The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment (EDGE) virtual training platform provides a safe, immersive environment where first responders, and now educators, can hone their skills and prepare for a multitude of incident responses. Built on the same video gaming platform as popular titles like Fortnite, EDGE was intentionally designed to be easily accessed, easily used, and easily integrated into agencies’ existing training protocols.
As part of the President’s 2020 Budget, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed new funding across multiple aspects of our nation’s food safety system to ensure a more secure and modern food safety framework.
This free video training series, created by the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Department of Emergency Health Services, with assistance from the Maryland Department of Health, and funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is designed to meet the needs of first responders who are expected to deal with the health needs of people who find themselves in health emergencies they cannot manage on their own.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen released the details of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Budget request to Congress for DHS and its component agencies and offices. The DHS request includes $51.7 billion in discretionary funding and an additional $19.4 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund. The Budget request provides critical resources to help frontline personnel do their jobs to secure the homeland against all threats and hazards, and it ensures DHS is able to defend Americans against emerging dangers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with its partners to prepare healthcare systems and enhance response capabilities so we are ready to protect American communities. To prepare the nation to face rapidly evolving and complex health threats, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is enhancing regional preparedness, developing response plans, conducting exercises to ensure those plans can be implemented effectively, and training medical responders from the National Disaster Medical System.
As a critical part of the global response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is developing and deploying medical countermeasures, which may help save lives by protecting individuals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from infection and may reduce the severity of disease. Within HHS, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response plays a critical role in medical countermeasure development and use.
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in conjunction with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is researching approaches to bring the possibilities of Internet of Things to emergency communications for first responders. S&T is testing the Wearable Alert and Monitoring System, a multicomponent communications system.
To increase national health security against biothreats and protect public health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will partner with Public Health Vaccines LLC of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to develop a potential vaccine against Marburg virus. No licensed vaccine for this virus exists today. The Marburg virus is part of the family of hemorrhagic fever viruses that includes Ebola.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are helping to lead a transformation of the nation’s century-old electric grid by developing and deploying new technologies to enhance its reliability, resiliency, and security.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a revised draft guidance to support compliance with the intentional adulteration (IA) rule set forth under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The IA rule is designed to address hazards that may be intentionally introduced to foods, including by acts of terrorism, with the intent to cause widespread harm to public health.
