Resilience / Recovery

The larger the organization, the more prepared it is
Business continuity planning was seen as a priority by 71 percent of U.S. companies, 80 percent of companies had a business continuity plan; as company size increases, so does the likelihood that companies have a continuity plan
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FEMA announces fiscal year 2008 CEDAP application period
FEMA is open to applications from state and local emergency services for funding the purchase of emergency equipment; $16 million in funding will be awarded, and the application period ends at the end of the month
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Insurers are warned to prepare for hurricane season
NOAA updated forecast calls for 12 to 16 named storms between 1 June and 30 November; says Impact Forecasting’s Steven Drews: “insurance and reinsurance buyers must remember that any storm can cause massive destruction”
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Detailed studies of U.S. disaster preparedness offer recommendations
Critical care panel tackles disaster preparation, surge capacity, and health care rationing; some recommendations require largely greater budgets; other pose profound ethical and moral questions
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The economics of cyber - and infrastructure -- security
New book explores the economics of protecting cyberspace; the book “links our nation’s critical infrastructures across public and private institutions in sectors ranging from food and agriculture, water supply and public health, to energy, transportation and financial services,” says one of the authors
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China lacks earthquake early-warning system
Earthquake alerts are still in their infancy and few nations deploy them; China is one of the many countries which is yet to do so; such systems offer but a few seconds warning of a coming quake, but these few seconds may be enough to save many from death or injury
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Doctors develop a list of those allowed to die in a catastrophe
Physicians, government agencies draft a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients would be treated - and which would not — during a pandemic
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U.S. hospitals could not handle terror attack
Inquiry into the disaster preparedness of hospitals in several major U.S. cities conclude that they are — and will be — incapable to handle even a modest terrorist attack in those cities; one reason for for the lack of hospitals’ capacity: the Bush administration’s cuts in Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals overwhelm emergency rooms with patients suffering from routine problems, leaving no capacity to absorb and treat disaster victims
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Secrets of bubonic plague bacteria's virulence revealed
Bubonic plague has killed more than 200 million people during the course of history and is thus the most devastating acute infectious disease known to man; scientists are closer to understanding bacteria’s virulence
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National level exercise begins In May
The National Exercise Program (NEP) of FEMA will conduct National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08) — a combined functional and full scale exercise — from 1 through 8 May
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Scientists search for clues to Reno earthquake
The shaking in Reno is unusual because the intensity of the quakes has increased over the past few weeks; generally, earthquakes tend to occur and are followed by smaller aftershocks
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Cybersecurity agenda for the next president
Cybersecurity is not a technical issue, but a matter of culture, education, and self-interest; government cannot regulate information technology security, and industry cannot do the job by itself
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What Is Keeping Your COO Awake at Night?
An HSDW conversation on Cybersecurity with Tim Kelleher, vice president of enterprise security, Unisys
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Forecast: The Big One is coming
Geologists say that there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike by 2037; California is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, where more than 300 faults crisscross the state
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Scientists create first successful avian flu virus antibodies libraries
Libraries were developed using samples from survivors of the 2005-6 bird flu outbreak in Turkey; antibody libraries hold the promise for developing a therapy to stop a pandemic in its tracks and provide treatment to those infected, as well as pointing the way toward the development of a universal flu vaccine
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