First response

A Lawsuit to Protect Streams Could Take Away an Important Firefighting Tool
The U.S. Forest Service uses millions of gallons of fire retardant to fight wildfires. There have long been concerns about what happens when that mix of ammonium phosphate, emulsifiers, and colorants finds its way into water.
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First to Respond, Come What May
Of the emerging threats the U.S. is facing, climate change is particularly prominent. But climate change is just one factor currently impacting the evolving response environment. Human behavior, technology advancement, infrastructure, COVID-19, and protests/civil unrest are all making responders’ jobs more challenging as well.
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Channeling NEXTGEN TV to Help Responders Answer the Call
A natural disaster strikes, vehicles collide on a snowy highway, a 5-alarm fire blazes through the night. For first responders, every second counts. DHS S&T is collaborating on a new effort to arm agencies with a digital alerting system that taps into NEXTGEN public TV broadcasting technologies to deliver emergency dispatches faster.
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Crowdsourced Reports Can Quickly Identify an Earthquake’s Impact
Within minutes, a statistical model based on a global database of public reports of ground shaking can be used to identify an earthquake as a high- or low-impact event, according to a new study.
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Breakthrough Alert Messaging for a Mobile Public
It is in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) that the danger and damage from the growing risk of wildfires is most prevalent. Of paramount importance is alerting people in the path of fires and enabling their safe evacuation from the area.
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Yeast Material Developed for Training First Responders on Biothreats
First responders who train for emergencies involving threats from biological agents such as bacterial or viral pathogens, need to do so in a safe and careful manner. To help meet their needs, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a reference material based on yeast cells.
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Wildfires in Colorado Are Growing More Unpredictable. Officials Have Ignored the Warnings.
A year after the deadly Marshall Fire drove thousands of Coloradans from their homes, the state’s densest communities aren’t preparing for the next climate-driven wildfire.
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In Disasters, People Are Abandoning Official Info for Social Media. How to Know What to Trust
In an emergency, where do you turn to find out what’s going on and what you should do to stay safe? The rise of social media has seen community groups, volunteers and non-government organizations nudging out official channels. While these informal sources often provide faster, more local information, they may also be less reliable than government sources.
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Cracking the Secrets to Earthquake Safety, One Shake Simulation at a Time
A new experimental capability, designed to replicate realistic earthquakes in the laboratory, paired with the world’s fastest supercomputers, will help lead to resilient buildings and infrastructure across the U.S.
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Deep Learning Underlies Geographic Dataset Used in Hurricane Response
Extreme weather and natural disasters are happening with increasing frequency across the United States and its territories. Accurate and detailed maps are critical in emergency response and recovery. ORNL’s has mapped and characterized all structures within the United States and its territories to aid FEMA in its response to disasters.
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A Machine Learning-Based Solution May Help Firefighters Avoid Deadly Backdrafts
A lack of oxygen can reduce even the most furious flame to smoldering ash. But when fresh air rushes in, say after a firefighter opens a window or door to a room, the blaze may be suddenly and violently resurrected. Researchers have devised a plan for informing firefighters of what dangers lie behind closed doors.
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Security-Focused, 5G Wireless Test Range
Researchers have opened the nation’s first open-air, 5G wireless test range focused exclusively on security testing, training and technology development. The range will be used by government, academic and industry collaborators. Although limited 5G service is available in selected cities across the country, widespread adoption is still years away.
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9/11 Survivors’ Exposure to Toxic Dust and the Chronic Health Conditions That Followed Offer Lessons That Are Still Too Often Unheeded
After the 9/11 attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state – along with some 400,000 residents and other workers around ground zero – were exposed to a toxic cloud of dust that fell as a ghostly, thick layer of ash and then hung in the air for more than three months. The World Trade Center dust plume consisted of a dangerous mixture of cement dust and particles, asbestos and a class of chemicals called persistent organic pollutants. The dust also contained heavy metals that are known to be poisonous to the human body and brain, such as lead and mercury, and PCB.
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Drone Research to Support Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Response
FAA Awards $2.7 million in drone research to support disaster preparedness and emergency response. This is the third round of Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) grants, which brings the total to 20 grants valued at $21 million for Fiscal Year 2022.
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Multiform Floods: A Growing Climate Threat
We are in the thick of danger season (aka summer), that time of year when droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods and hurricanes are more likely to happen. Not only that; climate change has made these disasters more severe and more likely to occur.
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