NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security turns 5!

NPS graduate HS program celebrates its 5-yr anniversary! This gold standard of graduate-level HS education is expanding to the East Coast (Shepherdstown WV, so I read) this year as part of its 5-yr anniversary.

Born out of the chaos and tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security has lived up to expectations, say those who started it.

The center is celebrating its fifth anniversary this week at the Navy school with a reunion of founders and alumni that started with a reception at the school Tuesday. The program has about 90 graduates a year.

It began its first class of 14 master's degree candidates in 2003, and some of them, like retired New York Fire Capt. Vincent Doherty, were there when the World Trade Center was hit by suicide pilots flying jetliners, collapsing the mammoth twin towers and killing more than 3,000 people.

Full story:

http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_8116508

NLM adds new specialized collection in preparedness for special populations

A new Web page that addresses emergency and disaster preparedness and special populations has been added to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Enviro-Health Links.

"Special Populations: Emergency and Disaster Preparedness"
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/specialpopulationsanddisasters.html provides links to selected Web sites featuring emergency preparedness for special populations. This includes people with disabilities, people with visual or hearing impairments, senior citizens, children, and women. Links to information in languages other than English are also provided.

What is the best strategy for cybersecurity programs?

I have to say I think we should developing these types of protections in the world of
private networking first and then adapting to government use. Using the ASTM
International standard-creating process might be the way to go here. (For more info, go to http://www.astm.org) There's bound to be massive interest in a TRANSPARENT and UNIVERSALLY useful standard here. Now is not the time to do this in secret at a federal office.

Here's a snippet from the ASTM web page:
ASTM Committee E54 on Homeland Security Applications was formed in 2003. E54 meets twice each year, in January and June, with about 100 members attending three days of technical meetings. This Committee addresses issues related to standards and guidance materials for homeland security applications with specific focus on infrastructure protection, decontamination, security controls, threat and vulnerability assessment, and CBRNE sensors and detectors. It also is charged with the coordination of existing standardization (ASTM generated as well as external) related to homeland security needs. The Committee, with a membership of approximately 450, currently has its standards published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 15.08. E54 has 9 technical subcommittees that maintain jurisdiction over these standards. Information on this subcommittee structure and E54's portfolio of approved standards and Work Items under construction are available from the List of Subcommittees, Standards and Work Items below.

Industry experts question $6 billion Bush cybersecurity plan
By Jill R. Aitoro

A system that focuses on network protection will do little to fend off intruders, industry sources argue in response to reports that President Bush will allocate $6 billion in his 2009 budget to a cybersecurity project meant to shield communication networks from terrorists and hackers.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the administration plans to reduce access points from the Internet to government networks and better monitor intrusion attempts through the use of network sensors that detect suspicious patterns.

Once implemented in government, the program would be adapted to private networks. Former officials told The Wall Street Journal that the $6 billion would be the initial part of a potential total cost of $30 billion over seven years.

"Five years ago we needed this type of investment," said Howard Schmidt, president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting, former vice chairman of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and special adviser to the White House on cyberspace security. "Is it enough? Only time will tell, but it seems to be a good amount to deal with some of the issues we've identified for the past five years."

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39150&dcn=e_gvet

AA program in HS/EM added to Delaware Tech & Community College

Delaware Technical & Community College has added an
Associate's Degree in Homeland Security and Emergency
Management at their Terry campus in Dover, DE.

Full story here:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/NEWS/801240366/1008/NEWS03

Online colleges to form coalition to post effectiveness of programs

This just in from Wired Campus:

January 23, 2008
Online Colleges to Post Effectiveness of Programs


A coalition of colleges that operate online and serve mostly adult students announced today that it will team up with the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, or WCET, to disseminate data about the effectiveness of its members’ academic programs. The cooperative promotes the use of technology in higher education.


It is expected to develop a Web site, which will open next year, to publish data from the coalition—-called the Presidents’ Forum—-that show students’ graduation rates, what training the institutions provide, and how successful graduates are in their careers, among other things. Michael Offerman, vice chairman of Capella University, said the cooperative will act as an independent examiner of the data, which he said are primarily meant to help prospective students pick the right institutions and programs for their needs. “We’ve got data and we’re going to share it,” said Mr. Offerman. Capella is part of the Presidents’ Forum.


Other institutions in the forum are: American Public University System, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, Fielding Graduate University, Franklin University, Kaplan University, Regis University, Rio Salado College, Southwestern College, Western Governors University, and Union Institute & University. The University of Phoenix is considering joining the group.


The partnership between the cooperative and the online colleges is meant to help carry out a program that the colleges announced in October called Transparency By Design.—-Andrea L. Foster

Another online resource for emergency management and homeland security

Through on online seminar, I just came across a resource with some interesting reads:
http://www.gordonhomeland.com

In particular,

"Education and Training Initiatives
Needed to Address Threats and Challenges to Homeland Security"
http://users.rcn.com/pgordon/homeland/homeland_educ.html

"The State of Emergency Management and Homeland Security"
http://users.rcn.com/pgordon/homeland/stateofEM.html

"A Common Goal for Contingency Planning and Management, Emergency Management, and Homeland Security: Building a Disaster Resilient Nation"
http://users.rcn.com/pgordon/homeland/CommonGoal.html

DHS press release for the new National Response Framework

National Response Framework Released
Release Date: January 22, 2008
Office of the Press Secretary(202) 282-8010

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released the National Response Framework (NRF), successor to the National Response Plan. The NRF, which focuses on response and short-term recovery, articulates the doctrine, principles and architecture by which our nation prepares for and responds to all-hazard disasters across all levels of government and all sectors of communities. The NRF is responsive to repeated federal, state, local and private sector requests for a streamlined document that is less bureaucratic and more user-friendly. The NRF also focuses on preparedness and encourages a higher level of readiness across all jurisdictions.


The NRF is being released following an extensive process of outreach and coordination between DHS and key stakeholders representing federal, tribal, state and local governments, non-governmental agencies and associations, and the private sector. The latest public comment period for the base document of the NRF closed on Oct. 22, 2007 and the comment period for the support annexes closed on Nov.10, 2007. The final documents reflect the nearly 5,700 comments received from participants of the process.


“The National Response Framework is an essential tool for emergency managers at all levels,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “It helps define the roles, responsibilities, and relationships critical to effective emergency planning, preparedness and response to any emergency or disaster. Today’s release reflects the culmination of many months of hard work and collaboration within the nation’s emergency management community.”


The NRF is intended for senior elected and appointed leaders, such as federal department and agency heads, state governors, mayors, tribal leaders, city managers and the private sector. Simultaneously, it informs emergency management practitioners by explaining the operating structures and tools routinely used by first responders and emergency managers at all levels of government.


The NRF is designed to:
be scalable, flexible and adaptable;
always be in effect; and
articulate clear roles and responsibilities among local, state and federal officials.


In addition to releasing the NRF base document, the Emergency Support Function Annexes and Support Annexes will be released and posted at the NRF Resource Center (www.fema.gov/nrf), an online repository of the entire component parts of the NRF. The annexes are a total of 23 individual documents designed to provide concept of operations, procedures and structures for achieving response directives for all partners in fulfilling their roles under the NRF.


Upon finalization and publication of the NRF base document and the annexes, a large focus will be to initiate an intensive nationwide training and exercise program to embed the NRF into the nation’s preparedness and response cycle. Implementation of the NRF training and exercise strategy will include awareness training, position-specific training, exercises (tabletop and functional), and sustainment training.


To make the NRF a living system that can be revised and updated in a more nimble, transparent fashion, the NRF Resource Center was developed. The Resource Center will allow for ongoing revisions as necessary to reflect real-world events and lessons learned.


The NRF and the annexes will go into effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Cherty goes head to head with Congress over border crossing initiative

It will be interesting to see what happens with this initiative if the POTUS torch is passed
to a Democrat. Current delays at the major US airports are now at a high (there a great graphic in one of the last issues of Wired showing average delays and rankings of the top 30 airports
and the East Coast has like 3 of the top 5 "most delayed" airports). Will this border crossing rule lead to large queues of people at the border trying to get in? This is definitely going to cause some trouble in Michigan, where the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario enjoys probably the single highest rate of crossing in the country.

Chertoff to defy Congress with new border-crossing ID rules
By Chris Strohm, CongressDaily

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Wednesday said new border-crossing requirements will go into effect at the end of the month, despite opposition from Congress and concerns from state officials that commerce and tourism will be disrupted. Chertoff said the department plans to begin phasing in new requirements under the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. "On Jan. 31 of this year, we'll be making some changes at the land border," Chertoff said in a speech to a border security advisory panel in Washington. The new rules will apply to travelers coming into the United States at land crossings from Canada and Mexico and by water from the Caribbean. Border inspectors will no longer accept oral declarations of citizenship, meaning U.S. citizens will have to present documentation proving they reside in the country, Chertoff said. He said the department will also begin preparations to limit the types of documents that can be used to prove citizenship. Border inspectors now accept about 8,000 different documents, many in the form of birth certificates issued by a variety of jurisdictions. Last year, Homeland Security began requiring people coming into the United States by air from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean to present a passport or other government-approved identification document.

Chertoff said compliance rates for the air rules have reached 99 percent. But he did not mention problems and delays that U.S. citizens had obtaining passports from the State Department last year, with delays so acute that Homeland Security had to delay implementation of the air rules for six months. The passport trouble also drew the ire of lawmakers. Congress responded by recently passing legislation that prohibits the department from fully implementing the land crossing rules until June 2009. "Congress has mandated a delay for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative ... but [Homeland Security] will nevertheless, in the intervening time, take some reasonable and very important measures to eliminate what I consider to be unacceptable vulnerabilities at our land border," Chertoff said.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39048&dcn=e_hsw

CIA: Hackers Shook Up Power Grids

This in last week from Wired Blog:

Earlier this week, the nation's chief spy screeched about of the danger of cyber attacks -- and the need to monitor what everyone does online, in response. Now, the CIA has made an usually public warning about the perils that network strikes can pose. Hackers have tried to extort money from overseas utility companies. At least in one case, the Washington Post reports, the online attackers messed with an electrical grid, disrupting ing power in several cities.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/hackers-take-do.html

Very scary indeed. Water systems and nuclear facilities (to name just a few snippets
of US infrastructure) have many computer-absed systems that, if accessed, could be
used for some badness.

"Business continuity programs" and NFPA standards

A piece on business continuity programs from Forbes Magazine.
The author claims "its only a matter of time" before these programs
are regulated by DHS, so it behooves businesses, big and small, to have
continuity of operations plans in pocket prior to that outbreak of avian
flu that prevents all your employees from coming into work.

The NFPA 1600 standards define business continuity as "an ongoing process supported by senior management and funded to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to identify the impact of potential losses, maintain viable recovery strategies and recovery plans, and ensure continuity of services through personnel training, plan testing and maintenance." It provides an "all hazards" approach (identifying over 45 categories of hazards like pandemic disease, cyber-attack, flood and biological agent attack) and establishes a common set of criteria for disaster management, emergency management and business continuity. The standards provide the criteria to assess current programs and to develop, implement and maintain a program to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

Full article here:
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/01/16/disaster-preparedness-companies-oped-cx_slw_0117disaster.html

more info on Joppatowne program in today's Baltimore Sun

Another article about the Joppatowne program in today's Baltimore Sun ... check it out:


The students were answering the questions during a homeland security and emergency preparedness class being piloted at Joppatowne High School this school year.The program was started to give students a chance to develop skills they can use. Students also will learn how the United States protects against threats to public health and safety, said Frank Mezzanotte, the magnet programs coordinator for the county's public school system.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ha.homeland20jan20,0,703936.story

Library of Congress shares holdings on Flickr

A Big Flickr of Photo Sharing From the Library of Congress

You may post your vacation snapshots on Flickr, the photo-sharing site, but the Library of Congress has bigger plans. This week the library was overwhelmed by the public response after it put 3,100 of the most popular photos from its collection online at Flickr, getting them outside the Washington library walls and into the hands of people who want to use them. (The selected photos have no known copyright restrictions.) "The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over," noted the library's Matt Raymond in the institution's official blog. "We want people to tag, comment, and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo. ... Many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images." Magic indeed happened, Mr. Raymond reported today. "Words are failing me right now," he wrote. (That's appropriate since he's dealing with pictures.) There have been 50,000 views, comments posted on 500 photos, and people have marked 1,200 photos as favorites. The number of tags is practically impossible to count. The only downside might be the number of bloggers writing about this, including Mr. Raymond, who succumbed to the obvious pun, "My Friend Flickr." --Josh Fischman

George Mason University - graduate Biodefense programs

George Mason’s biodefense program is designed to educate the nextgeneration of biodefense and biosecurity professionals. By combining afoundation in the biological sciences with a focus on policy analysis, itis the first program of its kind in the United States to offer a broadfield of study in the defense against biological threats and other weaponsof mass destruction. The risks posed by biological threats have increasedsubstantially in recent years due to globalization, advances in scienceand technology, and the changing nature of conflict and security. As theUnited States embarks on a range of ambitious efforts to enhance itsbiosecurity, there is a greater need than ever to instill a strongintersection of knowledge of policy, science and technology across thenational security community. The nature of the problem defines the natureof the solution: interdisciplinary, interagency, intergovernmental, andinternational. The Biodefense program at George Mason University is unique in this approach. If your career choice requires you to furtheryour knowledge of biological warfare and bioterrorism, counterterrorism,WMD non-proliferation, homeland security, emergency planning andpreparedness, or global health, we encourage you to apply. The department offers an MS and a PhD in biodefense.

Please visit http://pia.gmu.edu/grad/biod/ for more information.

NYPD Seeks an Air Monitor Crackdown for New Yorkers

Well, here's a fascinating piece from the Village Voice in NYC ... evidently
they want to regulate private possession of devices that can detect airborne
threats (which I'm SURE are sold in the back of Sodier of Fortune, but still, that's
the free market for you)

This is pretty much crazy. Sorry. Why on earth should every public health
and environmental researcher have to coordinate taking air samples with the
bloody government. Perhaps they are afraid that people will buy BETTER
equipment than the government??? Afraid of a second opinion??? I'm uneasy
about this whole thing, especially since it is mentioned in the article that DHS
officials suggested it. You wanna prevent false alarms? Spend more money on better
equipment and use it sensibly! Any system that runs 24/7 to detect airborne
pathogens (i.e. BioWatch) is going to have false positives and false negatives.
The response systems need better ways of discriminating these from true
signal prior to a full-blown response... we need to prevent repeats of actions
that transpired in Houston following detection of some tularemia DNA on a BioWatch
filter some years ago ...

"There are currently no guidelines regulating the private acquisition of biological, chemical, and radiological detectors," warned Falkenrath, adding that this law was suggested by officials within the Department of Homeland Security. "There are no consistent standards for the type of detectors used, no requirement that they be reported to the police department—or anyone else, for that matter—and no mechanism for coordinating these devices. . . . Our mutual goal is to prevent false alarms . . . by making sure we know where these detectors are located, and that they conform to standards of quality and reliability."

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0803,thompson,78873,2.html

Top-down vs bottom-up controls?

Perhaps they did go too far (see article from the Raw Story below), but the greater argument is that, domestically, we perhaps focused too intently on one method of "fixing" a system: the top-down control. I argue that we should have focused more on bottom-up type controls, by first
selling the US on individual preparedness and domestic all-hazards security
and not external terrorist/intentional low-probablility events.

There are now some bottom-up systems being put in place: community-based preparedness systems. A new office in Health & Human Services is/has taken over funding for hospital/health care preparedness (from HRSA) and they awarded several hospital groups a new grant in late 2007 to start initiating community-based preparedness planning, assessment, inventory, networking, etc. I really think this may be the future of preparedness after we have put our top-down controls in place (creating Dept of Homeland Security, national travel restrictions, real ID, PATRIOT Act, NRP, NIPP, NIMS, etc.). We shall see. After all, it is really all about making sure communities are viable and resilient and can fend for themselves. I can't imagine there are many communities out there who do NOT want to be more self-sufficient. If you can build a grassroots movement for climate change, you can build one for individual and community awareness and preparedness.

Powell claims he warned Bush about the 'price' of security after 9/11

According to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, even though the homeland is "safer" now than prior to 9/11, the United States may have gone too far and paid too high a price.
During a speaking engagement in New Orleans Monday before the American Farm Bureau Federation's 89th annual convention, Powell said that a year and a half after 9/11 he went to President George W. Bush and told him just that. "We can’t go too far because we have now paid too high a price for these new procedures," Powell claims he told Bush.

Invasive and burdensome screening of passengers at airports and other anti-terrorism measures have become distasteful to many people around the world, Powell said, noting that he played a big part in getting those measures in place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
And, he acknowledged that people seeking medical treatment, tourists and students who might have come to the United States are now going elsewhere.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Colin_Powell_told_George_Bush_in_0115.html

SE KY Community & Technical College and their HS Training Certificate Program

Homeland Security Training Certificate Program offered
Local News Commonwealth Journal

Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College has become the first higher education provider in the nation to make the Homeland Security Training Certificate Program a fully credited class.

The unique Web-based training program is the result of a collaborative effort between The Center for Rural Development in Somerset; Teleologic Learning Co., headquartered in Atlanta, Ill.; and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. It consists of a virtual city where participants can adopt the role of a police officer, fireman, mayor, city manager, etc., and play an integral part in thwarting a terrorist threat.

Article here:
http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/012375.html

ACLU wants changed focus in pandemic containment planning

Not too dissimilar from the argument that drug addiction is really a medical

condition and not a crime and should be treated as such. (talk about reasons

why US health care is so exhorbitant to all of us, think of all the medical costs

we bear of addicts thrown in prison for having a $5 crack rock).

ACLU wants changed focus in pandemic containment planning

By Chris Strohm, Technology Daily

Government planning for a disease outbreak is too focused on treating health emergencies as a law enforcement or national security problem rather than treating victims as patients and engaging the public, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The group on Monday released a report that asserts that plans made by the Bush administration since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to protect the nation against a possible influenza epidemic put the civil liberties of U.S. residents at risk. "Rather than focusing on well-established measures for protecting the lives and health of Americans, policymakers have recently embraced an approach that views public health policy through the prism of national security and law enforcement," the report states. "As a result ... today's pandemic prevention focuses on taking aggressive, coercive actions against those who are sick. People, rather than the disease, become the enemy."

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39019&dcn=e_hsw

latest ABC news piece on Joppatowne HS program

Here's the latest article on the Joppatowne program. Still more misunderstanding
of the term "homeland security" - perhaps it is time to rename the program "domestic tranquility" instead?

How to Stop Terrorism? Begin in School
Maryland High School Offers Homeland Security Courses
By SIBILE MORENCY
Jan. 11, 2008 —
Homeland security is one of the hottest issues in this year's presidential election, the candidates sparring daily over who is best qualified to protect the nation against terrorist threats.
Meanwhile, Leah Beaulieu is busy educating the next generation of security experts. Beaulieu teaches the nation's first homeland security high school program at Joppatowne High School in Joppa, Md.
Sixty-one Joppatowne 10th-graders enrolled this year to spend three years learning about protecting the country against terrorism.
The sophomores choose specific areas of homeland security that they would like to explore during their junior years. And as seniors, they complete internships or shadow homeland-security professionals on the job.
"We introduce our students to all major areas of homeland security. We start off with a historical perspective, learning where terrorism comes from, the political motivations, even going back to the Crusades and talking about change over time," said Beaulieu.
The program, which has been lauded by some in law enforcement, educates them on cutting-edge security technology, law enforcement and criminal justice, and teaches them to identify potential chemical and biological threats. Its creators say it will prepare the young students to enter a growing industry that could one day employ thousands of new workers.
But the program has also raised concerns about the appropriateness of teaching such a serious, politically charged subject matter to high school students.
Education or Indoctrination?
David Volrath, director of secondary education for Maryland's Hartford County public schools, insists that the school's main motivation is to help students find future jobs. There are high-tech companies in the area, and the Defense Department's Aberdeen Proving Ground is nearby.
"When we recognized that these industries were coming to support research at Aberdeen, we realized the opportunity for our students," he said.
And Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent and president of Clayton Consultants Inc., a global risk crisis management firm, praises the high school for being the first in the nation to take this initiative.
"Those of us in this type of business often get criticized for running around, screaming the sky is falling, [but] we do have to keep the public vigilant," he said. "This is a very important educational message. If it's first introduced at the high school level, along the line it will increase people's professionalism."
But other observers warn that the the educational message must remain distinct from any political implications.
Jonathan Zimmerman, director of New York University's History of Education Program, encourages the inclusion of homeland security issues in the school's curriculum, but he urges the school to make sure it focuses on teaching national security.
"The devil is in the details. Is the school educating or indoctrinating? The job of public schools is not to get people to vote for or against Bush. [Rather] it's to teach kids the tools to evaluate Bush," he says.
Doron Pely, vice president of Homeland Security Research in Washington, D.C., says that by the time the students in the program graduate, homeland security will have grown into a $120 billion worldwide industry.
Nevertheless, he is wary of this novel integration of homeland security at the high school level.
"Kids at this age should just have fun," he said. "Homeland security is not fun. It starts from a paranoid worldview, someone is attacking me and I have to defend myself. I want my son running after girls, not defending himself."
Technology, Law Enforcement Cooperation
Frank Mezzanotti, magnet program coordinator for this homeland security program, says the Maryland Emergency Management Administration has invested $275,000 in the program
A large part of the program covers communications technology, which includes GIS software and technologies, Global Positioning System and satellite geo-spatial mapping. Other students specialize in law enforcement and criminal justice.
"The kids are learning what professionals know," said Beaulieu, who wants students to know how to read satellite images for signs of security threats. "We purchased a software program used professionally all over the country from SPACE STARS. It's the actual satellite program NASA uses."
Eddie Hanebuth, from the Department of Labor's National Standard Geospatial Apprenticeship Program, helped develop the curriculum.
"Students learn that location matters in several areas," he said. "When faced with limited resources, how do we respond and from which direction? [Students] will cover risk assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. In each area they learn from a demonstration project, then they apply their skills and knowledge to their own community."
In the law enforcement and criminal justice component of the program, students are taught about the Constitution, criminal law and how laws are enforced. They also learn about criminal evidence collection and how the FBI and CIA operate.
The homeland-security sciences part of the program covers different biological, chemical and radiological threats.
"[Students] basically learn about different threats & how to protect yourself, what does it take to develop a gas mask," Beaulieu said. "They're also learning about the research design aspect. Everything we do, we relate it back to homeland security."
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Increased demand for online training in CJ, EM and HS?

According to the post below, there's a growing need for criminal justice graduates, which these days can have significant (minor concentraitons) components in emergency management and/or homeland security.

Which is a good segue for some shameless promotion for the programs I am part of at University of Maryland University College, with undergraduate, graduate and online education options.

Prospective students can ge here: http://www.umuc.edu/prospective.shtml


Right now is an ideal time to get a criminal justice degree online. According to The U.S. Department of Labor, by 2012, there will likely be a 24 percent increase in corrections across the country. Quite simply, national and private security is becoming more and more of a concern and as a result the demand for professionals in the field continues to grow. Since September 11, 2001, the need for criminal justice professionals has dramatically increased. Professionals are required for assisting in investigations, for working in prisons, for homeland security, and for protecting property. Governments at all levels as well as private companies and even private individuals can hire someone who has pursued a criminal justice degree online. Thanks to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and thanks to funding provided by security grants throughout the nation, security jobs are more plentiful and offer more room for advancement than ever before.

Full post here:
http://www.flixya.com/post/potofgold/93748/Demand_For_Professionals_With_A_Criminal_Justice

Another tool for e-learning: YouTube lectures?

Check out this latest post from Wired Campus:

Will Lecture Videos on YouTube Appeal to a Popular Audience?

Professors are becoming stars on YouTube, thanks to partnerships between the video-sharing site and colleges (see today’s free article in The Chronicle). So far only a few colleges have joined, but more apparently are looking into it. And new commercial sites, including Big Think, are banking that videos of professors sharing big ideas will appeal to mainstream audiences.

Full post here:
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2649/will-lecture-videos-on-youtube-appeal-to-a-popular-audience?at

Readiness and Emergency Management for School grant applications being taken now

Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) grants support efforts by local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve and strengthen their school emergency management plans, including by training school personnel and students in emergency management procedures; communicating with parents about emergency plans and procedures; and coordinating with local law enforcement, public safety, public health, and mental health agencies.

http://njgrantwriters.blogspot.com/2008/01/readiness-and-emergency-management-for.html

Are we facing a general shortage of health care/public health workers in Maryland: implications for emergency management training and education

Reading this got me thinking about a few things in tandem ...

Although the state has plenty of doctors, it doesn't have enough who actually see patients - a situation that creates "a silent and growing crisis," the head of the state medical society said yesterday.

MedChi and the Maryland Hospital Association released a study yesterday showing that the state has 179 doctors delivering care for every 100,000 residents. That is 16 percent below the national average of 212.

Full article at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.bz.doctors08jan08,0,1498325.story

So in the face of an aging population (as the boomers age, retire and essentially become
"special needs" citizens - at least in the eyes of emergency management - we appear to
be facing a generalized shortage of doctors, albeit with regional hotspots of trouble (i.e. those states/regions showing smaller #s of doctors delivering care per 100,00 residents).

According to the article,

The greatest shortages in Maryland, according to the study, were found in rural areas and in certain specialties - primary care, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, hematology and oncology, thoracic and vascular surgery, psychiatry and dermatology.The study predicts a worsening shortage by 2015 as an aging population requires more care. At the same time, the physician force will experience more retirements. A quarter of the state's surgeons are 60 or older, the study found.

Hematology/oncology docs treat cancer patients, which will only grow in number as our populaiton ages given our current lifetime cancer risk in this country. Not good.
Worse is less primary care and emergency medicine docs, who will be crucial during surges in medical need, as will be experienced during some major public health issues of concern, like pandemic influenza and acts of bioterrorism.

Now couple this shortage with a general crisis in the public health work force, where the problem of being asked to do more with less has been growing steadily since 2001, despite larger amounts of cash coming into the national public health system from federal preparedness grants given to states.

Now in Maryland, this was studied in greater detail by Dr. Tom Burke's group at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (my alma mater and former employer).
See http://www.jhsph.edu/ecehp/Profile%20Report%20Page.html for their
"Profile of Maryland Environmental Health Practice." The report really is a first-of-a-kind
in terms of a comprehensive review of environmental health practice and found Maryland
"state’s environmental public health infrastructure is fragile, neglected, fragmented and under-funded."

So perhaps programs like the one in Joppatowne High School (see my blog posts from November for more links and info on this) are actually _needed_ in Maryland to compensate for our apparent lack of a homeland security and environmental public health
"pipeline" to ensure well-trained and prepared workers.

University of Arkansas: HS and rural transportation networks

Reducing cost to small government for federally-mandated security issues is always a good thing! Kudos to the folks at U. Arkansas.

Here's an excerpt from the press release: http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/12038.htm
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Researchers in the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center at the University of Arkansas have completed a seminal study on the security of U.S. rural transportation networks. The study provides a low-cost and efficient tool to assess the vulnerability of rural transportation assets and will help officials develop and implement plans for emergency preparedness.

The report, "Homeland Security for Rural Transportation Networks," can be found at:
http://www.mackblackwell.org/web/research/ALL_RESEARCH_PROJECTS/2000s/2085/MBTC-2085.pdf

You can find a list of all ongoing projects at the Mack-Blackwell Center here:
http://www.mackblackwell.org/web/research/all-projects.htm

"Govspace" and cyber-threat preparedness

An interesting read from a former colleague at the state of Michigan with some some even more interesting implications. In essence, we are just migrating the concept of parterning for preparedness and planning onto the Internet. One mission I'd like to see these ISACs tackle is the concept of utlilizing virtual worlds like Second Life - which already has much use and even greater potential for education and training - to help sculpt "govspace" and transform emergency center operations into encrypted, secure virtual meeting rooms where you have maximum access to all the tools you may need for rapid data receipt, analysis, and dissemination. (even in the face of power outages, which are really annoying, but can be overcome to a certain degree with industrial-strength computer batteries, back-up battery banks, online back-up systems (like Carbonite), and gas-fired electrical/power generators.

Regarding Second Life and education, check out these resources from Linden Labs:
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education

Regarding online back-up systems ... here's how Carbonite works:
http://www.carbonite.com/howitworks.aspx
I'm sure there are other out there. Of course, there are always Web-based email
applications (like Google Mail) that have quite sizable online storage capacity, especially
if you incorporate multiple accounts, where one can also store back-up info.


Anyway, I love Lohrmann's concept of "govspace" - we should think about how to best deploy this concept and add it to the lexicon, when we can.


From Government Technology magazine:
Joining the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) provides many operational benefits to state and local governments. The MS-ISAC is a central resource for gathering and sharing cyber-threat information among states and local governments, according to the MS-ISAC Web site.

The MS-ISAC coordinates actions between the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the states. State-specific ISACs are now being built around the country. Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida already share information with local governments, universities, K-12 schools and other public institutions via state ISAC portals and most other states are establishing ISACs. These state-specific ISACs provide a valuable central resource for information sharing within those states.

The Internet radically changed how the public sector delivers services. Securing "govspace," as I call it, requires us to partner in new ways. No matter what you've done in the past, I encourage public CIOs to get involved in their state ISAC efforts. We all need help, and we all need to help each other.

Full article here:
http://www.govtech.com/gt/224394?topic=117671

Newest addition to UMUC faculty - me!

I have good news - I will be joining the faculty of University of Maryland
University College to help develop curriculum and teach courses for their
undergraduate Homeland Security and Emergency Management programs.

Here's the link to our new programs:
http://www.umuc.edu/programs/undergrad/hmls/
http://www.umuc.edu/programs/undergrad/emgt/

Founded in 1947, UMUC offers a broad range of cutting-edge classes and has earned a global reputation for excellence. Headquartered in Adelphi, Maryland, UMUC has classroom locations in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Europe, and Asia, and provides award-winning online classes to students worldwide.

We had over 150,000 online course enrollments in 2006!
I'm excited to join the team!

DHS considering rapid response law enforcement teams

Well, we will see where all this goes. My gut isn't comfortable with the concept
of rapid deployment law enforcement teams strutting around during disasters,
potentially "overenforcing" the law at a time when you might just need to look the other
way for the greater good. (case in point: people stealing diapers from the flooded
store durign Katrina ... what's the point of arresting this poor mom? Now the TV sets
are are entirely different story, of course)

Jan. 3, 2008 – 10:20 p.m.
DHS Considering Law Enforcement Rapid Response Component
By Daniel Fowler, CQ Staff

The Department of Homeland Security is considering the feasibility of creating law enforcement deployment teams that could be immediately sent to assist communities during disasters. The agency’s senior law enforcement adviser said the goal is to have a draft report on the proposal completed sometime this year.

A proposal from the Major Cities Chiefs Association calls for 10 regional teams across the country, with up to 500 law enforcement officers, who could deploy fully self-supported for two weeks.

The law enforcement personnel would come from agencies in the various regions and would be formed around a major sheriff’s department or police department.

Full article here:
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1&docID=hsnews-000002651552

Grassroots Disaster Response: Harnessing the Capacities of Communities

I may not necessarily agree with the Heritage Foundation, but I do indeed believe
in the libertarian ideal of self-sufficiency. I find this report to be important and well-supported in terms of documentation. And this concept of personal/family preparedness is of paramount importance as far as I am concerned:


After the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005, Washington was justly criticized for the shortfalls in federal assistance.[1] However, too much attention was given to the role of government and too little to the efforts of those who can and should make the biggest difference in the critical first hours and days of a crisis—people in the communities themselves. The greatest advance that America could make in preparing for catastrophic disasters is to build better individual-based programs, a culture of preparedness, and resilient and self-reliant communities.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg2094.cfm

"Survivor Day", Richmond (VA) and personal preparedness

Don't wait for the Feds! Become more self-sufficient ... its the old libertarian adage about supporting yourself so your federal government doesn't have to. Richmond has a good idea ... I'm sure down the road, a well-educated prepared populace reduces the cost of emergency response for the city.


What is Survivor Day?

Richmond Ready is a concept the City adopted to ensure planning, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation are not just actions taken by public safety officials and private partners but also the private citizen. Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. The issuance of a survival kit following a 4 hour training session will give each household that edge of confidence! Our citizens must be ready and able to deal with such events.

http://www.richmondgov.com/departments/emergencymanagement/survivorday.aspx

Socorro HS (TX) trains students to become CERT members

Not quite Joppatowne, but training high school kids as CERT members is a great idea.


Students at Socorro High School pursuing careers in public safety learned first-hand last week how to handle an emergency situation in two days of exercises at the El Paso Fire Department training academy.

About 31 students in Socorro's Security Services Class, a part of the curriculum for the Career and Technical Education program, became Community Emergency Response Team members last week after training with firefighters.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/neighborhoods/ci_7801342

USUHS WMD certificate program in Bethesda, MD

Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD (Washington DC suburb) also offers certification in WMD knowledge. (The 2007 course just ended in mid-December, but generally requires 13 evening sessions once a week). Description and more info can be found below:

The Department of Defense Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is the Nation's leader in military operational medicine and has trained military medical officers for DoD's worldwide commitments for over 30 years. USU expanded its role to address the needs of the DoD, federal, state and local agencies in understanding the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and how to prepate and respond to these threats. The three courses in this series are: The Bioterrorism and Homeland Security Course (Fall, 2007), the Chemical Terrorism and Emergency Management Course (Winter, 2008), and the Nuclear, Radiological, and High Yield Explosives Course (Fall, 2008). Successful completion of all three graduate courses will confer a USU Certificate of Knowledge in the Weapons of Mass Destruction.

http://www.usuhs.mil/bthls/

Daniel Webster College (NH) offers undergraduate major in homeland security

Daniel Webster College now offers the only undergraduate homeland security major in New England.

For more information on this major, go to http://www.dwc.edu/admissions/programs/hs/

College's quest for economic connection in curriculum matches needs of business
By JOHN WHITSON
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Sunday, Dec. 23, 2007

NASHUA – Relevancy.
The word comes up again and again.
As Daniel Webster College revamps its curriculum with an eye toward becoming a regional leader in science and technology education, administrators are embracing the business community to ensure one overriding goal is met: relevancy.
"We're on the constant lookout for ways to be relevant to the needs of the state and the region," said Michael Fishbein, provost and vice president of academic affairs at DWC.
Teaching computer science changed this fall from traditional lecture-and-note-taking classrooms to student-led project learning.
The school now offers a gaming, simulation and robotics major.
Next fall, DWC welcomes its first class of homeland security majors -- making it the only school in New Hampshire offering that course of study.

Full article here:
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=College's+quest+for+economic+connection+in+curriculum+matches+needs+of+business&articleId=da99d0c9-15ba-4d6d-8276-487ad9430f43

Iowa Central Homeland Security Training Center and federal spending

Well, this is one way for localities to get federal dollars -- in West Virginia, we call these "Byrd droppings" (after the one and only Senator Robert C Byrd). Here's an example from the recently passed 2008 omnibus spending bill:

U.S. Rep. Latham: Training center provides important resources for Iowa's first responders
12/20/2007
WASHINGTON, DC — Iowa Congressman Tom Latham has secured $423,000 in funding for a state-of-the-art first-responder training program at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. “These funds will allow this important program to continue to provide first-rate training for all of Iowa’s first responders,” Latham said. “It’s essential that the brave men and women Iowa families trust with their help in times of crisis have the most up-to-date tools and training available.

Iowa Central Community College is the leader in helping our professional first responders prepare for worst case scenarios.”The funds secured by Latham will allow the Iowa Central Homeland Security Training Center (ICHSTC) to move forward with its instruction for law enforcement personnel and others, as part of a six-state rural preparedness consortium.

To-date Latham has secured over $1.7 million for the center, which has trained over 21,755 first responders during 795 different training sessions. The first responder training includes terrorism awareness, basic incident command and bombing awareness.

http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113775

They key part of this is the "six-state rural preparedness consortium" that will help out a part of the country that is likely to suffer once funding goes to a purely risk-based system.

2007 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Awards are out

Another round of awards were released over/around the holidays (see what you miss when you take time off to be with your family!) ...

http://www.firegrantsupport.com/afg/awards/07/Default.aspx

Have fun. Its sortable in all sorts of ways and there is even a link to thne Excel spreadsheet of all this data. Looks like Baltimore FD gets the biggest largest award at 1.4 million. But Pennsylvania gets the most $$ of any state, with 358 localities getting just under $32 million.

American Red Cross - another great source for community-based emergency preparedness training

In my continued struggles to collect great online training, don't forget what is available at the Red Cross website:

http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/courses/community.html

Not necessarily ALL online, but includes many easily forgotten but very useful things like
"babysitter training" and CPR/First Aid, etc. Contact your local chapter for more info!

Capella University offers online degrees in emergency mgmt

Always on the hunt or online education resources, I was alerted to Capella via this blogger's post:

Capella, the online university where some working adults choose to pursue an online phd , has been chosen as a finalist for a Minnesota Tekne Award in the "Technology User" category, which honors the "innovative application of products or services resulting in dramatic business improvement or market advantage." The school was also recently designated as a Center for Academic Excellence in information assurance education by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security
http://cherrylfloyd-miller.blogspot.com/2007/12/capella-online-university-where-some.html

Evidently they offer a several online degree programs in Emergency Management, including a doctorate:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Safety, School of Human Services
Emergency Management Specialization

With natural and man-made disasters stretching the capacity of responding agencies throughout the nation and around the world, the need for leaders in the field of emergency management has never been greater. This emergency management PhD is designed to create scholar-practitioners with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to oversee emergency organizations, teach tomorrow's leaders, and consult on the effective management of complex emergency situations, including proactively eliminating or mitigating crises before they happen. Courses include case studies from Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) incidents and the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and opportunities for your own doctoral research to advance the field of emergency management.

More info at:
http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/human_services/phd/emergency_management.aspx

Go Capella!

2008 guidelines for DHS Scholarship/Fellowship program

2008 Competition Guidelines for DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program
have been announced:

For full article, see:
http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) realizes that the country’s strong science and technology community provides a critical advantage in the development and implementation of counter-terrorist measures and other DHS objectives. The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission. This education program is intended to ensure a highly talented science and technology community to achieve the DHS mission and objectives.

Eligible students must be studying in a homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) field with an interest in one of the homeland security research areas listed below:
Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
Risk and Decision Sciences
Human Factors Aspects of Technology
Chemical Threats and Countermeasures
Biological Threats and Countermeasures
Food and Agriculture Security
Transportation Security
Border Security
Immigration Studies
Maritime and Port Security
Infrastructure Protection
Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Communications and Interoperability
Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization

In 2007, there were only 15 of 262 accepted among the undergraduate applicants and 13 of 347 graduate applicants. So its pretty competetive! This is the fifth competition cycle thus far.

"Meth labs" can be emergencies too!

Especially when they explode in an apartment building with a common HVAC system where there are children present....

A former colleague (from MI, no less) once stated to me that he thought meth lab emergency resposne was only second to "WMD/terrorism" emergency response in complexity and # of agencies/responders involved. Think about it, here's a few of them:
- fire department respond to the fire,
- police respond by taking control of the crime scene and calling in other resources,
- specialized meth entry/remedial teams from local, state, regional sources help "put out the fire" and take evidence
- DEA regional contractors show up to remove chemicals and document everything
- child protective services come take the kids who need help
- local or state health department may need to coordinate the clean up and re-entry efforts, perhaps in conjunction with other agencies (housing, code enforcement, environmental quality, etc.)
- private contractor(s) needed for pre-remedial assessment, actual clean-up, and post-remedial assessment and/or validation of clean-up

Not to mention the court system, jails, rehab facilities, etc.... the societal costs of these are huge. There's really no money available to home owners impacted by this. Insurance doesn't cover thses things. There's no local or state grant money, although in the past, federal EPA "Brownfields" money has been available to help pay home owners back once they have footed the bill for a clean up (which typically can be 3,000 to 8,000 dollars).

Here's a typical story for you, perhaps you've read about one closer to your house:

Meth lab explodes in apartment complex
Dec 12, 2007 03:24 PM EST
PAW PAW - A meth lab exploded on the balcony of an apartment building, causing a fire that nearly reached the attic of the 16-unit complex.
The explosion just after 9 a.m. sent the fire department to the 800 block of E. St. Joseph Street. Witnesses told Paw Paw police about a man seen running from the scene.
A Van Buren County Sheriff Department K-9 joined the search and found a bag with a large amount of methamphetamine and meth-making products.
Police searched the apartment involved and found the suspect's girlfriend and her three young children. Child Protective Services was called and is on the case.
The suspect, though, remains at large and the investigation continues. No injuries were reported.
24 Hour News 8 will have more information as soon as possible.

Linking public health and emergency preparedenss: 7 "model communities" identified

I found this whole thing fascinating. Partnership on the local level, whether it is on the scale of my howetown (1200 people) or Boston, is the key to any effective emergency response. (Bearing in mind that all emergencies start locally and require at least 72 hours of local self-sufficiency ...)

First here's the original press piece that clued me in:

Eau Claire Honored for Public Health and Emergency Care
Posted: 2:10 PM Dec 13, 2007Last Updated: 2:10 PM Dec 13, 2007

The city of Eau Claire is honored nationally for its work in combining public health with emergency care.

Eau Claire has been recognized by the American Medical Association as one of seven model communities.

The city has to meet numerous requirements to qualify, such as building relationships to prevent and prepare for disease, disasters and other emergencies.

The Eau Claire City- County Health Department says Sacred Heart and Luther Midelfort Hospitals were key players in receiving this honor.
http://www.weau.com/news/headlines/12478836.html

These "results" were published in the journal "Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness." Here's a link to and text of the abstract from PubMed:

Public health and the emergency care community must work together to effectively achieve a state of community-wide disaster preparedness. The identification of model communities with good working relationships between their emergency care community and public health agencies may provide useful information on establishing and strengthening relationships in other communities. Seven model communities were identified: Boston, Massachusetts; Clark County, Nevada; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Erie County, New York; Louisville, Kentucky; Livingston County, New York; and Monroe County, New York. This article describes these communities and provides a summary of common findings. Specifically, we recommend that communities foster respectful working relationships between agency leaders, hold regular face-to-face meetings, educate each other on their expertise and roles during a disaster, develop response plans together, work together on a day-to-day basis, identify and encourage a leader to facilitate these relationships, and share resources.

http://www.dmphp.org/cgi/content/abstract/1/2/142

emsacademy.com now available to train and track credits online

Here's another great online training resource for emergency preparedness ... this time, for the pre-hospital health care community as well as other first responders.

"MC Strategies, a leading provider of electronic education products and services to healthcare, announced today that USA Prepare, its emergency preparedness unit, will provide its technology and experience to emsacademy.com, a website dedicated to training EMTs, first responders and pre-hospital workers."

Full news release here:
http://www.mcstrategies.com/?a=press&c=2007_12_10

looking forward and looking backward ...

... as only one surnamed Janus can.

Happy 2008!

To kick off a new year of living and learning, here's a self-published list of 2007 accomplishments from Department of Homeland Security. Let's look back ...

One thing that occurred to me while perusing it is that even under thier "building a culture of preparedness" category is there appears to be little to no attention (or more importantly, $$$) given to public awareness, education and/or training. Other than $$$ available to put on CERT-type volunteer system training, who is teaching Joe Q Public on recognizing hazards, planning for emergencies, family and personal prearedness, and better yet, government resources, roles and responsibilities???

Full news release available here:
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1197477138027.shtm

Also here is a link to help one look forward ... Chertoff's comments include some big ticket agenda items for 2008, including:
- "secure identification" (enhanced drivers' licensure, REAL ID retooling, etc.)
- "cyber security" (haven't they said this a few years in a row now????)
- "institutionalizing its [DHS] operations and the homeland security mission" (not much said here but he does plead for heeding the 911 Commission call for streamlining DHS)

Take it with however many grains of salt you need ... cyber security is indeed important,
but I think Priority # 1 for DHS for 2008 should be to actually make good on all the things they are obligated to do (like complete all the sector specific infrastructure reports, etc.) and really focus on that third bullet: streamline the department and its byzantine organizational charts ...