FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and The
Department of Health and Human Services sponsor a
demonstration to strengthen the Nation's ability to
address disaster, emergencies, terrorist events and
disaster recovery.
This program is important for the All-hazards incident
managers, State and local healthcare officials as
well as non-federal responders. If you are tasked
to responder to a disaster you should either have
or be familiar with the new FRAC system.
In today's threat environment Hazmat crews nation
wide are reporting their most frequent calls are terrorist
related white powders. Mission Critical learns from
theHouston Fire Department's Hazmat Unit about
a number of leading technologies that have proven
themselves to be important tools when trying to identify
suspicious materials such as powders.
This story looks into the importance use of Hazmat
gas detector, the science of spectroscopy and Raman
and how when used together these technologies can
give the Hazmat unit a much clearer picture of what
materials they are actually dealing with. These mission
critical tools are important to the protection of
the Hazmat unit members and the citizens they protect.
The Department of Homeland has identified Two of
its highest priorities – 1) Information Sharing
and 2) Interoperability. In order to effectively and
efficiently share information among local, state,
and federal authorities, a secure and reliable method
of communications must be implemented. The emerging
wireless network technology may prove to be invaluable
in solving many of the obstacles associated with traditional
wireless communications networks. Furthermore, this
technology may facilitate a large degree of the interoperability
that DHS envisions in the SAFECOM program. TRT 10:45
Mission Critical explores the Public Safety Wireless
Communications deployments in the following locations:
Mission Critical was invited to film a DHS exercise
called "Winter Storm" where Army, US Coast
Guard, Police, Fire Rescue and officials from various
Emergency Centers nationwide were interviewed to allow
them to share their first hand experience and feedback
about this new authentication model.
This story demonstrates the importance of interoperability
with the improved capabilities of authenticating key
personnel and first responders arriving to an incident
command post while allowing FEMA or another Federal
agency visibility into who has arrived, what their
credentials are and what resources are available at
the incident.
TRT 13:44
We face new challenges post 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina,
we need new ways of organizing and managing our response.
The Department of Homeland Security is now rolling
out HSPD-12 and FIPS 201 and the “FRAC”
–First Responder Authentication Credential, which
will dramatically improving the way we respond to
even the worst imaginable crisis.
New HAZMAT/ Anti-Terrorist Technology with the
L.A.F.D.
(Safety Act Approved)
Since 9/11 fire departments and Hazmat crews nation
wide must now be ready to respond to a complex set
of emergencies, which can involve strange substances,
gas, hazardous chemicals. We follow the L.A.F.D. on
a Hazmat call, they carry a new piece of equipment,
approved and designation as an Anti-Terrorist Technology
by the Department of Homeland Security under the SAFETY
Act for homeland security, first responders &
firefighting control. This technology improves detection
and identification of chemical warfare agents, and
toxic chemicals in the air, on personnel, on equipment,
in facilities, on the ground.
FEMA
