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Archive for April 2008Guest Article: Home Care Guide For Pandemic Flu30. April 2008 by Dan Verton.
Providing for the Public’s Health at Home During Pandemic Flu by Marty Fenstersheib, MD, MPH Health Office, Santa Clara County Public Health Department, Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System As public health professionals and leaders, so much of our job every day involves anticipating, planning and preparing for potential public health epidemics and emergencies. Often, it seems as if we are asking ourselves and our colleagues hypothetical or theoretical questions; the proverbial “What if?” With a number of questions in mind - What if pandemic flu comes to our community? What if healthcare and others essential workers can’t come to work? What if we gave them information so that they could be better prepared at home, would that help? - the Santa Clara County Public Health Department developed a home care guide for pandemic flu preparedness. Posted in Pandemic Influenza, Guest Article | Print | 1 Comment » Corp. Emergency Prep Plans Lack Certification30. April 2008 by Dan Verton.
The majority of U.S. companies have a formal, written plan for emergency preparedness, according to a report released today by The Conference Board. But a widely adopted certification standard for such plans does not exist yet. Three-quarters of the 302 senior corporate executives surveyed in mid-2007 said that an emergency preparedness plan exists in their companies. The analysis was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of an ongoing research project to assess the effectiveness of security in American companies. Posted in Private Sector, Security Studies, Editor's Notes | Print | 1 Comment » HSWeek Predicts Death of the Security Trade Show24. April 2008 by Dan Verton.
As many of you know, the annual GovSec, U.S. Law and Ready! Conference took place this week in Washington, D.C. I attended the show on its first of two days and what a disappointment it was. Not only were the keynote speakers “B-Listers” as far as keynote speakers go, but the show floor (what was left of the show floor from last year - it was aout 1/2 the size) was dead. In fact, a few media colleagues and I were discussing how sorry we felt for the vendors becuase the only people many of them saw at their booths were guys like us who had a business proposition to pitch them. The real sales leads and the decision makers seemed to be few and far between. Although the costs of attending big trade shows like this are just becoming more and more difficult for agencies and private sector companies to justify, there might be a more disturbing underlying reason for GovSec’s luke-warm reception this year: a lack of real innovation from the homeland security vendor community who attended this year’s show. This year’s conference was great if you were in seach of a mobile command and control center, an armored SWAT vehicle, or mobile communications systems. But other than that, there was very little that a first responder organization couldn’t shop for and buy online. The one exception to all of this was Northrop Grumman Corp., who received Homeland Security Television’s “Best In Show” award. The Northrop booth was the one place where I found some real innovation, particularly in the company’s new Critical Incident Response System (CIRS), which you can learn more about at Homeland Security Television. Of all the vendor booths I checked out, Northrop Grumman’s offered the best sampling of systems that met the following criteria: Innovation, Operational Impact, and Need. So, Kudos to Northrop Grumman. And beware to the large industry trade show organizers. Your days are numbered, especially when organizations like Homeland Security Television can offer better keynote speakers, the same high-quality technical presentations, and vendor demonstrations through the HSTV Conference Center for a fraction of the cost. All online, on-demand and available to those who register to attend at their own leisure. There are rumors that the owners and operators of GovSec are considering merging GovSec with the Federal Office System Expo (FOSE). That sounds like it might be a good idea, but the truth of the matter is such a move will simply put both shows on life support indefinitely. The IP revolution has caught on in almost every corner of homeland security, accept for the dinosaurs that are the big expo/trade shows. Posted in Training, GovSec, Editor's Notes | Print | 1 Comment » |