This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.
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Record high temperatures were recorded in several cities as a heat wave recently blanketed parts of the United States. The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) noted that the arrival of extremely high temperatures increased operational challenges for Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel at various locations including New York City and Washington, D.C.
According to the National Weather Service, heat kills and injures more people than any other weather event such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and lightening. Summer heat waves can endanger the health of first responders and the reliability of their operations. Firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics are among the most susceptible to heat related injuries. The physical and mental demands associated with emergency operations, coupled with the environmental dangers of extreme heat and humidity, create conditions that adversely affect the health and impair the safety of responder personnel.
The EMR-ISAC acquired a few heat injury prevention suggestions from various sources to protect ESS personnel during the performance of duties. These recommendations follow for the consideration of leaders, owners, and operators of emergency departments and agencies:
More information about heat stress is available from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Magazine for Environment, Health, and Safety Leaders (EHS Today).
Daily research by the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) continuously substantiates the importance and value for all Emergency Services Sector (ESS) organizations to familiarize themselves with critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) within their jurisdictions. In fact, several response operations performed throughout the United States have demonstrated that actual preparedness can be achieved when ESS departments and agencies contact CIKR managers to coordinate, conduct, and evaluate periodic joint training.
A fine example of this recently occurred at McDuffie County, Georgia. The county fire department conducted annual training with appropriate personnel of the Dixie Pipeline Company to learn about the dangers and rehearse the strategies for working a pipeline disaster. Therefore, when the firefighters arrived at a Thomson propane pipeline explosion on 5 July, they knew where the emergency valves were located. Additionally, because they were familiar with the current Dixie Pipeline Company authorities, the firefighters quickly acquired permission to shut down the valves thereby mitigating the circumstances. Referring to their joint training, a Dixie spokesman said: “Because of that we were able to minimize the situation a little bit.”
It is commonly accepted throughout the emergency services that joint training provides practical and beneficial opportunities to rehearse emergency plans, incident command protocols, operational procedures, mission-essential skills, etc. The EMR-ISAC has observed that when efficiently planned and executed, joint training will reinforce the survivability, continuity of operations, and mission success of participating organizations.
Experiences from recent emergencies revealed the appropriateness for state and local emergency preparedness plans to address the unique issues of special needs populations. Consequently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funded the preparation of a new toolkit by the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Rand Corporation. The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) confirmed the toolkit (PDF, 5.4 Mb) intends to assist state and local public health agencies to improve their emergency preparedness activities.
The toolkit summary indicates that its purpose is “to distill the most relevant strategies, practices, and resources from a variety of sources, including peer-reviewed research, government reports, and the trade literature, to identify priority populations and critical strategies for addressing their needs.” It also highlights several practices that local public health agencies have found to be effective for enhancing preparedness planning and response for special needs populations, the challenges they have faced in implementing those practices, and the strategies they have employed to overcome those challenges.
The EMR-ISAC particularly observed that many of the strategies, practices, and resources provided in this toolkit are useful for the plans and operations of Emergency Services Sector departments and agencies (e.g., police, fire, and emergency medical services).
Additional information about the new toolkit for special needs populations can be seen at the website of Homeland Security Today.
The American Public University System notified the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) that it posted online eight American Military University (AMU) Checklist Cards.
The EMR-ISAC examined the AMU checklist cards and verified each one contains helpful information for Emergency Services Sector personnel when performing assigned duties. The contents of these checklists have the potential to prevent injury to first responders as well as the citizens they are assisting or protecting.
The checklists can be saved, downloaded, and reproduced at no cost, and are available for the following specific topics: Advanced Explosive Incident Countermeasures, Methamphetamine Lab, Officer Safety, Officer Stress Management, Patrol Response to Critical Incidents, Suicide Bomber, WMD Response, and Improvised Explosive Device Countermeasures.
The U.S. Fire Administration/EMR-ISAC does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and does not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
This INFOGRAM may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. EMR-ISAC personnel believe this constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by email at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.
The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm
For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by email at NICC@dhs.gov.
When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
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U.S. Fire Administration, 16825 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727 | USNG: 18SUJ00529652
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July 15, 2010 InfoGram