New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, and senior executives from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon and other executives met at the World Trade Center site to announce the unveiling of PLAN - the Personal Localized Alerting Network, which ensures that emergency alerts will not become stalled by user congestion, a problem that can occur with standard mobile voice and texting services.
LiveProcess Corporation, the leading provider of healthcare emergency management software, has announced several updates to its platform that improve the ability of hospital users to communicate and coordinate with disaster response and critical care teams.
More than 76 percent of hospitals participating in the National Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) met 90 percent or more of all program measures for all-hazards preparedness in 2009, according to a report just released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Six senior fire officials will receive fellowships to attend Harvard University's Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program this summer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. The 19-day program, which includes state and local government leaders from across the United States (and other nations), focuses on exploring the interrelationships between citizens & government, analyzing policy options, and examining the ethical and professional responsibilities of leadership.
"CBP's Trusted Traveler Programs support one of our core missions: to facilitate trade and travel by expediting low-risk frequent travelers' entry process into the United States when arriving at our ports of entry," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Alan D. Bersin. "We encourage frequent travelers to join the [current] one million members and apply to the Trusted Traveler Program that will best match their own travel needs."
Smiths Detection has launched a new, more accurate, and more capable handheld radiation detector - the "RadSeeker" - to identify radiological and nuclear threats. The device - which offers superior performance capabilities, small size, and durability - has a wide array of applications from enabling civil-defense and first-responder rad-nuc search operations to helping port and border personnel with cargo, container, and vehicle screening.
"As we've seen from the damage caused by the recent tornadoes and severe storms that hit the Southeast, as well as flooding all across the country, natural disasters can be devastating," said Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate. "While we can't prevent them, if you haven't already, you can take steps now to get ready by visiting Ready.gov, and be sure to check on your neighbors, especially the elderly and young children - those who can be most vulnerable during emergencies."
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced the allocation of $25.5 million in grant funding under the Border Interoperability Demonstration Project (BIDP) - a one-time competitive grant program focused on developing innovative solutions to strengthen interoperable emergency communications along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has received instructions on amended regulations related to the purchase and consumption of poultry meat and poultry products purchased outside the United States. Federal officials urge U.S. travelers to be aware of the new requirements, and to always declare food items to CBP officials when entering a U.S. port of entry.
Battelle was awarded a two-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO). The Scientific Services Program (SSP) is a rapid and flexible contract mechanism available to all federal agencies to solve problems related to research and development (R&D). Battelle and its subcontractors will perform short-term scientific and technical studies, analyses, investigations, evaluations, and assessments to help government agencies meet their mission requirements and attain their organizational goals.
