First Responders
Sandia National Laboratories announced Tuesday that a recent program to develop computer modeling and simulation methods for how blasts on the battlefield cause injury could help improve designs for helmets and body armor.
The project focuses on improving understanding of how impacts from... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced Tuesday that it is accepting proposals for advanced first responder technologies in partnership with the Israel Ministry of Public Security (MOPS).
The request is part of the NextGen First... Read More »
In order to respond accordingly in the midst of large-scale biological events such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster, public and private organizations need to coordinate, but on Wednesday public health experts at a Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense meeting cited obstacles that highlight... Read More »
U.S. Sens Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) recently introduced the Wildfire Management Technology Advancement Act of 2017, which seeks to modernize fire departments by requiring the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to provide GPS locators for crews fighting... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) took part in a field training exercise earlier this month with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to test the agencies’ response to radiological or nuclear incidents.
If an... Read More »
The FCC’s forthcoming proposal to improve wireless emergency alerts will focus on making geographical targeting more precise so alerts can be used more effectively in local emergencies and disasters, the commission announced on Monday.
The FCC’s full proposal to revamp the wireless... Read More »
A request for innovators (RFI) has been released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), officially beginning the search for partners on emergency response technology development by 2020.
There are three projects on which the department is... Read More »
The Arkansas National Guard recently held a cyber training exercise at the Little Rock Air Force Base, which involved uncovering potential cybersecurity susceptibilities in critical infrastructure within a simulated city.
Along with members of the state’s Army National Guard and Air National... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from the Champlain Port of Entry and U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Champlain Station recently intercepted a human smuggling operation.
The incident resulted in the arrest of one subject for criminal alien smuggling and two subjects for... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers used biometric verification to prevent a Ghanaian man posing as a U.S. citizen from entering the country at Washington Dulles International Airport on New Year’s Day.
The man, who had been denied U.S. travel visas in 2013 and 2016 because of fraud,... Read More »
All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories accepted a Radio Access Network (RAN) buildout plan for the FirstNet wireless broadband network for first responders by the time a 90-decision period came to a close on Dec. 28.
Congress approved a bill establishing FirstNet in... Read More »
The Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs will be reauthorized through fiscal year 2023 under a bill that the U.S. Senate recently approved.
The Fire Grants Reauthorization Act would ensure that the nation’s fire and... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently announced that a pilot project it launched remediated potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities in mobile applications used by public-safety professionals.
The pilot testing project, titled “Securing... Read More »
Additional federal funding, technical support, and training would be made available to ease state and local governments’ transition to next-generation technology in 9-1-1 call centers under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Monday.
The Next Generation (NG) 9-1-1 Act of... Read More »
The San Diego Sector Border Patrol recently held a Change of Command ceremony in Coronado, California, to formally establish Rodney S. Scott as the chief patrol agent (CPA) for the San Diego Sector.
U.S. Border Patrol Acting Chief Carla Provost presided over the ceremony.
“I am honored... Read More »
First responders from the United States and Canada recently took part in a training exercise that demonstrated communications interoperability between the two countries if disaster strikes on or near the border.
The fifth Canada-U.S. Enhanced Resiliency Experiment (CAUSE V) was held in November... Read More »
Just a week after an international coalition carried out airstrikes on an ISIS chemical weapons facilities, marines and sailors took part in a three-day course on combating, adapting to and overcoming chemical and biological contaminations from Dec. 5-8.
The course was administered by Corps... Read More »
A multinational effort from the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region drew first responders to Qatar this week to bolster their emergency response and protection skills in the field.
The large-scale event was hosted by Qatar’s National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW)... Read More »
First responders in states that opted into FirstNet can now use preemption services to prioritize mission-critical communications during emergencies, the First Responder Network Authority announced on Tuesday.
In addition to prioritizing the communications of primary users like firefighters,... Read More »
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has published a new guidance document to aid hospitals’ response to disease outbreaks.
The new guide, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and titled,... Read More »
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) team recently led three days of training on countering a potential nuclear threat for more than 70 local, state, and federal responders in Hawaii.
RAP held the event at the request of the state of... Read More »
Motorola Solutions recently unveiled the next generation of its future incident command concept for police and firefighters and its connected first responder concept, Responder Alert, at PMRExpo in Germany.
The updated incident command concept enables police and first responders to utilize an... Read More »
President Donald Trump recently signed into law the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act, which allows emergency medical responders to administer controlled substances under the supervision of a physician.
U.S. Representatives Richard Hudson (R-NC) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)... Read More »
More than $98 million in grants announced by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday will help 179 law enforcement agencies across the nation hire 802 additional police officers in the coming years.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the funds would be awarded to state, local, and... Read More »
A U.S. Border Patrol agent, Rogelio Martinez, died this week as a result of injuries sustained while responding to activity in the Big Bend Sector in Texas.
Agent Rogelio Martinez and his partner were responding to activity while on patrol near Interstate 10 in the Van Horn Station area when... Read More »
After the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) was successfully used to coordinate multi-agency responses to recent hurricanes, additional training sessions have been held for federal, state, and local officials, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday.
ATAK, which was... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is collaborating with first responders to prevent, detect, and mitigate illegal jamming of communications systems through exercises, data collection, outreach and education campaigns and proposed new tools.
In... Read More »
During a visit to Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) headquarters in Glynco, Georgia, on Tuesday, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke received an operation briefing, observed training programs, and toured a port of entry training simulator.
FLETC trains most of the... Read More »
Following a job fair called “Continue Your Service to America” held in August, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Thursday that job offers had been extended to 207 veterans.
Approximately 2,500 veterans attended the two-day job fair. Onsite job interviews were given to... Read More »
Existing federal grant programs would be expanded to help state and local governments deploy modern 911 systems that enable citizens to text for help and send audio, text or video files during emergencies under legislation introduced on Thursday.
The Next Generation 911 Act of 2017, which was... Read More »
The first nationwide public safety broadband network, known as FirstNet, secured partnership commitments from about half of the states and two U.S. territories by the end of October, according to testimony before a congressional panel on Wednesday.
Members of the House Energy and Commerce... Read More »
New York City first responders conducted this week a critical incident training exercise and tested new technologies provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) at Grand Central Station.
The New York Police Department (NYPD), the Fire... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) announced this week an agreement to partner on building the National Mutual Aid System (NMAS) with health and safety solutions company Intermedix and spatial analytics company Esri.
The NMAS will replace the IAFC’s Mutual Aid Net tool built... Read More »
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security recently introduced a self-guided exercise scenario to help public health communicators and risk communication researchers prepare for transmission dilemmas they could face during a pandemic.
The SPARS Pandemic scenario book features the outbreak of... Read More »
Motorola Solutions recently introduced new integrated software-based communication solutions for first responders, which combine the company’s ASTRO 25 land-mobile radio (LMR) systems and public safety broadband.
“We are introducing new solutions and future concepts that use ASTRO 25 for... Read More »