Stop the Bleed Training for Immediate Responders | Domestic Preparedness Photo: University of Georgia's Emergency Preparedness Office regularly teaches Stop the Bleed to faculty, staff, and students.
Preparedness

Stop the Bleed Training for Immediate Responders

by Andy Altizer -

When an injury causes a life-threatening bleed, minutes matter. There may not be enough time for first responders to arrive on the scene, so immediate responders are needed. Knowing how to respond to this type of injury and being able to stop the bleeding are skills that everyone should learn. This article explains why and how to do that.

 
Resilience

Suburban Fire Operations: Five Lessons Learned

by Randall W. Hanifen -

From small fire companies covering large areas of rural land to large fire departments covering highly populated urban cities, suburban fire departments are tasked with a mixture of both. One firefighter who has spent his career in a suburban fire department shares the five key lessons he has learned throughout his career.

Preparedness

Project Management Approach in Emergency Management

by Adam Tager -

Each disaster a community faces must be effectively managed. By viewing each crisis as a project and each emergency manager as a project manager, communities will be better prepared to mitigate future threats, manage special events, and respond to emergencies and disasters. This article describes how traditional models converge to create a comprehensive project management approach.

Healthcare

Best Practice: Auxiliary Radios for Healthcare Facilities

by Ashleigh Holmes -

When an emergency or disaster occurs, healthcare facilities require reliable communications for ensuring the safety and well-being of those in their care. The New York City Emergency Management Department has revamped its City’s emergency radio communications program to ensure that critical information can be exchanged before the next incident. Their best practice serves as an example for other jurisdictions to upgrade their equipment and build in communication redundancies.

Commentary

Overcoming Challenges – Do Not Skip Steps

by Catherine L. Feinman -

In some ways, communities are well prepared for emergencies. However, it is critical to continuously assess systems, structures, models, and procedures to identify even small weaknesses and gaps that can become significant impediments to effectively responding to threats, hazards, and risks. The authors in this March edition of the Domestic Preparedness Journal identify gaps and share possible solutions for various critical infrastructure, public health, and physical safety vulnerabilities and threats.

Healthcare

A Growing Threat to Healthcare and Other Facilities

by Rodney Andreasen -

Active shooter and other violent incidents occur all over the country – in urban and rural areas, in big cities and small towns, in large and small facilities. Many examples demonstrate the need to understand and plan for them and the significant consequences that could follow. This article empowers the reader to better understand how these incidents may occur and ways to better mitigate and respond when a healthcare and other facilities are threatened.

Updates

DHS Announces $1.6 Billion in Preparedness Grants

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced $1.6 billion for eight Fiscal Year 2022 preparedness grant programs. Together, these programs provide critical funding to help state and local officials prepare for, prevent, protect against, and respond to acts of terrorism and other hazards.

DHS Wraps Up Jamming Exercise to Strengthen First Responder Communications

The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agenc hosted JamX 22, an exercise to counter electronic jamming at White Sands Missile Range with federal, state, local and industry participants. Information shared during this exercise will enhance anti-jamming technologies and inform policy to ensure resilient requirements for first responders’ communications systems.

Unique binding of Delta variant may explain high transmissibility

Unlike other SARS-CoV-2 variants, the Delta variant can attach to copies of itself, forming larger aggregations, or clumps, of viral particles, suggests a study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers theorize that this linking property may have played a role in the ability of the Delta variant to spread more rapidly than all the variants that preceded it.

Community Policing Development

The 2022 Community Policing Development program is designed to advance the practice of community policing by providing guidance on promising practices through the development and testing of innovative strategies; building knowledge about effective practices and outcomes; and supporting new, creative approaches to preventing crime and promoting safe communities.

Collaborative Reform Initiative

The 2022 Collaborative Reform Initiative encompasses three technical assistance programs offering expert services to state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies to support effective community policing. This continuum of services is designed to build trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve; improve operational efficiencies and effectiveness; enhance officer safety and wellness; and develop and disseminate evidence-based, promising, and innovative public safety practices.