators back then could override the stop signal if the train were traveling at less than 15 miles per hour. And because "ghost signals" happened occasionally, many drivers did roll past red lights.

"The system interpreted the station stop as the required stop, and so the motorman should have been operating under 'sight rules,'" Cudahy says. "But he didn't. And he didn't even keep his eyes on the track ahead."

The Lesson: In the aftermath of this wreck, the Chicago Transit Authority changed the rules and forbade operators from proceeding on their own. From then on, they would have to call Central Control before proceeding through a stop sign.

4. England, 1988

The Crash: Great Britain has seen plenty of rail accidents over the years. The deadliest in recent times happened near Clapham Junction in southern London. Thirty-five people died in a rush-hour collision of two trains carrying an estimated 1,300 people between them.

The Lesson: An inquiry into the accident recommended that the entire British rail system install an automatic train protection system. But the government balked at enormous bill — nearly $1.5 billion — and instead privatized the rail system.

5. Australia, 1999

The Crash: Another disaster on a curve occurred in 1999, this time near Glenbrook, New South Wales, Australia. After stopping at a signal, an intercity passenger train came around the bend and ran into the back of an Indian Pacific long-distance passenger train, killing seven and injuring 51.

The special commission of inquiry report cited several problems that led to the crash. First, it noted, "there has been a general failure in New South Wales organizations to embrace advances that have been made in the management of rail safety internationally and in other industries."

However, in this case the more important problem was the failure of communication. Before the accident, while sitting at the stop signal, the driver of the intercity train reportedly asked the signaler, "I'm going past it am I, mate?" The signaler replied, "You certainly are," and the driver took off, only to hit the Indian Pacific train parked at another red light further up the road.

While the two trains shared the same track, they used totally different communications systems and couldn't talk to each other. So the intercity train driver had no idea the other train was up ahead until he pulled around the corner and saw it, but by then it was too late. And when the Indian Pacific driver tried to call the signaler before the accident, he didn't get through.

The Lesson: In 2004, the Australasian Railway Association put together a plan to unify communications for all its rail lines.

6. Baltimore, 2001

The Crash: People aren't the only cargo endangered by rail accidents. In 2001 a cargo train carrying hazardous materials caught fire in the Howard Street tunnel in Baltimore, burning for three days with temperatures as high as 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Lesson: The Baltimore train wasn't carrying spent nuclear waste, but other trains that pass through that tunnel do carry such cargo.

The state of Nevada and the National Science Foundation both issued reports in 2003 stating that a nuclear fuel disaster in the area could contaminate 32 square miles, and that the Baltimore fire in 2001 appeared to exceed the temperatures that casks carrying spent nuclear fuel could withstand.

However, a report by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission disagreed, finding that no nuclear fuel would have been released in such a fire.

7. South Carolina, 2005

The Crash: America's next toxic train disaster spilled liquefied chlorine in Graniteville, S.C. A cargo train collided with a parked locomotive because a switch was in the wrong position.

The Lesson: As a result of that wreck and others like it, the Next Generation Rail Tank Car Project is rolling out new designs for cargo cars that could minimize the damage from these disasters through use of double walls, crumple zones and stronger steel.

8. Japan, 2005

The Crash: More than 100 people died in 2005 when a train jumped a curve in Amagasaki, Japan. The rail company, JR West, admitted the accident could have been avoided if the train had been equipped with an automatic stopping system to prevent the operator from taking the curve too fast.

The Lesson: The accident also provided a cultural lesson. While the driver took the blame for taking a corner 46 kilometers per hour faster than he should have, the rail company took flack for putting too much pressure on its drivers.

Before the accident, conductors who made mistakes were forced to go through "re-education programs," so they were under intense pressure to keep on schedule.

9. Los Angeles, 2008

The Crash: It's calamitous enough when one train rear-ends another, as happened Monday in Washington. But it's often deadlier when two trains meet head-on.

That happened last year in Chatsworth, Calif., when a Metrolink commuter train met a Union Pacific freight train and 25 people died. The investigation concluded that the Metrolink operator missed a signal that he wasn't clear to enter a single track area because the freight train had right-of-way.

The Lesson: Kathryn O'Leary Higgins, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board panel that probed the crash, said she found four major safety violations leading to the crash (for one, a conductor was texting just before the crash). Metrolink will soon install cameras on its trains to monitor operators and engineers.

10. Staten Island, 2008

The Crash: And then, there's always simple operator error. Last December, an MTA train derailed on New York City's Staten Island after the operator, who had just had more than eight hours off to celebrate Christmas between shifts, missed a safety stop and then crashed into a steel bumper.

In the final seconds, she reached for the emergency brake but pulled the air horn instead. The train was out of service, so no passengers were on board. But the train operator lost her job.

The Lesson: Make sure that train operators are getting enough sleep.

Employment Opportunity: Clark County Emergency Management Director

Director
Clark County Emergency Management

Clark County is seeking a qualified candidate for the position of Emergency Management Director. An associate's degree in an emergency response,
criminal justice or related field is required.

Bachelor's Degree preferred. Experience in emergency response or law enforcement or any combination of education and experience that provides equivalent knowledge, skills and abilities. Administrative experience required. Ability and availability to respond to emergency calls day or night, on short notice, and to work long hours when conditions require. Qualified candidates must possess the ability to prepare and administer federal and state grants. A valid Driver's License and dependable, available transportation are necessary. Excellent oral and written communication skills and a high degree of professionalism desired, as well as the ability to speak effectively before public gatherings. Familiarity with software such as the Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Word, Excel) is required.

Knowledge of civil government organization and administration at the federal, state and local levels is preferred. Ability to plan, coordinate and supervise activities of a wide variety of public officials, government agencies, volunteers, and community groups. Ability to make sound judgments and decisions during emergency or stressful situations. Ability to coordinate the work of others. Ability to prepare and maintain clear and accurate records and reports. Knowledge of Wisconsin and federal laws, regulations and practices pertaining to emergency Management on a countywide level. Knowledge of requirements of the SARA Title III program including emergency Planning, Emergency Release Notification, Hazardous Chemical Reporting and Community Right-To-Know criteria. Ability to carry out directives and implement programs and policies set forth by governing committees. Salary range is $21.96- $25.73 per hour depending on qualifications.

Please submit a cover letter and resume no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 10, 2009, to: Clark County – Office of Personnel, 517 Court Street, Rm. 205, Neillsville, WI 54456.