After the incidents in the United Kingdom in 2018 involving a fourth generation agent, the White House National Security Council convened a federal interagency working group to identify and develop resources to help the emergency response community prepare for and respond to a fourth generation agent incident if one ever occurs in the U.S., as well as support the development of specific guidance and training to enhance overall preparedness efforts.
Smiths Detection has been awarded an indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity contract with the Department of Homeland Security Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office to provide radiation portal monitors (RPM). The RPM is a passive checkpoint which can detect potentially dangerous radiation emitting material which passes through its detection zone. The portal is capable of scanning trucks, vehicles, containers, packages and people.
Unlike most medical diagnostic devices, which can perform only one type of test – either protein or nucleic acid tests – Sandia’s SpinDx can now perform both. This allows it to identify nearly any cause of illness, including viruses, bacteria, toxins, or immune system markers of chemical agent exposure.
The Institute for Disaster Management at the University of Georgia College of Public Health has received $1.6 million in civil money penalty funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to better prepare certified long-term care facilities’ staff to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies.
The world is facing multiple health challenges. To address these and other threats, 2019 is the start of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new 5-year strategic plan – the 13th General Programme of Work. Here are 10 of the many issues that will demand attention from WHO and other health partners in 2019.
A group of five graduate students from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) – across the physics, electrical engineering, and defense analysis departments – came up with a new way to acoustically detect small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) when they participated in, and won, the Army Futures Command’s “A-Hack-of-the-Drones” hackathon.
When people are in the early stages of an undiagnosed disease, immediate tests that lead to treatment are the best first steps. A technique using microneedles able to draw relatively large amounts of interstitial fluid – a liquid that lurks just under the skin – opens new possibilities. The new method’s larger draws could be more effective in rapidly measuring exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents, as well as diagnosing cancer and other diseases.
The City of Los Angeles, under the oversight of Mayor Eric Garcetti and built on the ShakeAlert system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, has released ShakeAlertLA, a mobile application that sends alerts to users within Los Angeles County that an earthquake of greater than magnitude 5.0 or Level IV intensity has been detected and that they may soon feel shaking.
ERADA Technology Alliance have announced the imminent launch of a world first diagnostic saliva test for malaria. The saliva-based diagnostic tool, to be marketed by ERADA as a Saliva-based Malaria Asymptomatic and Asexual Rapid Test (SMAART) for subclinical infection, is set to transform malaria detection worldwide in the fight against one of the globe’s most deadly diseases.
The Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) Preparedness Course is a five-day course designed to give federal, state, and local officials information on how to best plan and prepare for a public health emergency and how to use and manage the Strategic National Stockpile in response to a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or technological accident.
