First response

New device locates people in danger
University of Pittsburgh researchers develop a tracking device that can pinpoint within a few feet the locations of people inside burning buildings or other structures where there is an emergency
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Better bullet-proof vests with advanced fiber weaves
Manchester University researchers say that bullet-proof vests used to protect the lives of police officers could be further improved with advanced fiber weaves
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Disease maps may help turn Zimbabwe's health crisis around
The government of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe destroyed the country’s health care system and shut down water treatment facilities; the result has been an uncontrolled cholera outbreak; international aid organizations launch a Web site to help the poor people of Zimbabwe find disease-related information — because their government not only would do nothing to curb the epidemic, it also conceals crucial information from the citizenry
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U.K. to train workers in counter-terrorism
Home Office says 60,000 U.K. workers will be trained in counterterrorism so they can assist in responding to terror incidents; the trained workers will augment the existing force of 3,000 dedicated counterterrorism police officers
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North Dakota EMS employees use disaster money for booze
Nearly $200,000 of the roughly $810,000 the Bismarck, North Dakota-based EMS group received between 2004 and last year to help produce a plan to fight bioterrorism and other mass disasters was used on “unallowable or questionable” items
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U.K. looking for a single search and rescue helicopter fleet
The U.K. Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Transportation are planning to acquire one helicopter for both military and domestic search and rescue missions; the single SAR fleet of aircraft will succeed the existing service in 2012
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Cost of bioterror false alarms, anthrax hoaxes rises
The U.S. government has spent more than $50 billion since the 2001 anthrax attacks to beef up U.S. defenses against biological attacks; there has not been another attack so far, but the cost of hoaxes and false alarms is rising steeply
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Deadly avian flu virus found in wild duck in Germany
German authorities discovered the virus in a wild duck shot during a hunt near Starnberg, in Bavaria; this is the first case of a virus found in a wild bird for over a year
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Ejector-seat ambulance design
U.K. design students produce a novel concept: an ambulance with ejector seats; when paramedics arrive on the scene of the disaster, they and their equipment are “hurled” toward the victims to ensure faster treatment
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CDW-G shows Mass Notification Toolkit
New Web site offers guidance on emergency alert system implementation, marketing, and sign-up
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Random antenna arrays boost emergency communications
When first responders rush to a disaster scene, they are often met with large amount of rubble; the vast amount of metal and steel-reinforced concrete in buildings and rubble often interferes with or blocks radio signals; a new antenna array solves this problem
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More than 100 levees in 16 states are in an "unacceptable" state of disrepair
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gives “unacceptable” maintenance ratings to 114 levees in 16 states; these levees are in such a bad shape, that it can be “reasonably foreseen” that they will not perform properly in a major flood; 30 of the levees are in Arkansas
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High tech, high price tag technology supports first responders
South Walton, Florida, upgrades first response gear with funds from the federal Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau
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Items in FEMA food kits may contain salmonella-tainted peanut butter
Food kits FEMA distributed to thousands of storm evacuees in Kentucky may contain peanut butter contaminated with salmonella
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University of California-Berkeley prepare for the Big One
Cal students train in disaster response and are equipped with the supplies that are necessary to help
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