Saturday, July 19, 2008
GERM WARFARE
By Kathryn M. Hansen
Following the anthrax bioterrorist incidents in 2001, first responders and hazmat teams have investigated ways to respond to such attacks. Unlike explosions...
HEADS OF STATE
What changes do you foresee in the role of state fire marshals with the new Department of Homeland Security? What role are you playing on behalf of the...
Searchable Compendium of Terrorism Training Launched on the Web
FIRE CHIEF Staff
The Department of Homeland Security launched a new Web-based compendium in November to provide state and local officials a single location to quickly...
Beyond the Basics
When Congress holds hearings to discuss national policy for WMD response, John Eversole often speaks as the fire service hazmat guy. Eversole was on the...
AFFAIRS OF STATE
By Stephen L. Hermann
Arizona is somewhat unusual in that it has no county fire departments. Outside of some municipal city limits, small volunteer fire districts have been...
ARMED FORCES
By Bret Lanz & Jessica Holmes
The work of emergency responders is constantly changing. In addition to being responsible for disasters fire, industrial chemical spills, gas releases...
Illinois Issues TOPOFF II Report
Pat West, Senior Editor
The Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System has released its final supplemental report on its participation in TOPOFF II, a weeklong full-scale weapons of mass destruction exercise last May mandated by Congress....
Not If, But When?
Janet Wilmoth, Editor
The Leadership Summit held by the International Association of Fire Chiefs last week was the largest in its history, with fire service leadership from 37 states attending. An upcoming career development handbook for fire officers, lessons learned from the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery effort, next year's FIRE Grants and development of the Citizen Corps Councils were among the topics covered....
USAR Teams Are Ready for WMD
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces are now capable of responding to a known or suspected weapons-of-mass-destruction incident, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As of Sept. 30, each of the 28 teams has received new personnel, new equipment and new training for WMD.
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Ridge Approves Initial National Response Plan
Department of Homeland Security
U. S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge today announced approval of the Initial National Response Plan, an interim plan designed to...
NIST Seeks Interviews With WTC Responders & Survivors
FIRE CHIEF Staff
As part of its ongoing two-year investigation of the World Trade Center disaster, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is beginning interviews this fall with the emergency personnel on scene, WTC survivors and people who were in contact with WTC victims on Sept. 11. The information will be used to study occupant behavior, evacuation and the emergency response to the disaster....
DHS Announces Grants for EOCs and Interoperable Communications Systems
Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday announced grants totalling $74 million to 19 states to improve Emergency Operations Centers and $80 million to 17 communities to develop interoperable communications systems....
Rescue teams needed to save more than victims
Bruce Evans
With both patient-care and fireground experience, versatile rescuers can bridge the gap between suppression and EMS....
Not Quiet on the Fire Service Front
By Deputy Chief Greg Neely, Broken Arrow (Okla.) Fire Department
There’s a reason why we’re called first responders, and it’s up to us to tell the government why....
FEMA launches RAMP
FEMA has introduced the Remedial Action Management Program to identify and remedy operational and programmatic issues encountered in disaster response...
Primedia launches Homeland One training network
Primedia Workplace Learning has unveiled Homeland One, a multi-million dollar communication and training solution designed to enhance homeland security....
Homeland One network offers domestic preparedness training
Primedia Workplace Learning, a division of Primedia Inc. and the parent company of Fire & Emergency Training Network, is preparing to launch Homeland...
CDC recommends smallpox vaccination to protect persons exposed to monkeypox
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued interim guidance advising states that persons investigating monkeypox outbreaks and involved...
Order WMD Posters
Additional copies of the FIRE CHIEF 2003 Guide to Federal WMD Response Assets poster are available for purchase at 800-441-0294....
Reactive approach
By Phil Welch, Director, Gaston College Regional Emergency Services Training Center, Dallas, N.C.
Nuclear power plants are mandated to provide their own fire protection, but where do these brigades learn their skills? This emergency training center takes a proactive method to reactor protection....
Force of union conquers all
Janet Wilmoth
Twenty years ago in a small used bookshop in England, some heavy gold-leafing on a blue-leather cover caught my eye. It was a pocket-size book called...
Dressed for defense
By Jeffrey O. Stull, President, International Personnel Protection Inc., Austin, Texas
With the help of several organizations, the protective clothing industry is moving to offer better guidance and more appropriate levels of protection for first responders....
Watch your backs
By Bttn. Chief Porter T. Shellhammer ,Sarasota County (Fla.) Fire Department
Proper vigilance can protect your responders from secondary threats at incident scenes....
Smallpox vacillation
By Capt. Bill Wade, Public Information Officer, Tampa (Fla.) Fire Rescue
Still not sure that vaccinations are the way to go? Perhaps the experience of Tampa first responders will change your mind....
Hypothetical TOPOFF 2 incidents tax responders
During the week of May 12 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Domestic Preparedness and U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with federal,...
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