-
DHS announces $10 million in firefighter grants
Assistance to Firefighters Grant program expected to disperse a total of $485 million; awards go to small towns such as Walls, Mississippi and Church Hill, Tennessee; equipment and vehicles top departments’ wish lists
-
-
U.S. Army offers stimulating simulations for emergency responders
Eighteen customizable programs offer a thorough work-out of any agency’s response capabilities; military organziations can learn for free, but cities and states may find the fees reimbursable by DHS
-
-
Raytheon launches Quad Cities interoperability pilot
$2 million test project will link up emergency responders in neighboring Illinois and Iowa cities; remote broadband and mobile situational awareness among the capabilities on the menu; Nortel, New Era Wireless, NexPort, DropFire, and EAGLE Project lend a hand
-
-
IT spending for first responders to reach $4.4 billion by 2011
Government agencies report increased confidence in technology; money and guidance from the federal level is still wanting; lack of coordination betweem agencies remains a major challenge
-
-
Camero "through-wall vision" technology earns $14 million in funding
Israeli company sells $1 milliion in product in only four months of prototype sales; RF signals generate 3D images from behind concrete, wood, and cement; military forces snatch up available models, but company sees a large market among emergency responders; smaller model for search and rescue in development
-
-
Buffalo researchers to examine emergency response under pressure
University scientists to see if firemen and EMTs perform better or worse when they know their families are in danger; discriminating 2006 snowstorm provides a useful control group
-
-
Analysts see coming boom in municipal interoperability gear
Coming on the heels of a DHS report showing two-thirds of states and municipalities are underprepared, Datamonitor survey finds an expected spending increase of 40 percent over five years
-
-
DHS releases 2007 state and municipal grant funding levels
Urban Areas Security Initiative and Citizen Corps Program receive mild funding boosts; other programs see minor losses; DHS gives risk assessment the old college try
-
-
SAIC wins $53 million deal to move WMD models on-line
Integrated Weapons of Mass Destruction Toolset has been in development since 2004; moving on-line critical to dispersing data to first responders; physics-based models assess terrain, wind patterns, and other factors
-
-
China announces new emergency operations command center
At a cost of hundreds of million of yuan, the new Beijing-based center will coordinate national response planning; satellites will provide constant data feeds; reorganization intended to bring order to a decentralized emergency bureaucracy; 2008 Olympics have Chinese spending freely on security
-
-
War technology lends a hand on Mt. Hood
When T-Mobile’s pinging proves inadequate in finding missing climbers, Iomax brings in precision phone locating kit originally designed to stop IEDs; Aracar supplies rescue UAVs with Afghanistan experience
-
-
DHS survey finds high rates of municipal interoperability
Almost two-thirds use compatible radios for some purpose, though day-to-day use lags; survey is the first to use a refined definition of interoperability; Chertoff points to study as proof that municipalities can change
-
-
HHS to take charge of bioterror and epidemic response
Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act expected to be signed soon; DHS loses control of National Disaster Medical System; new biomedical research lab to be built; government plans a disease detection network
-
-
Hybrid cars pose special risk to first responders
High voltage a major problem; Toyota responds by offering training seminars for firefighters and other emergency personnel
-
-
Frost and Sullivan offers report on WMD detection market
Business is booming, particularly in the federal sector; some end users, however, are shying away from the sometimes unreliable technology; research firm suggests industry needs better PR
-