Following its November 2013 Product Safety Alert for firefighter turnout gear, W. L. Gore & Associates has worked with fire departments, dealers, and manufacturers throughout North America to assess and reseal, as necessary, the seams of turnouts with Gore moisture barriers. Working in conjunction with the remediation program, Gore has developed a new GORE-SEAM tape that is unaffected by storage interactions. As a result, it eliminates the need for open-air storage of new gear.
The 2013-2014 National Snapshot of Public Health Preparedness - the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) fifth preparedness report - demonstrates how federal investments enhance the nation's ability to respond to public health threats and emergencies.
The needs of children in disasters will be the focus of an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters will provide expert advice and consultation to the HHS Secretary on comprehensive planning and policies to meet the needs of children before, during, and after a disaster or other public health emergency.
There are plots to use food as a delivery mechanism for weapons of mass destruction and plots to intentionally alter food products for economic gain. As such, food defense is everybody's business. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently asking for comments that would help mitigate the intentional adulteration of the food supply.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule that is a crucial step in the development of a national electronic manifest (e-Manifest) system, which will upgrade the current paper-based system of tracking hazardous waste to an electronic one.
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson recently joined Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John S. Pistole at Washington Dulles International Airport for the opening of the newest TSA PreCheck Application Center. The application centers will continue to open in cities across the country.
Allegion PLC, a leading global provider of security products and solutions, has announced that its Schlage biometric hand readers were used at the Olympic Park construction site in London, which enrolled 81,000 people and handled over 30 million transactions, throughout the five year build program.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a staff of people dedicated to protecting the nation's food supply. These Food Defense and Emergency Coordination Staff members are actively participating in conferences, meetings, and exercises throughout the year and providing valuable tools to national and international stakeholders. A summary of the 2013 activities provides a glimpse of these collaborative efforts.
With more than 40 Olympic venues serving an estimated 14 million meals, the 2012 London Olympic Games were susceptible to many potential foodborne illnesses - both intentional and unintentional. However, through education, communications, surveillance, and a focus on surge capacity, London provided a model that could help protect the food supply at other mass gatherings around the world.
Charlotte officials will utilize Motorola's Migration Assurance Program (MAP): (a) to keep their ASTRO® P25 network software and hardware refreshed; and (b) to implement technology enhancements over the coming years, both of which will help to ensure that the city's first responders are always equipped with the best technology needed to meet public safety communications demands.
The Xavier University Williams College of Business, Department of Criminal Justice and the Xavier Leadership Center have partnered to create a Public Sector Leader Certificate Program (PSLCP). The PSLCP is designed for leaders in law enforcement, public safety, and city management seeking to develop the knowledge, skills, and tools required to successfully lead their organizations.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has revised its policy statement on consumer products containing radioactive material. The revisions bring the statement up to date, officials said, but do not represent a policy shift.
Soligenix Inc. has announced significant steps forward in the development of ThermoVax, the company's proprietary vaccine thermo-stabilization platform technology. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential for heat-sensitive vaccines formulated using this technology to withstand temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to one year.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the department's new Safety Assurance Factors for EHR (Electronic Health Records) Resilience (SAFER) guides. These guides offer a suite of tools that include checklists and recommended practices designed to help healthcare providers - and the organizations that support them - assess and optimize the safe and proper use of EHRs.
Zwipe has announced that it will introduce its new next-generation biometric card, a contactless smart card credential with on-card fingerprint reading. Eliminating the problems of exclusively deploying PINs and standard cards, the wirelessly powered Zwipe biometric card lets users authenticate themselves directly on the card using their fingerprints.
Revision Military, a world leader in protective soldier solutions, wins a contract to supply the Defense Logistics Agency - Troop Support, with 90,000 Advanced Combat Helmets (ACH). In addition to leveraging existing manufacturing technologies to deliver head protective solutions for today - like the ACH - Revision is also shaping the future of soldier protection with innovative composite materials, new manufacturing processes, and integrated designs.
In the not-too-distant past, most food consumed by Americans traveled directly from the farm to the kitchen table. Today, there are a dozen or so stops of varying duration on the way - all of them vulnerable to mold, theft, sabotage, spoiling, and/or infection from zoonotic diseases.
When food products disappear, there are no serial or vehicle identification numbers to identify these stolen goods when they re-enter legal markets. Although there is a significant financial concern to the companies, a greater public concern is the safety of the food itself - ranging from improper handling and storage to intentional adulteration.
Recovery begins during the planning stage. As past unintentional cases of food contamination have shown, the effects of an intentional incident could be extremely costly to food processors and the nation as a whole. Understanding the features that processors should include in their recovery plans will help to quickly restore operations and public trust.
The Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security offers a Fusion Center Leaders Program, which is designed to enhance critical thinking related to homeland security and public safety intelligence issues at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels of government, and in the private sector.
Tacprogear, a leading manufacturer of tactical equipment used by professionals around the globe, announces the Tacprogear STASH Pack, which rapidly deploys from a small packed position to a mid-size backpack.
The Harvard Fire Executive Fellowship Program provides senior fire executives an opportunity to attend the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program. This program is sponsored through a partnership between the International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Fire Service Training Association/Fire Protection Publications, the National Fire Protection Association, and the U.S. Fire Administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) marks the end of 2013 with its eye on the threat of a "nightmare bacteria." The highly drug-resistant bacteria, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, spread from one medical facility in one state in 2001 to medical facilities in 46 states and counting in 2013.
In a state with a large agricultural and food industry, protecting that infrastructure is a difficult yet necessary task that New Mexico takes very seriously. Guidance and support from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have helped initiate innovative programs and exercises to protect the state's cattle, alfalfa hay, milk, cheese, pecans, chile, and other agricultural products.
Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business offers a distinctive Executive Master's in Leadership (EML) Program designed for executives who seek to advance their leadership skills and gain a deeper understanding of management strategy. The 12-month program begins in March.
When multiagency meetings take time away from everyday tasks, productivity may decrease - but only temporarily. Those participating in such meetings should recognize, though, that the productivity lost that day usually will be reimbursed, with interest, when the same participants simultaneously respond to future incidents.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the release of the chemical screening data accessible through the new interactive Chemical Safety for Sustainability or iCSS Dashboard. The iCSS Dashboard provides access to data from innovative screening technologies for chemicals found in industrial and consumer products, food additives, and drugs.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the launch of the 2014 Secretary's Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative for college students. Through this program, more than 100 unpaid student volunteer assignments will be available to support the department's cyber mission at local DHS field offices in more than 60 locations across the country.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), working in partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency and Public Safety Canada, has concluded a five-month pilot test of cargo pre-inspection practices and has deemed the concept feasible. Phase I of the initiative was designed as a "proof of concept" to determine the feasibility of stationing CBP officers on Canadian soil to pre-inspect selected southbound trucks, drivers, and cargo before arrival into the United States.
The Food Defense Mitigation Strategies Database is one of several tools developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help the food industry better protect the nation's food supply from deliberate acts of contamination or tampering.
When a chemical or biological attack occurs, the first responders on the scene need the proper training and equipment not only to protect themselves but also to save others during the critical first hours after the attack. Today, unfortunately, not all of the nation's responders receive the same training and/or possess the same equipment.
