First Responders
Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) are among a group of 34 senators calling on President Donald Trump to restore full funding to states to cover the cost of the National Guard responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Guard units across the country have helped states respond to... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced a bill they said is designed to find an alternative to PFAS contaminated firefighting foam.
Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) said the PFAS Free Foam Research and... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Department of Transportation (DOT) have initiated the Next Generation 911 (NG911) systems interoperability and compatibility testing process.
The agencies have selected the Critical Infrastructure Resilience... Read More »
First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) officials said the high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose built for America’s first responders is expanding across New York state.
Officials are espousing the benefits of adding 22 new FirstNet cell sites and other... Read More »
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a $4.9 million contact to the Pall Corp. last week for efforts to expand the domestic industrial base capacity for medical ventilator filters.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare a critical need for ventilators in the U.S., but over the... Read More »
California seeks to bolster its strategic stockpile of protective masks to guarantee the shortcomings exposed by the COVID-19 outbreak never happen again, and as part of that, the state has signed a new contract with BYD North America for 420 million masks.
That order includes 120 million N-95... Read More »
A trio of lawmakers have introduced a measure they said decreases dependence on foreign countries for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare providers.
Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) said the U.S. MADE Act of 2020 lessens domestic... Read More »
First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) officials said the high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to first responders has expanded across North Carolina as a means of advancing public safety communications.
“FirstNet is a dedicated broadband platform for public safety, by... Read More »
The United States was just as dangerously unprepared to combat a coronavirus pandemic in 2020 as it was back in 2015, former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman noted in the opening remarks of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense’s virtual meeting on Tuesday, setting the tone for a critical examination of... Read More »
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) has introduced a measure that ensures military firefighters exposed to toxic per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals receive Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) healthcare.
Currently, military firefighters exposed to firefighting foam containing PFAS are not... Read More »
Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Marines based out of Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton recently participated in a mobile aircraft fire fighting training exercise alongside San Diego County firefighters.
The effort executed at the San Diego International Airport in San Diego, Calif.,... Read More »
Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Bill Posey (R-FL) have introduced a measure they said is designed to examine per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and firefighter exposure to the chemicals.
The Guaranteeing Equipment Safety for Firefighters Act of 2020 requires the National Institute of... Read More »
National Emergency Number Association (NENA) personnel said the organization supports the House of Representatives’ recent action creating a new $12 billion federal grant program upgrading the nation’s 9-1-1 centers.
Next Generation 9-1-1 was incorporated into the Moving Forward Act, a... Read More »
First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) officials recently joined a trio of agencies in presenting Accelerate R2 Network (R2 Network) Challenge awards.
The initiative serves as an interagency program connecting stakeholder response and resilience. The Department of Commerce, Economic... Read More »
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) said he has introduced H.R. 7384, the Safer Communities Act, that would make communities safer by highlighting functional reforms, rewarding officers making a positive impact, and addressing power abuses.
“Instead of getting bogged down in partisan arguments on issues... Read More »
FirstNet, the broadband platform for public safety, has launched a pair of Vermont purpose-built cell sites in North Bennington and West Bridgewater.
“We worked hand-in-hand with Vermont’s public safety community to understand their needs for the network,” FirstNet Authority CEO Edward... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is seeking proposals from innovators on new technologies for first responders.
Industry, academia, laboratories, and others are invited to submit proposals related to four technology categories. One is Integrated... Read More »
Researchers at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) have developed a way for people to decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) at home.
DHS’s S&T researchers have found that programmable multicookers can be used to decontaminate masks,... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Board of Directors has approved more than $200 million for network upgrades that include 5G and on-demand coverage.
“These investments mark the next major step in our mission as we continue to evolve the FirstNet network based on public... Read More »
A group of Republican senators introduced a police reform bill that focuses on accountability and transparency while promoting efforts to find solutions to systemic issues affecting people of color.
The Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act is sponsored... Read More »
West Virginia law enforcement and first responder personnel will receive $439,858 in Department of Justice (DOJ) funds through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental... Read More »
Gary Ludwig, president and chair of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), testified before Congress in June on the need for more federal support local fire and EMS departments.
Ludwig, appearing before the House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,... Read More »
A new bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Tom Udall (D-NM), ranking members of the Committee of Energy and Natural Resources and Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies respectively, proposes to test and ensure workers’ compensation coverage for... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has modified the FY2019 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant program to allow firefighting organizations greater access.
Following the revisions, certain cost share, salary cap, supplanting, and minimum budget restrictions... Read More »
A group of U.S. Senators recently called on the Trump administration officials to help secure personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing kits for firefighters and federal law enforcement personnel charged with fighting wildfires.
“Peak fire season comes closer every day. However, it is... Read More »
National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) personnel said the organization has united with AT&T to educate officers nationwide regarding the benefits of FirstNet, the public safety communications platform.
The initiative involves providing insight on the impact FirstNet can have on public safety... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is encouraging lawmakers to pass the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act.
The measure provides direct assistance to state and local governments, protects critical public safety radio spectrum, funds essential... Read More »
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has requested four government agencies combine efforts to allocate personal protective equipment (PPE) and rapid COVID-19 tests for federal wildland fire crews.
Murkowski recently forwarded correspondence to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is asking Congress and the Trump Administration to help offset firefighter job losses amid COVID-19, requesting $10 billion for the nation’s fire departments.
A recently released IAFC survey maintains COVID-19 related budget cuts have... Read More »
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) recently introduced a measure designed to increase the nation’s supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies.
The COVID-19 Emergency Manufacturing Act authorizes the federal government to manufacture... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is calling on Congress to clear regulatory logjams to get relief money from the CARES Act to firefighters and first responders.
IAFC leaders say legal and regulatory minutiae is preventing funding from the Assistance for Firefighter Grant... Read More »
Legislation introduced in the U.S. House seeks to ensure greater accountability in the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other emergency resources under the Defense Protection Act and Stafford Act.
Specifically, the bill -- the Emergency Supply Chain Transparency Act --... Read More »
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) recently led a bipartisan group of colleagues in urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to address fire department and emergency medical service (EMS) equipment shortages under the Coronavirus Relief, Aid and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Sen. Jon Tester... Read More »
Invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has entered a new, $336 million contract with General Electric (GE) that will see 50,000 ventilators supplied to the government by July 13.
"The President promised on March 27 that we would have 100,000... Read More »
Harried by an ongoing shortage of personal protective equipment for some of the emergency responders who need it most amid the COVID-19 pandemic -- firefighters and EMS workers -- the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is pitching a survey they hope to present directly to President... Read More »
