• Saving victims trapped under concrete

    New tool allow first responders to reach those trapped beneath concrete more quickly; the tool generates a high-energy jolt to create a contained hole in the concrete; a series of these holes allows the creation of an area large enough to deliver vital supplies such as food, water, and medicine to victims before first responders are able to get victims to safety.

  • Emergency communication remains a challenge ten years after 9/11

    Chris Russo, a twenty-five year firefighting veteran, a 9/11 first responder, and the founder of ELERTS Corporation, discusses the challenges first responders face in communicating with each other in major disasters, the lack of progress made to create an inter-operable system for emergency responders, and how technology is changing how authorities communicate and interact with the public during major disasters

  • Law enforcement still unable to communicate ten years after 9/11

    Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, emergency responders from varying agencies still lack the communications tools to effectively communicate with one another; during the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, emergency responders had difficulty communicating and the 9/11 Commission recommended that a nationwide broadband network be created for emergency responders, but ten years later, according to the Commission’s ten year report card, this nationwide network “continues to languish”

  • D.C. continues to struggle with orderly evacuations

    Last week’s earthquake that struck less than ninety miles outside of Washington, D.C. exposed the city’s continuing difficulties in effectively evacuating its residents; after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck the region, commuters were left stranded for hours as road traffic ground to a halt and trains became overcrowded and delayed due to speed restrictions because of the quake

  • New training facility features simulated bus, air, and rail stations

    On Tuesday DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was in Brunswick, Georgia for the grand opening of a sophisticated new $5.3 million counter-terrorism training center for law enforcement officials; the 22,000 square-foot facility features several simulation areas including a mock bus terminal, subway station, and an airport terminal

  • Quake disrupts East Coast cell service

    Tuesday’s 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Virginia and could be felt across the northeast, exposed continuing weaknesses in U.S. emergency communications networks; residents in the northeast experienced difficulty making calls on their cell phones, despite no reported damage to communications infrastructure

  • Water mist puts out fires at low pressure

    A new water mist system allows for fires to be extinguished from a distance of eight meters; the system’s special nozzles generate a fine mist of tiny water droplets; the water and the propellant nitrogen are non-hazardous, environmentally friendly, and leave no residues

  • Antenna-equipped garments here

    To make communications devices more reliable, researchers are working on incorporating radio antennas directly into clothing, using plastic film and metallic thread; the new antenna design has a range four times larger than that of a conventional antenna worn on the body — one that is used by American soldiers today

  • New tool helps visualize post-event disaster environments

    Using iPad mobile devices, emergency preparedness officials and first responders participating last month in the FEMA’s National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE-11), were able, for the first time, to make use of a new, science-based software tool that allows them to view and modify accurate models of building damage and other post-event disaster effects

  • Innovative disaster communication tech developed

    Communication networks typically collapse when they are needed most — during and in the immediate aftermath of massive disasters; researchers have developed a — an innovative wireless system called LifeNet designed to help first responders communicate after disasters; LifeNet is a mobile ad-hoc network designed for use in highly transient environments that requires no infrastructure such as Internet, cell towers or traditional landlines

  • Ensuring reliable wireless alarm beacons for first responders

    Wireless emergency safety equipment could save lives — if signals are transmitted reliably; NIST is studying interference between Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) with wireless alarm capability, and radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems

  • New rescue robot can reach trapped miners, people under rubble

    A new rescue robot can find dangers — poisonous gases, flooded tunnels, explosive vapors, and unstable walls and roofs — and provide relief to trapped miners or people buried under rubble; it is able to navigate through eighteen inches of water, crawl over boulders and rubble piles, and move in ahead of rescuers to evaluate precarious environments and help plan operations

  • Robots help evacuate buildings, search for trapped people

    Two Georgia Tech engineers designed an emergency robot to help people evacuate buildings in an emergency; they say that emergency robots pacing the hallways and instructing people how to get to the emergency exits is a better solution than static emergency instructions placed on the wall; the robots will also search for injured or trapped people who failed to evacuate the building

  • Classrooms cut off from emergency alert systems

    Classrooms were designed to be isolated cocoons that allow children to focus on learning away from distractions; while ideal for learning, these classrooms pose a significant problem for mass notification systems making it difficult for authorities to notify children, college students, and teachers during emergencies

  • Emergency alerts for cell phones

    Residents living near Austin, Texas can now receive important emergency notifications on their cell phones for free; with more and more individuals switching to cell phones and abandoning their land lines, emergency responders and government officials have been forced to adapt emergency warning systems to connect to cell phones instead