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2014 Preparedness Summit: Looking at the Past to Improve the Future

Wed, 2014-04-02 18:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Mike Kraft

wjf.org - April 2, 2014

“Disasters pose questions of who [is helped] first and who...last,” said Sheri Fink, MD, PhD, a correspondent for The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, to more than 1,000 attendees of the 2014 Preparedness Summit  in Atlanta this week. Fink is the author of Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm Ravaged Hospital, about the response by health providers, first responders, volunteers, patients and family members who rode out the storm in a hospital that lost power in the early hours of the hurricane. Fink was the headline speaker for the first plenary session of the Summit.

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United States
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Disaster Response
Emergency Management
Health
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Situation Report

Report: Support to Local Authorities (When They Are Overwhelmed)

Mon, 2014-03-31 23:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

domesticpreparedness.com

On 13 November 2013, DomesticPreparedness.com hosted a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcon Club in Colorado Springs, Colo. LTG H. Steven Blum, (Ret.) USA, led the discussion on "Support to Local Authorities (When They Are Overwhelmed)" and the readiness of local authorities to deal with the aftermath of natural and/or manmade disasters. The requirement does not change even though grant dollars are being cut.

The survey results outlined in this report highlight the need to do more to improve preparedness efforts for any natural or manmade incident. Disasters often touch everyone within an affected jurisdiction. However, as seen on 9/11 and following many other disasters over the years, they also affect many people outside the immediate impact area and even around the world.

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United States
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Emergency Management
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NOMAD Micro Homes

Fri, 2014-03-28 23:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

nomadmicrohomes.com

NOMAD’s living room, kitchen, bathroom, stair, bedroom, and storage are all seamlessly integrated: a stair doubles as a kitchen, a window adds light to one area and a higher ceiling to another, a bathroom doubles as a shower, storage that can be used as seating, and so on. These features are not obvious at first glance, but each one is essential to NOMAD's livability.

NOMAD "Live" becomes NOMAD "Zero" when the following pre-engineered sustainable features are added: 
Solar Power
Composting Toilet
Rainwater Collection
Grey Water Treatment

They also offer upgrades . . .
Increased Wall and Roof Insulation
High Wind Loading
Triple Glazing

http://www.nomadmicrohomes.com/models.html

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Global
United States
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Housing / Shelter
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Snohomish County - Oso Mudslide Resources

Wed, 2014-03-26 22:32 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

GovInslee - Aerial photo of the mudslide

CLICK HERE - Washington Governor Jay Inslee - Oso Mudslide Resources

CLICK HERE - oso.recovers.org - Oso Landslide Recovery Hub

CLICK HERE - Facebook - Washington Wildfires & Emergency Situations

CNN - No fresh signs of life in search after devastating Washington landslide

Reuters - Washington mudslide yields more bodies, but not all may be found

USA Today - Dead and Missing in Washington Landslide

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US - NorthWest
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Disaster Response
Emergency Management
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Wind Industry’s New Technologies Are Helping It Compete on Price

Wed, 2014-03-26 21:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Altaeros BAT V4, a turbine tethered to land, in a 2013 test at the former Loring Air Force Base in Maine. Altaeros Energies

nytimes.com - by Diane Cardwell - March 20, 2014

The wind industry has gone to great lengths over the years to snap up the best properties for its farms, often looking to remote swaths of prairie or distant mountain ridges to maximize energy production and minimize community opposition.

Now, it is reaching for the sky.

With new technology allowing developers to build taller machines spinning longer blades, the industry has been able to produce more power at lower cost by capturing the faster winds that blow at higher elevations.

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Energy
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Shaping a Response to Russia Will Be a High-Stakes Test for Obama

Mon, 2014-03-24 21:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

President Obama, at the Andrews Air Force Base golf course in Maryland, will visit Europe this week.
(Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images / March 22, 2014)

President Obama's trip will be a plunge into American leadership in Europe after years of shifting U.S. policy away from the Old World.

latimes.com - by Kathleen Hennessey - March 23, 2014

WASHINGTON — Planned as a springtime tour with a modest itinerary — affording time to chat with the pope, admire the Rembrandts and take in the Colosseum — President Obama's weeklong trip to Europe instead has become a high-stakes test of whether he can move the continent's leaders into a tougher response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

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Communication
Economics
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One Solution to Climate Change and Growing Healthier Food Is Right Under Our Feet

Thu, 2014-03-20 18:56 — Kathy Gilbeaux

            

Photo: Associated Press

huffingtonpost.com - by Barbra Streisand - March 17, 2014

Imagine if we could quickly reduce the threat of climate change and grow healthier crops at the same time, without the sacrifice the coal and oil industry tells us are inevitable! Turns out we can, and the solution is literally right under our feet.

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CLICK HERE - U.N. Report - Trade and Environment Review 2013
Wake up before it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate

CLICK HERE - Nature - Soil Carbon Storage

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United States
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Agriculture
Climate
Food
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Paying For Health Outcomes Is Focus Of New Reform System

Thu, 2014-03-13 17:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

         

Gov. Peter Shumlin says a new payment reform system focused on accountability and collaboration is a critical piece of his overall health care vision for the state.  Credit Bob Kinzel / VPR

vpr.net - by Bob Kinzel - March 12, 2014

(Vermont) - State officials have announced a plan that they hope will control health care costs in the future by redesigning how providers are paid.

The goal of this new approach is to encourage providers to work together on a patient’s total health care needs and to improve medical outcomes by allowing the providers to be reimbursed for preventive care.

State officials are optimistic that if these changes are made, it will significantly slow down the growth rate of health care expenses.

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Health
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Situation Report

U.S. Risks National Blackout From Small-Scale Attack

Wed, 2014-03-12 23:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Margery Schab

           

Federal Analysis Says Sabotage of Nine Key Substations Is Sufficient for Broad Outage

wsj.com - by Rebecca Smith - March 12, 2014

The U.S. could suffer a coast-to-coast blackout if saboteurs knocked out just nine of the country's 55,000 electric-transmission substations on a scorching summer day, according to a previously unreported federal analysis.

The study by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded that coordinated attacks in each of the nation's three separate electric systems could cause the entire power network to collapse, people familiar with the research said.

A small number of the country's substations play an outsize role in keeping power flowing across large regions.

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News Release - FERC Directs Development of Physical Security Standards

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Energy
Infrastructure
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Citing Urgent Need, U.S. Calls on Hospitals to Hone Disaster Plans

Tue, 2014-03-11 21:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

After high water from Hurricane Katrina inundated their nursing home, residents waited for assistance in New Orleans in 2005. Federal officials are trying to avoid these types of situations with new requirements for health care providers ahead of emergencies. Credit Mario Tama/Getty Images

nytimes.com - by Sheri Fink - March 11, 2014

Federal officials are proposing sweeping new requirements for American health care facilities — from large hospitals to small group homes for the mentally disabled — intended to ensure their readiness to care for patients during disasters.

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