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For information regarding the All Hazards Consortium, please visit www.ahcusa.org
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| Greetings! |
Welcome to the All Hazards Consortium fall newsletter! We look forward to providing regular updates to all members regarding the important work being done within the mid-Atlantic region. It is our hope that this proves to be a valuable method of communicating the progress of various efforts being undertaken by the AHC.
We would also like to provide an opportunity for our member states and private sector, university and non-profit partners to submit brief articles on news or information relevant to the mission of the Consortium. We invite you to share any other ideas or suggestions you might have.
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| AHC Board News |
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The AHC would like to welcome Joe Picciano as New Jersey's new Board member. A former federal official with almost 30 years' experience, Joe serves as the Deputy Director of NJ's Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (OHSP) which is responsible for overseeing state policy on readiness for natural and man-made disasters. This division also coordinates statewide protection of critical infrastructure, the distribution of federal and state homeland security grants, and counterterrorism and preparedness training and exercising. NJOHSP works closely with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) in the Division of State Police, and with county and local OEMs responsible for emergency response and recovery operations.
Joe previously served as acting director of the FEMA Region 2 office, headquartered in New York City. During that period, his office oversaw the World Trade Center recovery. In 2004, former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge appointed him Deputy Principal Federal Official in response to the Orange Level Threat imposed for the financial sector in Northern New Jersey and New York. In 2005, Ridge appointed him as the Principal Federal Official for the national TOPOFF 3 exercise, the major national and international weapons of mass destruction exercise in which New Jersey was one of two state participants. In 2002, he was recognized with the FEMA Director's Award for his service during 9/11. Joe was also recognized by the New York Federal Executive Board with its Direct Service Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Service of the United States Government.
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| AHC Working Group News |
In May, government members of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Working Group, under the leadership of Chairman Bud Mertz (PA), briefed both House and Senate staffers on the CIP white paper and top priorities. Their current focus is AHC representation on the newly created RCCC (Regional Consortium Coordinating Council), and reviewing and approving a charter and work plan going forward. A regional CIP Interdependencies Summit Meeting will be hosted by New Jersey in late October, with all stakeholder groups represented.
The Emergency Management Working Group continues to gain momentum. AHC states came together at the AHC Catastrophic Evacuation Planning Workshop (CATEVAC) in February, with a regional charter drafted and approved by the Executive Committee, followed by a 10-week regional evacuation conference call series. Concurrently, this group collaborated on a regional multi-state grant application, with the RCPGP grant awarded in July (see Grant News below).
The Information Sharing and Intelligence Working Group, chaired by Rich Kelly, Director of the NJ ROIC (Regional Operations Intelligence Center), met in April of this year to review current priorities and hold a project brainstorming session with private sector. This Working Group will be reforming shortly...
The Public Safety Communications and Interoperability Working Group held a regional summit meeting in Winchester, VA on July 23 in order to establish a governance structure and draft a regional charter for future funding/grants/policy efforts, identify present and future funding sources, discuss and prioritize potential regional projects, and define next steps for 2008 and 2009. State interoperability leads and Tier 1 private sector members were in attendance, along with white paper sponsor Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab.
"The All Hazards Consortium is an important "voice" that provides a means for the private sector and government officials to work collaboratively to make our communities safe from all types of hazards."
Darrell Darnell
Director, DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DHSEMA)
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| Grant News |
On July 25, 2008, FEMA announced the awards for many of their grant programs including the Regional Catastrophic Planning Grant Program (RCPGP). The AHC Program Management Office staff worked with the FEMA Region 3 states (VA, WV, DC, MD, DE and PA) to submit the grant request as part of this special UASI based grant program, with JHU/APL providing valuable resources and assistance. This proposal was awarded $11.5 million to begin work on the evacuation planning process within the FEMA R3 region.
This is the first multi-state grant award that the AHC states have received under the unique AHC model. It provides concrete validation that the states are working together in an effort that has produced new resources to support multi-state projects/efforts. Going forward, the AHC will continue to work with its member states and corporate, university and non-profit partners to continue these efforts on other topics and issues.
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| Upcoming AHC Events |
September 25-26 Modeling and Simulation Summit Meeting
The AHC, in conjunction with the state of West Virginia, will be hosting a summit meeting on the topic of modeling and simulation as it relates to the evacuation planning efforts within the region. This meeting will bring together DHS S&T and other DHS officials, the National Capitol Region, and Secret Service, along with several private sector companies, FFRDC's and universities to discuss the common architecture needed for a short and long-term suite of tools that will support situational awareness, decision making, resource management, and training and exercises. Specifically, the goals of the meeting are to:
- Gain common agreement on an architecture for CATEVAC (Catastrophic Evacuation Preparedness)
- Define the initial requirements needed to address the RCPGP (Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program) grant, and
- Provide input on the most effective tools to address resource typing within the RCPGP projects
The first part of this effort will focus on a small project that will be part of the UASI Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) planning grant that was just awarded. The longer term part of this project will be focused on the CATEVAC suite of tools, which will be developed over the next several years by a cooperative effort and federal funding which will bring about a multi-state collaboration platform that all existing tools and products will be able to interface with. All participants are donating their time to this effort.
October 22-23 Catastrophic Evacuation Border Coordination Summit Meeting
The All Hazards Consortium will be hosting a Border Coordination Summit Meeting focused on evacuation planning and coordination of the many disciplines involved in a multi-state evacuation. All nine member states will be represented by their Homeland Security Directors, Emergency Management Directors, and state representatives for transportation, law enforcement, commodities, mass care, sheltering and others. The goals of this meeting are to:
- Expand upon the information framework started in the Catastrophic Evacuation Preparedness efforts to include border issues,
- Begin work toward a baseline assessment by identifying existing multi-state arrangements and gaps, and
- Further conversations between like functions across states
The focus of this effort will be to look at the issues, technologies, templates, policies and agreements needed to coordinate an evacuation and communicate appropriately.
November 5-6 Critical Infrastructure Protection Summit Meeting
The AHC, in conjunction with the state of New Jersey and the AHC CIP Working Group, is hosting a regional summit meeting to look at the interdependencies between private sector owners/operators and state and federal government in the protection of critical infrastructure and assets, assessing risks, and other related topics. This meeting will bring together the state Homeland Security Advisors and CIP Directors, as well as representatives from DHS IP and other federal agencies interested in this effort. The goal of this meeting is to look at current projects, available funding, and discuss future projects.
"We joined the AHC because we were convinced that they have created the ideal environment for engaging the States to effect real change, and we thought we could serve as a vital link to the private sector. There is no other venue I can think of where a small company like ours can gain so much exposure other than with the All Hazards Consortium. We have already had several opportunities presented to us because we are members. We know it will only get better."
Charlie Clavelli
SIC Consulting | |
| Corporate Partner Spotlight |
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As new members of the AHC, David Morgan and Mark Doorbar of SSS flew from London to attend the recent Catastrophic Evacuation Planning Workshop in West Virginia.
Safe Surgery Systems Limited is based in the West Midlands, UK and is a privately funded technology spin-off company based in a UK National Health Service Hospital Trust. The company has ISO:EN9001:2000 and ISO:EN13485 (Medical Devices) accreditation and works in partnership with Microsoft, Oracle, Intel and British Telecom. Its four products are designed to improve efficiency and safety in healthcare using the latest technology and are currently deployed in hospitals in the UK and Australia:
Safe Surgery System - using radiofrequency patient wristbands, electronic patient record and digital operating list to improve hospital efficiency and patient safety
Safe Triage System - remote monitoring equipment and electronic patient record for use in ambulances and air ambulances, allows data transmission from accident to A&E departments
Major Incident Management System - utilizes RFID and mobile communications to allocate victims to resources to manage major incidents more effectively
Care in the Chair - mobile phone based technology for monitoring long-term medical conditions
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