First Responders
Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Pete Stauber (R-MN) introduced last week a measure designed to enhance the nation’s fire station infrastructure.
The Fire Station Infrastructure Safety Act provides data on the age and conditions of every fire station in the country, which the legislators maintain... Read More »
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Public Safety Communications Research division (PSCR) and the Western Fire Chiefs Association have partnered to bring data analytics to firefighters nationwide.
Fire departments traditionally use one-way systems to maintain incident records,... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority passed an $82 million budget for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes funding for future investments in the nationwide public safety broadband network.
“The FirstNet Authority is an organization solely focused on public safety’s critical communications needs... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) is asking U.S. Attorney General William Barr to investigate federal criminal and hate crime charges people who doused police officers with buckets of water.
In July, police officers in New York City were drenched with buckets of water and one officer was hit on the head... Read More »
The FirstNet communications platform has surpassed 750,000 connections and serves nearly 9,000 public safety agencies and organizations.
The platform, built by the First Responder Network Authority and AT&T, is used exclusively by first responders to communicate critical information and... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Commerce recently awarded more than $109 million in grants through the 911 Grant Program to 34 states and two tribal nations.
Funding will be used to upgrade 911 call centers to Next Generation 911 capabilities. Upgrades include... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel recently located and tracked a cocaine-filled go-fast style vessel in the Western Caribbean, resulting in a 8,791 pound, $114.6 million seizure.
Officials said a CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) P-3 Orion Long Range Tracker crew assigned to the... Read More »
Citing the state’s desire to upgrade California’s analog 9-1-1 system microwave network to a digital platform, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently touted a $1 billion investment in emergency preparedness and response funding.
During a 9-1-1 call center tour at the San Francisco Department of... Read More »
The U.S. Senate passed a bill this week that would allow federal workers to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) efforts.
The National Urban Search and Rescue Parity Act would override a policy that currently bars federal employees from... Read More »
A bill designed to protect the health and safety of firefighters and emergency responders frequently exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in foams was recently introduced by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
The... Read More »
As a means of addressing this year’s fire season, California officials are highlighting efforts to bolster preparedness with a series of actions to prepare for wildfires and other natural disasters.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order increasing the number of seasonal firefighters... Read More »
Reps. Pete Stauber (R-MN) and Jared Golden (D-ME) introduced Wednesday a measure designed to ensure fire station infrastructure nationwide enables firefighters to perform their duties efficiently and safely.
The Fire Station Infrastructure Safety Act directs the U.S. Fire Administration to... Read More »
As a means of simulating a full-scale response to a large-scale attack, the Coast Guard and local officials slated an active shooter drill at the Port of New Orleans Cruise Terminal on Wednesday.
The effort will involve coordination between the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation,... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cleared the first use of a commercially available product to manage blister injuries caused by sulfur mustard, otherwise known as mustard gas.
Silverlon, a silver-plated nylon dressing, is used widely to aid in the management of acute skin wounds... Read More »
University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) recently was awarded a contract to train fire intelligence officers and senior leaders within the National Capital Region.
The training will be through the Department of Homeland... Read More »
Thanks to the efforts of data analyst and visualization technologist Ryan Chen, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a new model gives emergency responders a means of simulating and testing a situation no one ever wants to witness firsthand: the explosion of a radiological dispersal... Read More »
Senate lawmakers have approved a measure making the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund permanent and it will now go to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney... Read More »
Two federal laboratories under the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently held the first phase of testing for handheld explosive trace detectors (ETDs).
The detectors are used to find trace explosives on individuals, hopefully preventing a dangerous... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Washington Redskins recently conducted a successful emergency response test at FedExField.
“Success on the football field requires not only having a solid game plan but practicing and... Read More »
SpectralMD, Inc. recently received a 2-year, $27.3 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office (DHHS) of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to create a burn imaging device that is portable and quick.
“We want to give medical providers... Read More »
House and Senate lawmakers have approved a measure restoring grant funding for law enforcement support services, enabling the establishment of suicide-prevention programs and mental health services.
The Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis Act was co-sponsored by Sen. Martha McSally... Read More »
The Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act, which would improve mental health treatment and support for our nation’s law enforcement officers, now heads to the president’s desk for signature.
The bill highlights the need for suicide prevention. Law enforcement officers are... Read More »
Edwards Air Force Base personnel provided emergency crews to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake near Ridgecrest, California, in the wake of a pair of high desert area earthquakes.
“Crews maintained their posture locally after the July 4th earthquake; responders went through the base looking... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) proposed legislation to give the District of Columbia home-rule authority over the D.C. National Guard.
This bill -- filed as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020 -- would give the D.C. mayor the same authority that... Read More »
Following the release of a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Representatives Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1), Eliot Engel (D-NY-16), Peter King (R-NY-2), and Al Green (D-TX-09) recently urged the advancement of a bill that would preserve the T-Band spectrum for use by emergency... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published guidance for first responders and emergency managers on how to respond in the first minutes of a radiological dispersal device (RDD), or “dirty bomb.”
The guidance was developed by the DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)... Read More »
Marine Corps personnel recently joined the Army and Navy in a joint training initiative designed to increase combat operational readiness in amphibious and prepositioning operations.
Marines with the 2nd Transportation Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics... Read More »
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate Tuesday would amend the Federal Employee Compensation Act to make it easier for firefighters who were injured or became ill as a result of their service to be covered by federal workers’ compensation.
Currently, federal law does not recognize certain... Read More »
The program that reimburses state, counties and local jurisdictions for up to 50 percent of the cost of body armor vests purchased for law enforcement officers was included this week will get funded via a House appropriations bill.
The U.S. House approved the Bulletproof Vest Partnership program... Read More »
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), first responder communications are at serious risk with the pending, 2021 sale of the T-Band part of the radio spectrum.
In 11 large metropolitan areas, police, firefighters and other first responders rely heavily on that spectrum, and in... Read More »
California’s Camp Pendleton hosted the annual Wildland Fire School last week, during which firefighters safely cleared out overgrown grasslands using prescribed fire.
The technique eliminates fuels from training areas and prevents future large-scale wildland fires. It also allowed firefighters... Read More »
A resolution was passed in the U.S. Senate that will designate October 28, 2019, as "Honoring the Nation's First Responders Day."
An estimated 4.6 million career and volunteer firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians, and paramedic workers serve communities all across the nation,... Read More »
The capabilities of first responder network FirstNet were proven in a recent exercise in a remote part of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where the network was relied on for emergency communications during a search and rescue exercise.
FirstNet cooperated with the Virginia Communications Cache,... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with Azimuth1 to develop a navigation app called QuickRoute, specially designed for first responders.
The app warns users about hazards along the route and takes into account factors like traffic... Read More »
West Virginia’s Preston County will receive a new, purpose-built cell site as part of the state’s FirstNet network expansion, increasing first responders coverage, capacity, and capability.
FirstNet is the nationwide, wireless communications platform dedicated to America’s first responders... Read More »