In 2004 the Royal Society published a major report, Making the UK safer: detecting and decontaminating chemical and biological agents, which provided recommendations for improving the UK's capability to respond to a chemical or biological incident and minimise its impact.
Today we are publishing a statement, Making the UK safer: a five year review, which reviews UK Government progress against some of our major recommendations. Five years on the UK is better prepared to detect and respond to the malicious use of chemical and biological agents against the civilian population. However, the statement highlights several outstanding issues requiring further attention.
We will be working through Sahana for resource and other needs in dealing with the earthquake in Haiti. Please use the link below for finding out resource needs, missing persons, and other information. We will continue to update from here as well.
If you are interesting in deployment we are looking for disaster/emergency managers, logisticians and emergency medical personnel to be put on standby. Must have valid passport, be willing to deploy for up to 90 days and ready to live in adverse conditions. If interested, please send me your resume to: arichman@itrrintel.org
Many citizens will be looking for ways to provide assistance to the people of Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake that recently occurred. The U.S. Department of State is the lead federal agency for relief efforts and has provided the following (attached) information regarding donations, requests for information and other relief issues.
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U.S.State DepartmentHaiti Relief Information
The StateDepartmentOperationsCenter has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747 (due to heavy volume, some callers may receive a recording). Our embassy is still in the early stages of contacting American Citizens through our Warden Network. Communications are very difficult within Haiti at this time.
Private Offers of Assistance for Haiti Relief Efforts Anyone wishing to donate or provide assistance in Haiti following the devastating earthquake that struck near Port au Prince on Jan 12, 2010, is asked to contact the Center for International Disaster Information. The Center, operated under a grant from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and initial support from IBM, has become a valuable resource to the public, as well as US government agencies, foreign embassies and international corporations. CIDI has established a dedicated page to coordinate Haiti support at: http://www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a/
You can also text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill. Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts.
Official U.S. Department of State website. Contains contact information for those looking for family members, as well as donation information.http://www.state.gov/
Official U.S. Department of State blogsite called, “A Disaster in Haiti and How You Can Help”. Contains information on ways to provide assistance.http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/
* Haiti's already fragile health system at huge risk after quake * Before earthquake, Haiti was subject of intense public health efforts * In addition to injuries, risk of infections, disease skyrockets * New homeless population creates even more health challenges
This weekend, LLIS.gov will launch a redesign of the site based heavily on member feedback. The site will be more streamlined, personalized, and easy to use. To make this transition as smooth as possible, the LLIS.gov Team has created a guidance document, Navigating the New LLIS.gov, which is available on www.llis.gov. You can also post and view questions about the new look on the new January 2010 Redesign Feedback Channel, also available on the LLIS.gov homepage.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me Jennifer Smither at jsmither@llis.dhs.gov.
Please click on the image above for registration information.
The Center for Special Operations and Training is hosting an ICS 300 course February 4-5, 2010 at the Albert Einstein Medical Center. The course will cover organization and staffing of expanding incidents.
Topics included: ICS Fundamentals Review Unified Command Incident/Event Assessment and Agency Guidance in establishing Incident Objectives Incident Resources Management Planning Process Demobilization, Transfer of Command and Close Out
The MS in Disaster Medicine and Management is a comprehensive graduate degree program encompassing all facets of disaster management. Our students engage in the study of: terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, hazardous materials, natural disasters, psychological aspects of disasters, acute traumatic stress intervention, public health considerations of disasters, research methods and disaster planning and management including risk assessment, incident command and resource allocation. We welcome medical, public safety and defense professionals working in the public and private sectors to this blog. To learn more, read this blog and explore our Top Links.
