The International Association of Emergency Managers provides a golden example by demonstrating how global-outreach programs can benefit all members of a specific professional community - and, not incidentally, the varied publics they serve. Here is a must-read insider's report from a recognized U.S. expert.
by Dr. David Cullin, Senior Vice President, Technology Transition, ICx Technologies Inc. -
"The year 2013" is the best-guess estimate of a high-level government commission of when the United States "can expect a terrorist attack...[involving] nuclear or biological materials." Which means there is very little time left to prepare for Armageddon. A senior corporate executive and highly respected scientist offers his views on what must be done to avert a massive global disaster.
"To each his own" - four little words with a host of different meanings, depending on the circumstances, but understood (and sometimes even followed) in every nation of the world. Another warning to the wise: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." And, it says here, "When in Andalusia (and in need of medical help), do as the Andalusians do."
About 120 personnel from more than 20 law enforcement agencies enhanced their awareness of weapons of mass destruction. The two-day training, spearheaded by the Madison-based 54th Civil Support Team, Wisconsin National Guard, ranged from briefings and equipment displays to hands-on training and tactical demonstrations at the Regional Emergency All-Climate Training Center and High Risk Entry Facility areas.
U.S. emergency managers and worst-case planners have been warning for many years that the possibility of a WMD attack against American cities is a "when, not if" scenario. The nation's ability to prevent, respond to, and recover from such an attack is much improved. But there are still serious deficiencies, greater national and international cooperation is needed, and improved technological capabilities as well. Meanwhile, the sands of time are running out, and even tomorrow could be too late.
No one - whether they be political decision makers, first responders, or individual citizens - will ever be satisfied with less than perfect safety. But major advances have been made in detection, deterrence, and response. One of the most important but relatively unpublicized advances is in the field of crowd control and evacuations, once an afterthought but now an essential component of the emergency manager's preparedness toolkit.
If a hotel has been overbooked most people go to another hotel just a block or two away. That solution does not work when a mass-casualty incident requires the evacuation of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of citizens. Immediately. Which is why local evacuation plans must anticipate the need for additional sheltering sites to house those forced out of their homes.
Nearly 20 federal and regional agencies took part in an exercise on 20 May at Joint Force Headquarters in Madison (WI) to learn, among other things, if they could communicate with one another in the event of a real emergency.
The 21st-century world of high-tech communications - ranging from the transmission of classified information to social texting and junk mail - has not yet, partly because of privacy concerns, significantly improved the forwarding of medical records. What can and should be done about this?
The global-disaster scenario originally forecast fell far short of the dire predictions. Which is a good reason to celebrate. But not a reason to stop planning and preparing for "what might have been." Hurricane Katrina taught many lessons worth learning, the most important of which is that states, communities, and individual citizens sometimes get a second chance - but not always, and no one knows when.
