“Moneyball” for the Wildland Fire System | Domestic Preparedness Photo: U.S. Forest Service, 29 July 2021
Resilience

“Moneyball” for the Wildland Fire System

by Matthew P. Thompson & Erin J. Belval -

The wildfire management community has made great strides incorporating new decision support tools into how it plans for and responds to wildfire incidents. Despite improvements in risk assessment and management at the incident scale, increasing fire activity and critical resource shortages reveal a system under strain in need of strategies that more efficiently allocate scarce resources across incidents while promoting the well-being of the firefighting workforce upon which the system relies. A scaled-up infusion of data-driven analysis and decision-making could enhance the performance of the entire wildfire management system.

 
Resilience

Afghanistan – A Haven for Violent Extremism

by Richard Schoeberl & Anthony (Tony) Mottola -

The rapid collapse of Afghanistan creates uncertainty and fears around how swiftly the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaida can rebuild, mobilize, and plan attacks on the West under a Taliban-led government. As conflict breeds instability, volatility will certainly follow the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. There will likely be a reconstitution of al-Qaida and growth of ISIS as two movements compete for influence in the country. It calls to question whether the recent attacks in New Zealand, inspired by ISIS, were motivated by what most would consider a victory for Jihad as the Taliban’s self-proclaimed victory seeks to inspire more terrorist movements. After 20 years of U.S. occupation, many are questioning whether Afghanistan will once again become a massive draw and haven for Islamic extremists.

Resilience

Influence of Aum Shinrikyo on the U.S. Emergency Response

by Bobby Baker Jr. -

Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it is essential to not only remember that fateful day, but to highlight the events that precipitated it, examine lessons learned and policies established, and consider programs and policies needed to sustain prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities in the U.S. and its territories. Although historical analysis and synthesis of past events often lead to relevant details about current incidents, communities often fail to implement or accept the recommended changes. The 9/11 Commission Report cited, “The most important failure was one of imagination.” The 1995 Aum Shinrikyo Tokyo subway sarin gas attack has unique characteristics in the history of acquiring, proliferation, and distributing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the chemical and biological domains, with significant influence in WMD policies and consequence management platforms.

Commentary

Domestic Preparedness – Prepared for What?

by Rob Schnepp -

Publisher note: Rob Schnepp was one of DomPrep’s first writers and has provided council and guidance to me over the past two decades. I asked him to provide his personal account of the 9/11 attacks as well as the subsequent anthrax attacks. They serve as a reminder of how many felt following those attacks: uncertainty about when and where another threat would emerge, an urgent need to prepare for another terrorist attack, and unity of effort. Today, there is still uncertainty about what potential threats are looming. However, it is time to bring back the urgency to prepare and the unity required to move preparedness efforts forward.

Commentary

Never Forget: Focusing Events & Opportunity for Change

by Nim Kidd -

Devastating events can open windows of opportunity. In emergency management, focusing events like 9/11 create opportunities for change. Tragedies like 9/11 or devastating hurricanes create a flurry of activity in the short period that follows. This activity typically involves conversations about how to make things better or make change. However, windows for these conversations always close.

Updates

S&T and New York City Partners Conduct Above/Below Ground Air Sampling Study

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced that it will join several New York City agencies for an above- and below-ground air sampling study that will ultimately help urban areas prepare for and recover from incidents involving hazardous materials.

New Fentanyl Detection Standards Will Protect First Responders in the Field

ASTM International, one of the largest standards development organizations in the world, published three new standards for the field detection of fentanyl and fentanyl-related compounds. “This project is truly a win-win for first responders and manufacturers of field chemical detection equipment,” said Rich Ozanich, the lead researcher at PNNL who developed the standards and is leading the development of expanded instrument libraries and assessment of instrument performance. He added, “having these expanded libraries will improve responder capability to identify new drugs they encounter and respond in a more effective manner.”

IAEM-USA Children and Disaster Caucus seeks input via survey on 'Addressing Needs of Children During COVID'

The caucus is asking IAEM members to please share their organization and emergency management/work experiences in respect to how the needs of children were addressed during COVID to date. Demographic data will be collected for statistical analysis, but responses will be anonymous.

DHS CWMD Awards Two Contracts for $60.8M to Equip DHS Partners with Radiological and Nuclear Detection Equipment

The Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office awarded two contracts to supply U.S. Customs and Border Protection with 216 additional Radiation Portal Monitors (RPMs) to scan cargo as it passes through our Nation’s various ports of entry and to train their staff on the new systems.

DHS Publishes Two Free Resources to Protect Critical Infrastructure from GPS Vulnerabilities

The Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Whitelist Development Guide and a new release of the Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Integrity Library to protect against the spoofing, or deceiving, of GPS devices through false signals has been released. These resources advance the design of PNT systems and increase resilience of critical infrastructure to PNT disruptions.