InfoGram 34-12: August 23, 2012

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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Preparing for the Height of Hurricane Season

While the official start of hurricane season is June 1, the peak of the season doesn’t happen until September.  The National Hurricane Center website's section on Tropical Cyclone Climatology offers several examples of maps and graphs showing the prevalence of hurricanes during the second half of the season and what part of the country is more likely to get hit by a tropical storm or hurricane.

It is a good time to reassess hurricane preparedness steps for the home and workplace.  Emergency agency offices are like any other business and can be affected by storm surge and winds.  Employees who have not ensured their homes are secure can be torn between their job and their family obligations.

The Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) lists several guides for homes and businesses to enhance structural stability during hurricanes .  They include:

• Windows and Doors – discusses protective barriers and fasteners.
• Roofing – guidance for both residential and commercial roofing.
• Water Damage Checklist and Solutions – stopping and redirecting water.
• Soffit and Vents – keeping water out of the attic during high wind storms.
• Garage Doors – high winds can push in doors, making an opening for water.

They also offer a list of 18 states hardest hit by hurricanes and how the building codes measure up based on a model developed to rate building regulatory systems.

(Source: Institute for Business and Home Safety)

Portable Radiation Detectors for Responders

With funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Se­curity (DHS), law enforcement officers and other first responders across Illinois are being provided with portable radiation detectors for use in patrols and accident response in large numbers. Illinois agencies partnered with the Argonne National Laboratory during the initial pilot program.  The project was funded through Department of Homeland Security (DHS) State Homeland Security and Buffer Zone Protection Grants.

The state developed and provided the necessary specialized training.  Detectors can be mounted in squad cars or be carried by an officer.   Use of the devices is voluntary, but demand has so-far exceeded supply. 2,000 of the original 6,200 devices were given to Japan for use by after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.

There are several benefits of having portable radiation detectors.  Detection of possible radiological dispersal devices and dirty bombs was a piece of the justification for the program.  Responders living near nuclear facilities are able to detect levels of radiation during an accident instead of relying on outside agencies.

Use in daily operations like traffic accidents was also a benefit.  The detectors have several adjustable settings that trigger different levels of alarms.  The type of alarm usually tells a trained officer at the scene if the vehicle triggering the alarm may have been carrying medical equipment, which sometimes contains small amounts of radiological materials, and therefore is nothing to be worried about.

(Source: TechBeat)

Lessons Learned: Policing for Major Events

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) hosted an Executive Session attended by police leadership with experience managing public safety for large events within their jurisdiction.  The PERF report "Managing Major Events: Best Practices from the Field " (PDF, 2.3 Mb) is a collection of first-person accounts of the handling of these events along with recommendations for better planning of such events in the future.  The report is part of PERF's Critical Issues in Policing Series, developed through support from Motorola.

Municipal police chiefs and deputy chiefs discuss both good and bad decisions made during their response to events like hurricane Katrina, the Minneapolis bridge collapse, large high-profile sporting events, and several political and international events.  Federal agents also weigh in with advice from the field on how to better handle interagency communication.

Recommendations based on lessons learned include handling the media, the problem of mass arrests, use of live video feeds for decision support, responding to violent vs. non-violent protestors, and the use of the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

(Source: Police Executive Research Forum)

Free Public Health and Management Courses

Universities like Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania are offering courses online free of charge through the website Coursera.

According to HSToday, universities developing the courses say "the online courses are as rigorous as their campus counterparts," making the program appealing to people looking to improve their skills in a tight economy.  Currently, credit is not offered by Coursera, but is sometimes offered as transfer credit by other schools.

Two main topical areas are of interest to those in emergency services include:

• Public Health: "Community Change in Public Health," "Rationing and Allocating Scares Medical Resources," and "Cardiac Arrest, Hypothermia, and Resuscitation Science."
• Management: "Intro to Operations Management," "Organizational Analysis," "Think Again: How to Reason and Argue," and "Information Security and Risk Management in Context."

(Source: HSToday)