EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ARCHIVES
Preparing Hospitals for Use as Fallout Shelters
Kirk Paradise
September 11, 2007
Forward-looking planners in Huntsville, Alabama, are seeking to determine the feasibility of using medical facilities as fallout shelters to cope with mass-casualty incidents involving a nuclear or “dirty” bomb.
Debris Monitors – Cleaning Up and Clearing Out
Kirby McCrary
September 5, 2007
The crisis is not really “over” until the paperwork has been completed – in full, on time, and frequently in triplicate. In the field of debris removal adherence to that old saying is sometimes the difference between bankruptcy and prosperity.
Chlorine Tactics in Iraq; the Challenge to America
Joseph Steger
August 15, 2007
For more than a decade, terrorist groups have been demonstrating an increasingly greater interest in using easily obtained chemicals as components of conventional explosive weapons. In Iraq, the first half of 2007 was marked by an alarming escalation of attacks using chemical-based “dirty” bombs. Meanwhile, police and fire services personnel
How to Expand the EMS Talent Pool
Glen Rudner
August 8, 2007
In planning for large-scale terrorist incidents, U.S. decision-makers at all levels of government – local, state, and federal – must consider, among other things, how to triage and transport the maximum number of casualties at the incident scene with the probably limited assets available. Many first-responder agencies already keep emergency
Changing the Rules: First-Responder Data Communications Tools Make an Impact
Rodrigo (Roddy) Moscoso
August 1, 2007
Since the deployment of the first mobile computers in police cruisers more than 20 years ago, the ability to access and exchange information between first responders in the field and their dispatch centers has grown steadily. Of course, early mobile technology involved customized hardware and software that was limited in
Hospital Evacuations: Planning, Exercises, and Common Sense
Joseph Cahill
August 1, 2007
“Full-scale” exercises sound like, and are, the ideal – but only in certain almost-perfect circumstances, and not without a firm foundation of individual and team training exercises to build on.
The TSP Program – A Valuable Insurance Policy
Joan K. Grewe
July 25, 2007
According to research conducted in 2003 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Communications System (NCS), less than 10 percent of the nation’s approximately 7,500 9-1-1 call centers – more formally called Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) – were participating at that time in what is called the Telecommunications
Debris Removal – How to Avoid Jurisdictional Disputes
Kirby McCrary
July 25, 2007
Several companies, each with a valid contract to clear debris from the same road. Who wins? Not the taxpayer, certainly. Advance planning can solve the problem, and a few federally funded programs will also help.
AIHA’s Mock Meth Lab Highlights Health and Safety Risks
Heather McArthur
July 18, 2007
Of the numerous insidious threats currently endangering U.S. communities, one of the worst is the homegrown problem of clandestine methamphetamine labs. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that 6,435 “meth” lab incidents were reported in 2006, and that number is likely to increase in the foreseeable future. The labs
CERFPs: The Essential Elements
Jonathan Dodson
July 18, 2007
Managing Editor John F. Morton met recently with Col. Jonathan B. (“Jon”) Dodson, USA (Ret.), DPJ’s National Guard correspondent, to discuss the National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosive Event Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP). Following are excerpts from that discussion. Morton: Jon, the two times we have met with
Important Gains Registered at Small-Vessel Security Summit
Joseph DiRenzo III
July 11, 2007
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hosted a “National Small-Vessel Security Summit” conference in Arlington, Va., last month that could lead to several important changes in the nation’s maritime-security posture. Small vessels – i.e., those less than 300 gross tons – have been a vehicle of choice for terrorists
Emergency Medical Services at a Mass Casualty Incident
Joseph Cahill
July 11, 2007
Standard operating procedures are by definition not enough when EMS responders are called to the scene of a mass-casualty incident. Extraordinary and/or non-standard procedures are not only permitted, therefore, but frequently mandatory.
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