Disaster Preparedness | Emergency Response

Featured Videos

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Dubhe Beinhorn, VP Public Sector, AtHoc, Inc

Dubhe Beinhorn describes AtHoc, Inc, winner of GSN’s 2012 award for “Best Mass Notification Solutions,” as a company that operates in one sector only: critical communications for crisis management....

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Covia Labs, David Kahn, CEO

Covia Labs received the award for “Best Interoperable First Responder Communications” in the 2012 Awards Program for its “Alert & Respond” software platform and application that provides voice/...

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors: Drew Morin, Chief Technology Officer, TeleCommunication Systems

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), which entered its “Commercial Mobile Alerts System” in the 2012 Awards Program, was named a Finalist in the “Best Mass Notification Systems” category. Drew Morin, who...

GSN 2012 Award Winners/Finalists/Sponsors; Jim Montagnino, CEO/President, NC4

El Segundo, CA based NC4 specializes in situational awareness, emergency response and event planning, according to Jim Montagnino. Its crime fighting solution “Situational Awareness for Enforcement’s...

IACP Conference, 2012: Stephen Meer, Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Intrado, Inc,

Stephen Meer, one of the founders of Intrado, Inc of Denver, Colorado, indicates that his company provides services and products to the 9-1-1 infrastructure, which he says is a very complicated...

IACP Conference 2012: Mike Bostic, Director of Customer Advocacy, Security and Transportation Service, Raytheon

Mike Bostic of Raytheon points out that he spent 34 years as an Assistant Chief in the LAPD, where he worked about a third of that time in technology and communications. And one thing he...

IACP Conference 2012: Kevin P. Madden, Solutions Architect for Public Safety, Cisco Sytems

Kevin Madden discusses the nation’s first demonstrated multi-vendor interoperable Public Safety Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, which was deployed by a consortium of companies including Cisco and...

IACP Conference 2012: Dave Snyder, Spillman Technologies, Inc.

ASIS 2012: Paul Christin, Homeland Security Industy Manager, ESRI

ESRI is the innovator of GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, which Paul Christin describes as a way of managing information and understanding it geographically, or plotting information,...

GSN Awards Dinner Winners and Sponsors: Tony Wilder, Incident Commander, Southern Agency Type 1 Red Team

The Bastrop County, TX Unified Command was named Winner of GSN’s 2011 Award for “Most Notable Emergency Response – Federal, State or Local.”. Trophies were awarded to the Incident Commanders of...

GSN 2011 Awards Dinner Winners and Sponsors: Elizabeth Cavasso, Type 1 Planning Section Chief, US Forest Service, National Incident Management Organization (NIMO)

GSN 2011 Awards Dinner Winners and Sponsors: Mike Fisher, Emergency Management Coordinator, Bastrop County, TX

GSN 2011 Awards Dinner Winners and Sponsors: Dan Kleinman, Incident Commander, National Incident Management Organization (NIMO)

GSN 2011 Awards Dinner Winners and Sponsors Interviews: Bill Eckerd, Director of Sales for Strategic Account Group, Verint Video Solutions

Verint Video Solutions was a 2011 Winner of “Best Intelligent Video Surveillance Solution” for its Nextiva Physical Security Information Management System (PSIM). According to Bill Eckerd, the PSIM...

News

University teams move on to next phase of DHS UAS competition

Tue, 2013-02-05 11:41 AM

Purdue SUAS design

Teams of students from four universities were selected by the Department of Homeland Security to move to the next phase of the agency’s BORDERS Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) Competition. DHS...

‘Robo calls’ can’t be made to certain phone numbers at PSAPs, says FCC

Wed, 2013-01-30 01:44 PM

In order to prevent Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) from being bombarded by “robo calls” generated by automatic dialing equipment, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to...

Brilliant light from laser pointer forces another Coast Guard aircraft to land

Wed, 2013-01-30 11:40 AM

HC-130H Hercules

Someone who shined a laser pointer into the cockpit of a Coast Guard C-130 near Honolulu, HI, on Jan. 28 forced the plane to make an alternative landing because its co-pilot experienced vision...

Derecho precipitates regulatory and technological consequences

Tue, 2013-01-29 04:57 PM

The regulatory and technological fallout from the widespread 911 systems outages caused by last summer’s destructive derecho storm began to hit the ground in big fat drops in January. In a report...

U.S. Navy is collecting info about tethered aerostat surveillance systems for first responders

Tue, 2013-01-29 02:10 PM

The makers of tethered aerostat systems, which can carry high-resolution video cameras and communication gear for surveillance purposes, have been invited to send their technical information to the...

Student in gunman-on-campus hoax charged

Mon, 2013-01-28 04:37 PM

UVA at Wise
campus

A University of Virginia at Wise studen,t who called authorities and allegedly lied about seeing an armed man on the university’s campus, has been arrested and charged in the incident. Federal...

Headley gets 35 years for terror attack plots in Mumbai and Denmark

Thu, 2013-01-24 04:14 PM

David Headley

David Headley, the U.S. citizen and Chicago resident who helped a Pakistani terror group plan the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, as well as a subsequent proposed attack on a...

Texas A&M lands contract to train FEMA’s search and rescue specialists

Thu, 2013-01-24 03:52 PM

Search and rescue training
course at Texas A&M

FEMA has awarded a contract worth nearly $9.9 million to Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), based in College Station, TX, to provide training in several key specialized skills...

FEMA schedules two roundtables in DC on Feb. 19 about temporary housing units

Thu, 2013-01-24 03:08 PM

A FEMA temporary
housing unit

FEMA is planning two separate half-day roundtable briefings for industry in Washington, DC, on Feb. 19 in which FEMA officials will discuss the agency's requirements for mobile temporary housing...

RAE Systems MultiRAE Pro threat monitor adopted by FEMA and EPA

Thu, 2013-01-24 10:25 AM

MultiRAE Pro

RAE Systems, a provider of rapidly deployable, multi-sensor chemical and radiation detection networks, announced on Jan. 22 that its MultiRAE Pro portable multi-threat monitor has been adopted by...

Researchers looking for tech innovation, including disaster/terrorism response

Tue, 2013-01-22 08:39 AM

A newly-announced, government-funded research program aimed at spurring technical innovation across a wide array of information and computing technologies includes an effort to examine how cities can...

Secret Service considering gunshot detection systems for use in Washington, DC

Mon, 2013-01-21 05:47 PM

Shot Spotter
from SST, Inc.

The U.S. Secret Service is gathering information from potential vendors who could deploy what are known as “gunshot detection systems” in Washington, DC, which could pinpoint the origination point...

Company News

AtHoc introduces NIST-compliant cloud offering of its mass notification system

AtHoc, Inc., a supplier of network-centric emergency mass notification systems (EMNS), announced on March 2 that its AtHoc IWSAlerts Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering is now NIST-compliant.

CustomVault announces GSA approval of its mobile armory

CustomVault, a supplier of technologically advanced, high-security modular vaults, has announced the approval by the General Services Administration (GSA) of its Mobile Armory Building, or MAB, after stringent testing by the Department of Defense Lock, Safe and Vault Program.

This approval ensures that government agencies will have market access to a mobile storage option for weapons and other sensitive materials that has proven to possess both a high level of security and longevity, said a news release issued by CustomVault on Feb. 10.

Applied DNA Sciences to redesign its Web site

Applied DNA Sciences announced on Dec. 22 that it has begun a “comprehensive redesign” of its Web site, which will begin with a reworked front page.

“Our company blog has similarly been reimagined to give flesh and blood detail to our story,” wrote James Hayward, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, in an e-newsletter.

Middle East emergency call center enabled by Avaya

Avaya Government solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Avaya, announced on Dec. 9 it has launched one of the first modern emergency 911 call centers in the Middle East.

The project, funded by the U.S. Government under its counter-terrorism and narcotics program, was deployed in conjunction with MicroAutomation, and will support the emerging Jordanian economy by helping ensure continuity and communications, and promoting public safety.

Networked voice alarm system at Dungeness power station in England

A networked public address system from UK-based ASL Safety & Security has been installed at the Dungeness site, a former nuclear power station in the southeast of England now being decommissioned.

The Dungeness project features customized microphones connected to the client’s voice information consoles with toggle switching that triggers digital voice announcement (DVA) messages. The four-zone monitored PA system covers much of Dungeness A which is a legacy Magnox power station.

Gamewell-FCI approved as a GSA Schedule vendor

Gamewell-FCI by Honeywell is now a General Services Administration (GSA) supplier on Schedule 84 of advanced fire alarm and mass notification (also known as emergency communications) systems.

Under GSA Contract No. GS-07F-0087X, Gamewell-FCI can supply government entities with state-of-the-art fire protection products, supported by its nationwide network of engineered systems distributors.

Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District chooses March Networks

The Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District in Columbia County, OR chose March Networks’ video surveillance solution to secure the communications infrastructure it relies upon to coordinate fire, police and paramedic response services.

The solution enables the 9-1-1 district to focus on its public safety mission while reducing the resources needed to protect and maintain its remote sites, said Ottawa, Canada-based March Networks. It also helps ensure the integrity of the network vital to the management of approximately 80,000 emergency calls annually.

Fort Gordon selects Desktop Alert’s mass notification system

Desktop Alert Inc., a provider of Network-Centric Mass Notification Warning Systems (MNWS) to the U.S. Army worldwide, has announced that The U.S. Army at Fort Gordon in Georgia has selected the Desktop Alert Enterprise Level Notification Platform.

Commentary and Opinions

From bird flu to blizzards: Emergencies uncover limitations of ‘secure’ workforce planning

(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in GSN's "Essential Guide to Disaster Preparedness," which accompanied our November 2010 print issue.)

Backing up the mobile workforce

(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in GSN's "Essential Guide to Disaster Preparedness," which accompanied our November 2010 print issue.)

For many businesses, laptops are one of the most important tools in ensuring employee productivity, both in and away from the office. In the public sector, laptops are also an important productivity tool, but the data residing on them can become a liability if the laptop is lost during a natural or manmade disaster.

Social media can help you communicate faster in a disaster

(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in GSN's "Essential Guide to Disaster Preparedness," which accompanied our November 2010 print issue.)

Do you use social media to communicate with your public? Have you updated your disaster preparedness communications plan to include social media? If not, add that to your priority ‘To Do’ list!

When time is of the essence, emergency responders turn to mobile barcode scanning

(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in GSN's "Essential Guide to Disaster Preparedness," which accompanied our November 2010 print issue.)

When disaster strikes, every minute counts for emergency responders arriving on the scene. Amid the volatility and chaos inherent to most natural and man-made disasters, first responders must have reliable mobile computing and communications technologies to control the environment and quickly triage victims in need of medical attention.

Why satellite broadband is the key to ensuring resilient, interoperable land mobile radio connectivity during a disaster

(Editor's Note: This article first appeared in GSN's "Essential Guide to Disaster Preparedness," which accompanied our November 2010 print issue.)

Are you ready for a crisis? When a disaster strikes and terrestrial connections fail, it is critical for first responders and other emergency personnel to share information with each other and with key decision makers.

Technology Sectors

Market Sectors

Essential Guides

Recent Disaster Preparedness Videos

IACP Conference, 2012: Stephen Meer, Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Intrado, Inc,

Stephen Meer, one of the founders of Intrado, Inc of Denver, Colorado, indicates that his company provides services and products to the 9-1-1 infrastructure, which he says is a very complicated ecosystem with lots of different constituent groups. The 9-1-1 infrastructure is like an iceberg, he says, with a little piece that delivers services to the public that is above the water line, and a massive infrastructure under the water line that supports it in operating seamlessly, continuously, dealing with all the regulations and issues in the world of public safety communications.

IACP Conference 2012: Mike Bostic, Director of Customer Advocacy, Security and Transportation Service, Raytheon

Mike Bostic of Raytheon points out that he spent 34 years as an Assistant Chief in the LAPD, where he worked about a third of that time in technology and communications. And one thing he learned from his LAPD experience is that everything the military needs, so does public safety. But Raytheon is in the business of solving operational problems rather than selling boxes and devices, he says, and as a systems integrator the company sells solutions to specific sets of problems.

IACP Conference 2012: Kevin P. Madden, Solutions Architect for Public Safety, Cisco Sytems

IACP Conference 2012: Dave Snyder, Spillman Technologies, Inc.

Spillman Technologies is a vendor of public safety software used by law enforcement, fire and emergency management agencies, according to Dave Snyder. The company provides an integrated solution and specializes in multi-jurisdictional assignments involving agencies that want to collaborate with other agencies with information systems in large geographic areas. Snyder points out that the company has been in business for almost 30 years and has an extraordinary degree of stability, and its customers can count on major upgrades each year at no cost.

ASIS 2012: Paul Christin, Homeland Security Industy Manager, ESRI

ESRI is the innovator of GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, which Paul Christin describes as a way of managing information and understanding it geographically, or plotting information, visualizing the data, and analyzing the dots to make sense out of the data. The company sells to 40 verticals, one of which is homeland security. Christin describes how GIS technology is used for planning major events, such as political conventions or the recent NATO conference in Chicago.

Upcoming Events

Event Details	Dates of Event
Critical Security Controls International Summit 2013	Apr 26 - May 2
Secure India @Bangalore 2013	Apr 29 - May 4
Cloud Security Alliance CCSK Certification Training	May 6 - 7
SANS Security West 2013	May 9 - 19
SANS Brisbane 2013	May 13 - 18
GovSec Conference & Expo	May 14 - 15
CPM East Conference & Expo	May 14 - 15
TREXPO - The Law Enforcement Expo	May 14 - 15
SANS Austin 2013	May 19 - 24
DoD VA Healthcare Training Forum	May 20 - 23
ISSA-LA Fifth Annual Information Security Summit	May 21 - 21
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 21 - 21
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 21 - 21
Southwest Microwave Perimeter Defense Seminar	May 21 - 21
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 22 - 22
Transport and Logistics of Hazardous Material	May 27 - 28
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 28 - 28
Border Management Southwest Summit	May 29 - 31
Cyber Security Conference & Expo	May 30 - 30
Mobile Device Security Summit 2013	May 30 - Jun 6
Security Analytics Summit 2013	May 30 - Jun 6
Cyber Security Conference & Expo	May 30 - 30
Southwest Microwave Seminar	May 30 - 30
SANS Malaysia @ MCMC 2013	Jun 3 - 8
2013 SIA Government Summit	Jun 4 - 5
Southwest Microwave Seminar	Jun 4 - 4
NCT: CBRNe Israel, 4 - 6 June 2013, Tel Aviv	Jun 4 - 6
SEL Modern Solutions Power Systems Conference	Jun 5 - 7
Mission Command	Jun 10 - 12
Cyber Securty Brainstorm	Jun 11 - 11
EDGE Summit 2013	Jun 11 - 11
IPv6 Summit 2013	Jun 14 - 16
SANSFIRE 2013	Jun 15 - 22
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's 2nd Biosurveillance Symposium	Jun 17
Biodetection Technologies 2013	Jun 18 - 19
Southwest Microwave Seminar	Jun 18 - 18

New Products

IDenta says explosives ID kits identify underwear bomber’s PETN

Add Jerusalem-based Identa Corp. to the handful of companies that issued statements in the wake of the failed...

Introducing the ‘In Case of Emergency’ iPhone app

Legalzoom.com, an online legal service, and Donate Life America (DLA), a non-profit organization, have created and are offering ICE App, intended to help users input the compreh...

MetaCarta releases version 4.5 of geographic search software

Cambridge, MA-based MetaCarta, Inc., a provider of geographic search solutions, has announced the launch...

Magnasphere rolls out high-security sensor

Waukesha, WI-based Magnasphere reports that its new high-security sensor, HSS, has completed its UL inspections and is r...

ICx introduces ClearPoint bottled liquid screener

Arlington, VA-based ICx T...

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