We welcome your participation in the Community Health Resilience Workshop 2011: Developing a Health Information Sharing and Situational Awareness Framework. The workshop will be an open dialogue that identifies information requirements, capabilities, and areas of cooperation among government, the private sector, and non-profit communities that could lead to a nationwide approach.

Workshop attendees will have the chance to:
 
♦   Interact and build relationships with a growing network of health information and community resilience experts and stakeholder organizations;
♦   Gain insights on information sharing initiatives; and
♦   Help influence the development of an information sharing and situational awareness framework.

    nationalnursesunited.org - RN Response Network - October 13, 2011

As a past volunteer for the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), we wish to thank you again for your desire to help people and communities in need.

Now we are asking for your help again, to join our first aid efforts in cities across the U.S. where Americans are rallying for real solutions to our national economic emergency.

You were there when we dispatched volunteers to assist with the recovery effort following a tsunami in South Asia, a hurricane on the Gulf Coast, Southern California wildfires, the earthquake in Haiti, and with contributions following this spring’s disaster in Japan.

RN volunteers have made a difference on each occasion, even when we have faced huge hurdles, including substantial governmental impediments, for example, to placing volunteers on the ground in Haiti. Yet on each occasion, RNRN did act, and sent as many volunteers as possible in these heroic humanitarian efforts.

by Helen R. Pfister and Susan R. Ingargiola, Manatt Health Solutions - ihealthbeat.org - October 11, 2011

On Sept. 12, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released an updated strategic plan for implementing a nationwide health information network. The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2011-2015 sets forth activities to improve health care through use of health IT tools.

Below is an overview of the Strategic Plan and some of the federal government's newest initiatives, including the Query Health initiative, the electronic health record data segmentation initiative and various initiatives to drive consumer engagement in health care, such as the recent proposed regulation affording individuals direct access to laboratory results.

Strategic Plan Background

by Ben Raines - al.com - October 12, 2011

Photo - Courtesy of John C. S. Pierce

This dolphin was found on the Mobile Bay side of the Fort Morgan peninsula Saturday morning, one of four found since Friday. The death brings the total number of dead dolphins found since the BP oil spill to more than 400. Federal officials say an "Unusual Mortality Event" has been declared for the Gulf's dolphin population, which have been dying at a rate 5 to 10 times higher than average.

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama -- A dolphin carcass, bloated and violet in the morning sun, was found on Fort Morgan early Saturday, bringing the number lost since the BP oil spill to more than 400. 

Three other dolphins have washed up in Alabama in the past week, including a pregnant female on Dauphin Island and a mother and calf pair on Hollingers Island in Mobile Bay.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

The New York Times - by Matthew L. Wald - September 27, 2011

Technology from Renmatix obtained this sugar solution from wood pulp by applying very hot water at high pressure. The New York Times Company

A Georgia company says it has overcome a major roadblock in turning agricultural waste into vehicle fuel and other useful chemicals by experimenting with a technology that treats the waste with compressed water heated to very high temperatures.

The company, Renmatix, plans to cut the ribbon on a research and development center on Tuesday in King of Prussia, Pa., near the heart of the nation’s chemical and refining industry, to complete development of the process. The goal is to accomplish something that has eluded a dozen companies in recent years despite big government inducements: to commercialize a technology for making use of cellulosic biomass, or wood chips, switchgrass and the nonedible parts of crops.

Research Brief: Is Submerged Deepwater Horizon Oil Degrading Offshore?

Comparison of the Chemical Signatures of Tar Mat Samples Deposited by Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011 with Oil Mousse Samples Collected in June 2010 (4 page .PDF report)

http://eng.auburn.edu/files/acad_depts/civil/oil-spill-research.pdf

by Jay Reeves - Associated Press - September 20, 2011

Tar balls mix with seashells washed up near Pensacola Beach, Fla., on Sept. 14 - Melissa Nelson / AP

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Tar balls washed onto Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month show that oil left over from last year's BP spill isn't breaking down as quickly as some scientists thought it would, university researchers said Tuesday.

Auburn University experts who studied tar samples at the request of coastal leaders said the latest wave of gooey orbs and chunks appeared relatively fresh, smelled strongly and were hardly changed chemically from the weathered oil that collected on Gulf beaches during the spill.

The study concluded that mats of oil — not weathered tar, which is harder and contains fewer hydrocarbons — are still submerged on the seabed and could pose a long-term risk to coastal ecosystems.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security Newswire - September 12, 2011

Most people still believe help will arrive within hours // Source: hsdl.org

A new survey finds that most Americans are unprepared for major disasters and that they maintain a false sense of security with regard to what will happen if a major disaster or a terrorist attack took place; contrary to reality, almost one-third of respondents believed that during a major disaster, calling 911 would bring help within an hour, while 30 percent said they believed help would come within several hours.

A new survey finds that most Americans are unprepared and maintain a false sense of security during a major disaster or terrorist attack.

The poll, conducted by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, indicated that more than half of the families surveyed had no emergency plan in place for a major hurricane or earthquake. Even those with plans in place were lacking essential items like a flashlight, two days of food and water, key phone numbers, and extra batteries.

submitted by Luis Kun

The Los Angeles Times - September 8, 2011

Diannyra Bolata, 25, and her son Diego, 2, rest on the floor in the terminal at San Diego's  Lindbergh Field after all outbound flights were canceled. Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times

Most power-stricken customers in San Diego County will be without electricity until the end of Friday, the president of utility serving the area said Thursday night.

San Diego Gas and Electricity President Michael Niggli said that power had been restored to three substations that service areas in southern Orange County. He also predicted that a "few more" areas would have electricity restored by midnight.

"After that," he told reporters at a news conference, "it's going to be a slow march throughout tomorrow" to restore power.

 PHOTOS: Blackout leaves millions without power

He said about 3 million people in the county were affected by the massive power outage.

by Ashley Hayes - CNN - September 8, 2011

(Additional Photos in this Washington Post Article)

CNN iReporter Nick Bohacz of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, said flooded roads prevented him from getting to work.

(CNN) -- Thousands of people were told to evacuate their homes Thursday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee moved across already sodden portions of the Northeast, triggering near-historic flooding and leaving at least three people dead.

In Luzerne County, in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, between 65,000 and 70,000 people were ordered to leave their homes by Thursday afternoon as the Susquehanna River rose above flood stage, according to Emergency Management Coordinator Stephen Bekanich.

The county, which earlier said 100,000 to 125,000 residents were being evacuated, did recalculations and revised the number downward.

While Wilkes-Barre, in Luzerne County, was spared flooding as of late Thursday afternoon because of a 17-mile levee system, other communities not protected by the system were not so fortunate.

by Rick Jervis - USA Today - September 7, 2011

A residential street is lined with homes destroyed by a wildfire in Bastrop.

BASTROP, Texas – Todd Jamison, a division chief for the Little Elm Fire Department near Dallas, has fought house fires and wildfires.

But when wildfires — such as the ones in this area 25 miles east of Austin — engulf homes and neighborhoods, his job becomes far more complex, he says.

On Wednesday, Jamison, one of hundreds of Texas firefighters helping fight a nasty blaze here, revisited one of the homes he and his team spent nearly two hours trying to save the day before. Now, it was a pile of smoldering cinderblocks. The only signs of what was once a home: a few charred lawn chairs and a melted toilet.

• PHOTOS: Texas Wildfires

"This is a different beast for us," Jamison says of the ongoing firefight. "We're fighting to protect homes."