First Responders
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two solicitation notices on Tuesday related to the development and procurement of anthrax vaccines for the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), a move that Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., said shows the government’s intent to maintain an... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs Foundation (IAFCF) selected 10 first responders and safety officers on Friday for the 2016 Hazmat Conference Scholarship Awards.
The scholarships, made possible by a grant from Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., provides each recipient with full conference... Read More »
The Alliance for Biosecurity lauded the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday for recommending sustained funding in its FY 2017 appropriations bill for some essential medical countermeasures programs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) hosted her office’s first-ever Congressional First Responder of Distinction Award Ceremony on Monday, recognizing firefighters, SMTs and law enforcement officers from her district who go above and beyond in their service to Southern Arizona.
Nominees for the... Read More »
The world-class team of global communications industry leaders that make up a company formed to bid on building the first nationwide 4G LTE broadband wireless network to successfully deliver the FirstNet network for public safety in the U.S. was announced this week.
Rivada Mercury’s group of... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) trained a group of 31 first responders from Central America and Mexico during a sub-regional exercise held May 16-20.
The exercise trained the attendees on responses to chemical warfare agents and incidents with toxic industrial... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) participated in Operation RAILSAFE, a nationwide initiative that provides enhanced visible law enforcement and security presence at train stations and trains on selected high volume travel days, on May 26.
Operation RAILSAFE training seeks to... Read More »
Avon Protection on Monday introduced new technology designed to combat chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats for first responders and other security-related officers.
One of the new products includes the Avon CSPARR, the newest generation of CBRN powered air purifying... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ordered a bulk supply of Bavarian Nordic’s non-replicating smallpox vaccine Imvamune on Friday.
Imvamune is being developed as a smallpox vaccine for... Read More »
More than 200 bomb technicians and first responders from five states and Canada came together this week to participate in what has become the biggest explosive public safety bomb squad training exercise in the world.
Held in New York, the state with the highest risk of terrorism in the nation,... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Veterans EMT Support Act, H.R. 1818, by a vote of 415-1.
The legislation seeks to assist military medic veterans in effectively transitioning their military medical training into the civilian workforce while addressing the shortage of... Read More »
Smiths Detection, Inc., announced on Wednesday that it has received a $17.2 million follow-on production order from the U.S. Army as part of the Department of Defense’s Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) program.
Smiths Detection's Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD) product line serves as... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) will continue to accept proposals from private partners for deployment of an innovative nationwide public safety broadband network until May 31, with the goal of making an award Nov. 1, the agency recently said.
“FirstNet is going to really... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday for the approval of the manufacture of BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) in the company’s large scale Building 55 manufacturing... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the States and High-Risk Urban Area Working Group Act, H.R. 4509, on Wednesday.
The legislations requires decision makers involved in disaster response planning to work together to gain a complete understanding of a community’s vulnerabilities so that... Read More »
President Barack Obama signed the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Modernization Act of 2015, S.1180, into law on Monday to modernize the nation’s public alert and warning system.
The bipartisan legislation was introduced by U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Claire McCaskill... Read More »
Founded in 2001 to train professionals in biosecurity and disaster preparedness, the Institute for Biosecurity at Saint Louis University’s College for Public Health and Social Justice recently told Homeland Preparedness News that the United States needs to continuously improve on its... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday detailed the valuable work its crisis communicators do during disease outbreaks, natural disasters, biological threats and other disaster-related incidents.
Crisis communicators work primarily through detailed plans and outlined goals, all of which... Read More »
Sandia National Laboratories announced on Wednesday that it has signed a a memorandum of agreement with the California Fire and Rescue Training Authority (CFRTA) to incubate and develop new concepts for fire rescue and safety operations.
Sandia’s plans for developing the concepts include... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced the details for its latest Grand Challenge on Wednesday - ensuring that the rapidly growing number of military and civilian wireless devices can function with the increasingly crowded electromagnetic spectrum.
DARPA officials... Read More »
The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) announced on Thursday that it had dispatched a team to the Sonoran Desert for a project supporting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville Center, and the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG).
The YPG... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in cooperation with the National Authority of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, began a new training course last week dealing with potential transfers of chemical weapons in certain areas.
The initiative focuses on... Read More »
The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) announced on Wednesday that 200 citizen soldiers from the New York National Guard would be conducting tactical and medical evacuation training at the New York State Preparedness Training Center (SPTC) from Mar. 12-13.
... Read More »
A coalition of New York congressional representatives last week announced more than $60 million in federal grants to support counterterrorism and emergency preparedness activities in counties across New York State.
The group included New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), along with U.S. Sens. Chuck... Read More »
Avon Protection announced that it will showcase its chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear respiratory protection equipment services together along with its Argus range of thermal imaging cameras at Defexpo 2016.
Over the last decade, the security risks that threatened the international... Read More »
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday about the continuing danger posed by Zika virus to the Americas and plans to respond to the virus both nationally and internationally.
Zika virus is primarily spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. Such... Read More »
The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) commenced a training exercise last week aimed at handling environments affected by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats (CBRNE).
The course, entitled “Hazardous Materials Evidence Collection for CBRNE Incidents (HEC),”... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently highlighted the first response role of career epidemiology field officers (CEFOs) in the event of a viral outbreak of pandemic.
The CEFO program was instituted by the CDC in 2002 as a response to Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the anthrax... Read More »
FLIR Systems, Inc., announced on Wednesday that it will integrate its Lepton micro camera into the new Cat S60 to create the world’s first thermal imaging smartphone.
FLIR, a leading manufacturer of ruggedized smartphones, said that the phone would be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs Foundation announced on Monday that it has received a $10,000 grant from Emergent BioSolutions to provide 12 scholarships for qualified hazmat response professionals to attend the International Hazardous Materials Response Teams... Read More »
House lawmakers met on Friday to discuss the First Responder Network Authority’s FirstNet progress in the deployment of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) in light of its request for proposal (RFP).
The hearing marks a major step forward in FirstNet’s efforts to modernize... Read More »
The European Union announced on Monday the creation of the European Medical Corps (EMC), a special agency dedicated to providing medical assistance as well as first response expertise and technology from across the EU to threats both within and without the EU.
The foundations for the EMC was... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., announced on Wednesday that its ruggedized, military-grade auto-injector platform will be tested and developed as a platform for nerve agent antidote delivery by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Battelle.
Emergent’s Emergard platform, selected from several... Read More »
As part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program, DARPA recently set up a series of tests to discover the capability of a smaller scale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
The goal of the FLA program is to develop algorithms that would... Read More »
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International announced on Wednesday the beginning of the latest in a series of projects designed to counter the problems public communication professionals face every day.
The ultimate goal of Project 43, also known as Broadband... Read More »
