After years of hard work with all DHS partners, and months of providing updates on this blog, FEMA, the FCC, NOAA, and communications service providers, and many others finally administered and monitored their first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. So, what happens next? That is the next big question that also must be answered.
The first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), will take place today, November 9, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the system in alerting the public.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate recently addressed a group of business leaders and federal, state, and local emergency managers to talk about the critical role that the private sector can play in helping communities rebuild their economies and recover more quickly after disasters.
The Yale New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response is now offering a series of online courses on emergency preparedness topics for hospital, healthcare, and public health workers.
Raytheon Company has announced that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) vehicles are now equipped with new mobile data computer systems (MDCSs) that are already rolling out on the streets to protect residents. The computer systems will enhance the access to new public-safety technologies of more than 2,400 field units.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole, in his testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, discussed ongoing efforts to develop and implement a more risk-based approach to secure the nation's transportation systems.
Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies and Salamander Technologies have announced that those who use a smart card to gain access into a building can now use the same ID card for accountability purposes outside the building. The dual-purpose aptiQ smart card can incorporate Salamander's interTRAX® suite of accountability solutions, the result being a multi-function ID that fulfills daily access control and other smart card-based tasks within the building, as well as personnel tracking outside the building during planned events, natural disasters, and/or other emergencies.
With the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System less than one week away, the leaders of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sent an open letter to all stakeholders asking for their help in educating their respective communities about the test. The test will occur simultaneously across the U.S. and its territories and will last approximately 30 seconds, after which regular programming will resume.
The Master of Science in Healthcare Emergency Management (HEM) at Boston University's School of Medicine focuses on educating professionals in the fields of healthcare, public health, and public safety to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate disasters. The program is dedicated to training the next generation of healthcare emergency managers who will later assume hospital and public health leadership positions.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region V Administrator Andrew Velasquez III has presented a written statement to a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security in which he describes and reviews the federal, state, and local coordination of responding emergency personnel taking place along the nation's northern border.
