Critical Infrastructure Archives

Taxis for the Sick

Joseph Cahill May 9, 2012

Thanks to the increased focus on homeland security in recent years, most Americans now understand the need to “triage” victims of a mass-casualty incident. Less understood is the triage approach as it applies to taking patients from an incident site to a healthcare facility: (a) immediate transport, with medical care

Healthcare Reform: Major Effects on Hospital Preparedness

Theodore Tully May 2, 2012

No matter what the Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of the healthcare reform act, U.S. hospitals must prepare now for major changes in their planning, everyday operations, and both budgetary and personnel resources. Many of those changes may be costly. Most will be time-consuming and/or difficult to implement. But

Protecting First Responders from Biological Agents

Christina Spoons April 25, 2012

Bio-weapons are the new “hidden dangers” available to terrorist groups seeking to kill and create widespread havoc. They are low in cost, quickly available, difficult to detect, and – if properly designed – extremely lethal. Moreover, first responders are often the most likely victims – but can save themselves, and

Protecting the U.S. Agriculture and Food Sector

Douglas Meckes April 18, 2012

The well-known military axiom that an army “travels on its stomach” applies equally to a nation – more so now than ever before, primarily because of the massive increase in the international trade of food and agricultural products that has taken place in recent years. For this reason, the accidental

Enterprising Solutions: Buying/Building New State & Local Preparedness Capabilities

Dennis R. Schrader and John F. Morton April 17, 2012

For more than a century, the United States has followed a “forward defense” strategy – in other words, fighting the nation’s battles overseas rather than in the United States itself. The 9/11 terrorist attacks led to the realization that homeland security must now begin at home. The federal government has

An Exercise in Utility: The Role of Public Health

Raphael M. Barishansky and Audrey Mazurek April 11, 2012

The federal funding streams that improved U.S. preparedness capabilities, at all levels of government, so significantly in the first decade after the 9/11 attacks have already declined, and additional reductions are just over the horizon. But a lack of funds can be overcome, at least in part, by careful planning,

Foodborne Outbreaks in Minnesota: Training and Performance

Kimberley Wetherille and Evan Henke April 11, 2012

There are almost 50 million foodborne illnesses “of various types” in the United States, and over 3,000 deaths annually. Those are the grim statistics that persuaded the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the FDA, and NACCHO to expand and upgrade programs already in place to detect, control, and

Food Fight – Bioterrorism & Emergency Response Capabilities

Joseph Cahill April 11, 2012

Infected salad bars and the “improved” technological capabilities of modern-day terrorist groups have combined to make U.S. responders, and the American people, much more cautious about what they eat. Fortunately, that heightened awareness has led to a much closer scrutiny of restaurants, super markets, food-processing plants, and the super-rich diet

First Responder HazMat/CBRN Training SURVEY

Domestic Preparedness April 5, 2012

Your Opinion Matters! DomPrep wants to know your opinion on preparedness and training efforts related to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) warfare and hazardous material incidents. In today’s environment of reduced funding, maintaining these efforts can be even more challenging than in the past. How prepared is your jurisdiction?

Dual-Use Disasters: Lessons for Preparedness Professionals

Earl Stoddard April 4, 2012

Actions have consequences – not all of which are intended, or desired. Some military actions, for example, are intended to intimidate another nation – but instead lead to an outright war. The same is true in the fields of medicine and biological research that, while expanding the range of knowledge

Hi-Tech Food Banks & the Safety of Food Supply Chains

Scott McCallum April 4, 2012

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, more than one-third of adults across the United States are part of the “obesity epidemic.” The most important “nutritional” problem facing American consumers, though, might not be calories but contamination. This is particularly true of the billions of pounds of food

Protecting Subway Riders from a Chemical Attack

Joselito S. Ignacio March 28, 2012

The numbers are staggering – U.S. subway systems carry literally billions of passengers every year, while all of the nation’s airlines combined carry less than one billion! Today, airline passenger screening is routine, and reasonably thorough. However, there is little if any screening of subway passengers, making subways an easier

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