Disasters

VivoMetrics upgrades LifeShirt monitoring system
Worn underneath a soldier or firefighter’s equipment, new VivoResponder monitors vital signs such as respiration, ECG, and blood oxygen saturation
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Experts identify common post-attack response problems
Multi-disciplinary panel of blast-related injury experts takes a close look at common triage, scene security, and communications difficulties; researchers hope to identify best practices
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GAO raps Project 25 interoperability grants
Federal government has spent $2.15 billion on expensive but uncompatible radios; a lack of strategic vision
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REVERSE 911 wins contracts in Virginia and Connecticut
System allows emergency services to send warnings to citizens via email, cell phones, and PDAs
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Mobile evacuation buses make their D.C. debut
Sartin Services introduces a vehicle that can transport twenty-four victims at once
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New technology turns A and B blood to O
A fresh approach to an old concept, ZymeQuest tests a machine capable of treating eight units in ninety minutes
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GPS found to enhance tsunami detection
University of Nevada scientists improve seismograph and ocean buoy-based systems
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DoE opens new radiation detection lab
Cytogenetics biodosimetry makes a comeback at Oak Ridge
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Enterprise application market sees 550 M&A deals, valued at $74 billion
The demands of business continuity and regulatory strictures, among other things, have made the enterprise application market especially lucrative; market witnessed continuous consolidation
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Georgia Tech rescue robot inspired by amoeba locomotion
Tubulor robot imitates the pseudopod principle by contracting and expanding its actuator rings; flexibile design makes it ideal for collapsed buildings
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DHS Undersecretary George Foresman resigns
Reorganization of FEMA eliminated Foresman’s Preparedness directorate; experienced emergency management executive goes out on top
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DoE tests Isonics's aerosol bio-decontamination system
Company receives $1 million in funding to perfect technology; tests come as Isonics faces delisting from Nasdaq
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AT&T recevies F&S business continuity award
We typically associate AT&T with phones, but the company also has robust business continuity and disaster recovery portfolios for enterprise customers
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Explosions found to cause serious lung problems
Brief high-level concentrations of nitrogen dioxide can cause lung edema; Walter Reed researchers may an experimental breakthrough
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Smiths Detection wins two major DoD contracts
Chemical detection units earn $19 million for this industry heavyweight; Air Force spends $4.5 million on advanced hazmat identification equipment
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The long view

To bolster the world’s inadequate cyber governance framework, a “Cyber WHO” is needed
A new report on cyber governance commissioned by Zurich Insurance Group highlights challenges to digital security and identifies new opportunities for business. It calls for the establishment of guiding principles to build resilience and the establishment of supranational governance bodies such as a Cyber Stability Board and a “Cyber WHO.”
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Protecting the U.S. power grid
The U.S. power grid is made up of complex and expensive system components, which are owned by utilities ranging from small municipalities to large national corporations spanning multiple states. A National Academy of Sciences report estimates that a worst-case geomagnetic storm could have an economic impact of $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year, which is twenty times the damage caused by a Katrina-class hurricane.
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More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes
More than 143 million Americans living in the forty-eight contiguous states are exposed to potentially damaging ground shaking from earthquakes, with as many as twenty-eight million people in the highest hazard zones likely to experience strong shaking during their lifetime, according to new research. The research puts the average long-term value of building losses from earthquakes at $4.5 billion per year, with roughly 80 percent of losses attributed to California, Oregon, and Washington. By comparison, FEMA estimated in 1994 that seventy-five million Americans in thirty-nine states were at risk from earthquakes. In the highest hazard zones, the researchers identified more than 6,000 fire stations, more than 800 hospitals, and nearly 20,000 public and private schools that may be exposed to strong ground motion from earthquakes.
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A large Ventura Fault quake could trigger a tsunami
Earthquake experts had not foreseen the 2011 magnitude-9 Japan earthquake occurring where it did, so soon after the disaster, scientists in Southern California began asking themselves, “What are the big things we’re missing?” For decades, seismic experts believed the Ventura fault posed only a minor to moderate threat, but new research suggests that a magnitude-8 earthquake could occur on the fault roughly every 400 to 2,400 years. The newly discovered risk may even be more damaging than a large earthquake occurring on the San Andreas Fault, which has long been considered the state’s most dangerous. Unlike the Ventura fault, the San Andreas Fault is so far inland in Southern California, that it does not pose a tsunami risk. A large earthquake on the Ventura fault, however, could create a tsunami that would begin “in the Santa Barbara Channel area, and would affect the coastline … of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, down through the Santa Monica area and further south.”
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Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise
City leaders and property developers in Tampa Bay are urging coastal communities to prepare today for sea-level rise and future floods in order to keep flood insurance rates low in the future. FEMA, which administers the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP), is increasing flood insurance premiums across the country, partly to offset losses from recent disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Cities can reduce insurance premiums for nearly all residents who carry flood coverage by improving storm-water drainage, updating building codes to reflect projected rise in sea-levels, moving homes out of potentially hazardous areas, and effectively informing residents about storm danger and evacuation routes.
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California drought highlights the state’s economic divide
As much of Southern California enters into the spring and warmer temperatures, the effects of California’s historic drought begin to manifest themselves in the daily lives of residents, highlighting the economic inequality in the ways people cope. Following Governor Jerry Brown’s (D) unprecedented water rationing regulations,wealthier Californians weigh on which day of the week no longer to water their grass, while those less fortunate are now choosing which days they skip a bath.
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VivoMetrics upgrades LifeShirt monitoring system

Experts identify common post-attack response problems

GAO raps Project 25 interoperability grants

REVERSE 911 wins contracts in Virginia and Connecticut

Mobile evacuation buses make their D.C. debut

New technology turns A and B blood to O

GPS found to enhance tsunami detection

DoE opens new radiation detection lab

Enterprise application market sees 550 M&A deals, valued at $74 billion

Georgia Tech rescue robot inspired by amoeba locomotion

DHS Undersecretary George Foresman resigns

DoE tests Isonics's aerosol bio-decontamination system

AT&T recevies F&S business continuity award

Explosions found to cause serious lung problems

Smiths Detection wins two major DoD contracts

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The long view

To bolster the world’s inadequate cyber governance framework, a “Cyber WHO” is needed

Protecting the U.S. power grid

More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes

A large Ventura Fault quake could trigger a tsunami

Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise

California drought highlights the state’s economic divide