The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced its approval of DNV Healthcare Inc. to become the first new hospital accreditation organization in more than 30 years.

In light of the recent earthquakes and wildfires in California, more emphasis has been placed on the Emergency Management Guide for Nursing Homes, which was recently released by the Florida Healthcare Association (FLHA).

During the last several months, the Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Public Safety has worked very closely with the Emergency Management Department (EMD), Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and other City agencies to develop a comprehensive initiative to enhance our preparedness and planning efforts.

Disasters are recurring events that are global targets without boundaries and result in various levels of misfortune. However, with proper emergency management procedures the impact of a disaster can be less fatal and easily prepared for.

If there was one overwhelming theme at the Nov 3 Risk and Crisis Communications conference in DC it was that the world of information has changed and that those involved in communicating with the public have to change with it.

A coal shortage during an influenza pandemic portends grim outcomes. With this report, we attempt to conceptualize what happens when a pandemic disrupts the supply chain for coal, the fuel nearly half of the United States relies upon for electricity—the cornerstone of public health and organizational continuity.

City leaders have been constantly praising the response from emergency teams after the Branch Inn explosion. From a hospital standpoint, it was a situation that put years of medical training to the test.

A string of emergencies -- starting with the Metrolink collision and ending with the recent Sylmar fire -- has showed the mayor as an informer and comforter for the city.

A number of Incident Annexes of the National Response Plan (NRP) were recently updated by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. The Incident Annexes address contingency or hazard situations requiring specialized application of the NRP.

Evaluation system developed by FEMA

It hasn’t been business as usual for federal agencies responding to this summer’s wave of natural disasters.

The new National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) , which was released last month is definitely a work in progress.

Within seconds of arriving at the overturned bus along U.S. 75, Sherman police Sgt. Stephen Dean grasped the size of what emergency responders were facing.

Today, officials said they will use the region’s federal homeland security funds for medical and law enforcement projects to detect and respond to terror attacks.

This paper reviews the status of efforts to develop the capacity and capabilities of the health care system to respond to disasters and other mass casualty events.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals announced the awarding of a contract to Simulation Education Services, Inc. (SES) to conduct specialized training and exercises to test hospital emergency response plans to pandemic influenza in all nine administrative regions of the state.

Flooding, hydro explosions, flu pandemics. It could - it does - happen here. The city and its hospitals are girding for the worst

Bills call for reverse-lane strategies for major roads, long-term shelters

In a report released July 21, the Government Accountability Office found "many major gaps" in states' pandemic flu plans, particularly with respect to facilitating medical surge capacity and conforming to national response plan and national incident management system requirements.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service predicted the hurricane itself could dump up to 20 inches of rain with flooding of several feet in some areas, posing a threat to low-lying areas and colonias with poor drainage.

Saint Paul downtown hospitals say they are ready for the Grand Old Party to come to town. There are 101 emergency department rooms in Saint Paul hospitals. They are all coordinated from one small room at Regions.

Changes include a new emergency management chapter in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, which relocates current disaster planning standards EC.4.11 through EC.4.20.

While states have made progress in improving medical surge capacity, more needs to be done, especially to address altered standards of care following a mass casualty event, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

During a flood and its aftermath, there are some basic facts to remember that will help protect your personal health and safety.

Nurses at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have reopened the facility after the rising water of the Cedar River flooded the basement, prompting the evacuation of 176 patients.

In a comment letter on July 11, the American Hospital Association expressed concerns with the Homeland Security Advisory System as applied to the nation's hospitals.

Maryland's emergency response machine is among the nation's best -- yet remains vulnerable to catastrophe

Severe flooding, a devastating tornado, a plane crash or terrorist attack all are events that could push Scioto Valley hospitals past their capacity limits.

This document is the 2008 FEMA Higher Education Program Report and it summarizes the current status of emergency management higher education in the United States.

Building resiliency into a community is not a bad thing. Striving for a resilient society is an admirable goal.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has just posted guidance information on its Web site about the types of personal protective equipment (PPE) that emergency responders should employ when responding to terrorism incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) hazards.

Leading Organization in Healthcare Incident Management Integrates With Emergency Notification System Utilizing 3n Industry-Standard Interconnector for Hospital Emergency Response

The log entries and hundreds of e-mails were released as part of an Associated Press records request about the state response to the storms that killed nearly 60 people in Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. After striking a hopeful note early on, the exchange of messages turned more grim as the night wore on.

The Anniversary of the Virginia Tech Tragedy Is Marked by Mixed Improvements in Campus Safety and Communication

Around 10:20 Wednesday morning warning sirens, weather radio alarms and the emergency alert system were activated. Emergency Management agencies were testing their own tornado plans and schools were doing the same.

Mayor Michael R. Boulanger said earlier he will contact 3N National Notification Network of Glendale, Calif., to begin installation of necessary equipment as soon as possible. The mayor estimated the system could be up and operating within weeks.

On Saturday, the region will have a chance to see how it responds to a pandemic flu in real time, with a mock flu pandemic drill at Bethel Health Care Center. It may be the first community-wide drill held in the United States to deal with pandemic flu, Dworkin said.

A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level," was Scott's message to his people. "Make the best decision that you can with the information that's available to you at the time, and above all, do the right thing." This quote from Lee Scott, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, was made to his employees shortly before Hurricane Katrina made landfall illustrates the mind set the company took prior to the greatest natural disaster in American history which allowed the company to succeed where the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed.

CDC has just issued a report on the state of US readiness for a health crisis. Its assessment is upbeat.

In reading through my current cohort’s assignments where they reflect on their understanding of the Incident Command System, it was interesting to me that a few held the system up as a true "answer all" during emergencies and disaster events.

Emergency workers arriving in Greensburg the night a massive tornado struck the Kiowa County town weren't prepared for what they found. Virtually every building in the town had been destroyed or damaged. Cell phones didn't work. Electricity was out. Houses, buildings, street signs were gone.

On February 12, 2008, Ambassador Thomas McNamara, Program Manager, Information Sharing Environment, released the Privacy and Civil Liberties Implementation Manual, designed to provide information, resources, tools, and guidance on the ISE Privacy Guidelines. The Manual supports Agencies in understanding and implementing the ISE Privacy Guidelines while minimizing duplication of effort.

A recently published Commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) raises some interesting and serious questions about conventional efforts for pandemic flu preparedness.

Reynolds and his organization are now taking applications from potential volunteers for the villages emergency agency, which Reynolds has headed since April 2007. Reynolds said he is looking for eight to 10 people to help fill out the organization.

The Homeland Security Department has made emergency response planning easier with today’s release of a new national incident response plan, officials said. The plan replaces an amended version of the original three-year-old National Response Plan (NRP).

A Medical Coordination Center intended to enhance communication between emergency responders during a crisis officially opened Friday at Somerset Medical Center.

The retooled National Response Framework, released today, promises a new streamlined plan to respond to disasters more efficiently and quickly than the previous plan.

The San Francisco Bay Area is highly vulnerable to both natural hazards and human-caused disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, industrial accidents, and terrorist incidents.

All of health care reform has homeland security implications, but emergency capability and response, hospital capacity, and public health are especially significant for both.

The Ready or Not 2007 report focused on ten indicators, from Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) distribution planning to funding commitments.

When representatives from community organizations ask you how they can take part in pan-flu preparedness, you may refer them to this document released December 6 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

I sat through a National Incident Management System (NIMS) training program recently, and my head is still spinning. Like every other fire service organization in this country, our department needs to prove that we are on-board with this plan, and we have gone to great lengths to ensure that everyone learns how to talk the talk and walk the walk.

This article intends to answer questions you might have and to shed some light on the CEM certification and process to provide a knowledge base to aid you, fellow emergency manager, in making a decision as to whether or not to certify.

For the first time, a national study has tackled the contentious and provocative issue of death rates in hospitals, listing Canadian institutions by name and revealing where patients are likely dying avoidable deaths.

The recent devastating wild fires in California remind us of the need to be prepared for any emergency or disaster, said Andrew McGuire, director of Emergency Management at Danbury Hospital.

Every healthcare organization/hospital accepting payment for Medicare and Medicaid patients is required to meet certain Federal standards called Conditions of Participation (CoPs).

Hospitals are required to have the capability of performing patient decontamination. Incorporating the incident command structure provided by the National Incident Management System and the Hospital Incident Command System into their decontamination plans will enable hospitals to be better organized and efficient in managing events producing contaminated patients. [login required]

In his ongoing efforts to bolster response and preparedness in Pennsylvania, Governor Edward G. Rendell proposed dramatic changes in state operations to lessen the impact of future emergencies and natural disasters.

Disasters are getting worse it seems but the federal government's preparedness has been limited to helping after a disaster has occurred.

This post is one in a series examining the recently-released Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21: Public Health and Medical Preparedness. Previous posts can be found here: Initial Reactions.

The Federal Government has embarked on a rigorous and collaborative process that seeks input from all interested parties in developing this strategy.

The demands on the profession of disaster management are more than mental and emotional. Disaster response can be, and often is, extremely challenging physically. To be prepared, the profession should have high expectations for physical fitness.

This directive establishes a National Strategy for Public Health and Medical Preparedness (Strategy), which builds upon principles set forth in Biodefense for the 21st Century (April 2004) and will transform our national approach to protecting the health of the American people against all disasters.

What American responders can learn from the Israeli experience

Last month we talked about a program for rapid messaging out of CDC called PHIRE. I was skeptical at the time, and remain so. In short, I think that it has no natural audience and unnecessarily duplicates already successful efforts. In preparedness and response situations duplication of messaging resources is a big no-no.

It revealed a broadened focus that emphasized both natural disasters as a risk and offensive measures as a resource in protecting the homeland.

The death toll from the catastrophes that strike cities doesn't have to keep climbing

People who operate long term care facilities have a great deal to worry about. Issues related to staffing, reimbursement and regulations take much of their time and present constant challenges that require their immediate attention. Disaster planning often gets put off in the interest of handling routine, everyday responsibilities. No one likes to think about disasters-particularly one like a pandemic that could strike millions of people around the world. But the problem with failing to think about disasters is that they do happen, and when they happen, it is the people who are least prepared who suffer the most. While there is no mechanism to predict when the next pandemic will hit or how severe it will be, the consensus is that it will occur.

Networking and sharing experiences were the messages of the National Emergency Management Association’s Annual Conference in Oklahoma City on Monday.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 provided the authority for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It also directed the Director of DHS to create a National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Many of us have heard rumblings of an effort underway – led by White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend and her deputy Joel Bagnal – to revise the 2002 National Strategy for Homeland Security.

The Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center recently published these three reports about catastrophic risk management and protection.

Three large-scale evacuation centers, a statewide text messaging alert system and inspections of smaller chemical facilities are some of the recommendations in a new state homeland security report.

Manmade and natural disasters can take both a physical and emotional toll on its victims. While the immediate response to these disasters largely focuses on responding to the immediate needs of victims, often emotional needs are not readily addressed nor are response plans designed to address this basic need.

The Federal Communications Commission’s new national broadband network for public safety will enable first responders to share data throughout much of the country starting as soon as 2009. But the new pipeline probably won’t achieve its full potential until more standards and systems for such data exchanges are widely adopted, according to experts.

In an earlier post, I passed along the gist of a GAO report (pdf) ripping DHS' implementation of key mission and management objectives. I'd like to spend a bit of time reviewing the Emergency Preparedness and Response section, as it's the area that I'm most concerned with and that DHS seems to be least concerned with.

...conducting a survey of all US Healthcare facilties and healthcare systems, with the sponsorship of the Business Continuity Planning Workgroup for Healthcare Organizations (http://www.bcpwho.org/).

Last week David Walker, Comptroller General, submitted a report (pdf) to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding the status of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr. Walker works for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and is tasked with auditing and evaluating government programs and spending.

A slew of health organizations are kicking off programs focused on emergency preparedness to coincide with today's anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

ASKED to describe his job, Michael D. Selves, director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in Johnson County, Kan., recalls what he once told county commissioners who also posed the question. "My job," he said, "is to tell you things you don't want to hear, asking you to spend money you don't have for something you don't believe will ever happen."

Matt Lawrence, a veteran UPS logistician, has become the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) first loaned executive from private industry.

New Englanders like to consider themselves hardy folk - the kind who can handle three days of coastal pounding from a swirling no'easter and shrug it off as a "pretty good storm".

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (referred to as the Stafford Act-42 U.S.C. 5721 et seq.) authorizes the President to issue 'major disaster' or 'emergency' declarations before or after catastrophes occur. Emergency declarations trigger aid that protects property, public health, and safety and lessens or averts the threat of an incident becoming a catastrophic event.

The emergency scanner in John Luther's car crackled to life Tuesday morning as firefighters searched for a truck fire in downtown Fayetteville. When Luther dropped his 6-year-old daughter off at elementary school, she told her teacher about the fire with the precision of a dispatcher.

As health-care businesses vie for their share of the market, it’s unusual to find hospitals forgoing competitive considerations to cooperate in the delivery of health-care services.

As you probably know, Gates is aggressively tackling third world diseases. He has targeted not only high-profile scourges like AIDS but also maladies like malaria, diarrhea, and parasitic infections. These latter illnesses are the really important ones to attack, because they kill millions a year and are entirely preventable. For decades, they flew under the radar of philanthropists in the West. So why did Gates become the first major humanitarian to take action?

In the two years since Hurricane Katrina, the Red Cross has set higher benchmarks for sheltering and feeding disaster victims and helping them recover.

The Federal Emergency Management Office (FEMA) has unveiled a prototype of the National Response Framework website.

Nova Scotians are reminded once again to be prepared to look after themselves and their families for the first 72 hours in an emergency.

In natural disasters, there is some consolation in the thought that nature just happens - it doesn't target victims. Not so with acts of terrorism. Knowing that technology can be used to wreak sudden harm on the unsuspecting makes for a scarier world, and we can't do a lot to prepare but to be on guard - that's why it's called "terrorism."

HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has just released Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities, which is intended to help local communities identify the health care facilities (hospitals and nursing homes) that could be available and prepared to provide assistance under emergency conditions in their communities.

Historically, police departments, fire departments and ambulance drivers have all had their own independent communications equipment, so when there's a disaster that involves them all, they can't communicate with each other.

Last week, the DHS’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report (pdf) on the federal effort to coordinate and consolidate the various means of detecting a biological event, be it naturally occurring or man-made. The gist of the report? Given the money spent, we’re worse off than we were the first time President Bush made this a priority.

Yesterday included a post here highlighting a number of critical questions posed by the GAO in a wide ranging study of national challenges that will take about 100 years to address. Among them was a set of questions dealing with homeland security that I believe would be excellent fodder for a presidential debate leading up to 2008. The Center for American Progress decided not to wait for the politicians. They ran their third annual Terrorism Survey of policy wonks earlier this summer and released the findings yesterday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released a guide to federal law when accommodating people with disabilities.

The government and private businesses have spent billions of dollars on making our nation more secure. Still, there are many potential threats from terrorism, natural disasters, pandemic flu and other outbreaks. While governments can do much to prepare, it is up to individuals to take personal responsibility for their own safety and health.

Medical identity theft can affect your credit report and discredit your health records. Officials don’t know how rampant the problem is, but they advise people to guard health information closely.

Asia-Pacific countries accounted for 90 percent of people affected by natural disasters around the world since 2000, the region's emergency management chiefs were told yesterday.

O’Malley will give an address on emergency management Friday to all attendees at the Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City and is expected to repeat his 12 core capacities of emergency response throughout Maryland.

We write so much here about influenza A virus that you might get the idea it is an especially clever virus, always changing genetically in ways that allow it to perform new and nastier tricks. But other viruses are capable of doing the same thing, and one of them West Nile Virus (WNV), is currently becoming a a more persistent and serious public health hazard, all because of a clever little genetic trick it learned in the last decade or so.

The city plans to build a $73 million, 10-story emergency operations and traffic management center in Downtown Honolulu, designed to make commutes smoother and improve communications between agencies during disasters.

A decision by the Bush administration to rewrite in secret the nation's emergency response blueprint has angered state and local emergency officials, who worry that Washington is repeating a series of mistakes that contributed to its bungled response to Hurricane Katrina nearly two years ago.

...a piece comes out in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that claims quarantine was an effective mitigation method for influenza in 1918. Time Magazine, for example, had an article with the headline: "Study: Quarantines Work Against Pandemics"

The threat of flooded roads and the challenge of evacuating people who have medical or other special needs remain Brunswick County Emergency Services' top concerns as the peak of hurricane season begins.

Today, the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, made the following statement to mark the Emergency Management Act (EMA) coming into force on August 3, 2007.

After a lengthy and detailed discussion last night, August 6, 2007, the Waterford Representative Town Meeting (RTM) approved unanamously the appropriation of $2,905,364 from the Communications System designated line and $3,582,493 from the undesignated fund balance of the Capital Non recurring Expenditure Fund for the new Town Wide 800 MHz Trunked Radio System.

U. S. House of Representatives lawmakers said today, July 31, they remain concerned that the Bush administration might not be as prepared as it should be to handle a catastrophe or multiple disasters that occur simultaneously.

Many state agencies are contributing to the rescue and recovery effort. Here is a concise listing of each agency's efforts.

Out of the ashes and tumult of Katrina, a new National Response Plan is near ready.

Physicians in Ontario community hospitals have a vital link to the resources of larger, more specialized hospitals in their region and the province thanks to a program based in Hamilton.

A new study in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reports that hospital management plans for mass casualty incident (MCI) disasters must be improved not only for orthopaedic surgeons but all medical personnel and staff.

A combination of ice storms, flooding rains and tornadoes have left Oklahoma atop a dubious list. So far this year, the state has most federal disaster declarations in the country.

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has made a draft copy of the new Z1600 Standard on Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs available for public review.

Albert Ashwood is the director of the Oklahoma department of emergency management. Nearly 2 years ago he appeared before a house committee to talk about problems with FEMA. Today he is back and he is not happy.

If you're prepared to mitigate a release of radioactive and/or toxic materials, it doesn't matter if the source is natural, accidental, or intentional.

Ever since the Virginia Tech tragedy in April, there has been a tremendous increase in interest in emergency notification. There is almost a sense of panic, so many seem so intent in putting emergency callout capability in place.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist proclaimed July 26 "Get a Plan Day" by announcing the grand opening of Florida's State Response Center in Orlando.

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) (P.L. 106-390) provides an opportunity for States, Tribes, and local governments to take a new and revitalized approach to mitigation planning. DMA 2000 amended the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Act) by repealing the previous Mitigation Planning section (409) and replacing it with a new Mitigation Planning section (322).

On May 18, 2006, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on "Caring for Seniors in a National Emergency: Can We Do Better." The consensus among those testifying at the hearing was that government must do more to ensure the health and safety of older Americans during a disaster.

The Homeland Security Council has just released it's one year update of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza.

The most recent meeting of the Battle Road Regional Emergency Planning Committee left the members with a few things to think about over their summer break.

Annual report of U.S. flu plan identifies preparedness progress, gaps

In the wake of a series of scares involving E.coli-laden spinach, poisoned pet food and salmonella-tainted peanut butter and snack puffs, it seemed safe to assume that the nation's food supply wasnn't particularly well-safeguarded.

By KELLI HILYER/THE DEMOPOLIS TIMES

An interesting trend has begun popping up in the blogs lately regarding staffing in public health preparedness especially, but also in other seemingly "mission critical" fields in government. This trend is toward understaffing and the resulting increase in the use of consultants to fill those roles.

Recent events remind us that a new pandemic could be only a plane ride away.

Award-winning UNT professor will work with emergency managers

Something disasterous has happened, and hospital personnel have to react quickly. Fast, organized, appropriate action is now possible thanks to the universal system hospitals in North Dakota are training to put in place.

Welcome to another edition of Voices. I'm Joaquim Menezes, editor of ITWorldCanada.com - and with me today is Julian Fantino, Ontario's Commissioner of Emergency Management, and former police commissioner of Toronto.

Hospital and nursing home administrators face challenges related to evacuations caused by hurricanes, including deciding whether to evacuate and obtaining transportation.

EMAP is pleased to release the inaugural edition of the EMAP standards entitled "Emergency Management Standards by EMAP" for public comment.

Though the bombings of July 7, 2005 certainly weren't the first time that ordinary bystanders took it upon themselves to document the events unfolding around them, the event marked a turning point in the evolution of the "citizen journalist."

The dry run for a dirty-bomb attack on Prince Edward Island pushed emergency personnel and their equipment to the limit in late March last year.

Palm Beach County is looking for 6,000 men and women to become part of its trained volunteer force to assist in a public health emergency.

For many communities, volunteers in the emergency services sector is crucial for emergency preparedness. Currently there is a decline in the volunteer emergency services. From the report: "Can the trend in declining volunteerism be reversed?"

Almost two years after the Federal Emergency Management Agency drew widespread criticism for its coordination of rescue and recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina struck, the agency has reached its goal of being 95 percent fully staffed, according to the agency’s director of management.

In view of the increased risk we now face, it is time to add a second question to Nunn's: What will we actually do on the day after? That is, what actions should our government take?

In case disaster strikes the city, Clute has adopted the National Incident Management System as its standard in emergency response.

The Alabama Emergency Management Agency was granted conditional accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is close to announcing selections for its National Advisory Council — a congressionally mandated group of emergency management experts who will serve the FEMA administrator.

The Vermont Department of Health has received high marks from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention for its Strategic National Stockpile emergency preparedness program.

The hazmat team is primarily a volunteer organization comprised of firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, OEM, sheriff's office, public works, and industry personnel.

Wells said the training allows the organizations to learn teamwork, resource sharing, cost reduction and troubleshooting during an incident.

Even that [we will still be able to accomplish a thing or two and implement our plans], though, is dependent on an assumption - that we’ll show up to work. And that’s a mighty big assumption.

How to evacuate an Airbus 380 (873 people) in just 77 seconds.