Open Source Homeland

The government of San Francisco really gets it– their “Empower San Francisco” program is, on its face, all about helping citizens get in touch with city services and to deepen relationships in communities. At the same time, they see involved citizens as potential leaders after a disaster, and offer workshops on ” How to organize your neighborhood to be prepared for a disaster”. More here: EmpowerSF.org :: Welcome to the Network

 Chicago received cash today to help solve the problem identified in recent interoperability reports. Got to get less turf war between county and city.

City to get $16M for police, fire communications upgrades | Crains
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the money will answer “the urgent need for firefighters, police, and other first responders to be able to communicate effectively with one another.”

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the money should get the entire country up to a basic standard of effective emergency communication by 2009 — but only if the local authorities coordinate with each other and avoid turf fights.

A major theme emerging from the news from London is that alert, well-trained civil servants stopped a major terrorist attack just by showing up and doing their jobs well. An alert ambulance crew and a plain old police officer. Really fantastic news and a great sign for meat & potatoes work in the face of what sometimes seem like invincible enemies.

British police foil major terror plot – Yahoo News
The events unfolded when police were called to Haymarket, south of Piccadilly Circus, after a man fell at the nightclub Tiger Tiger, injuring his head, prompting a call for an ambulance around 1:30 a.m. Friday.

When crews arrived, they noticed smoke coming from a green Mercedes parked in front of a club, Clarke said.

Photographs showed a canister bearing the words “patio gas,” indicating it was propane, next to the car. The propane gas is of the type usually used in backyard barbecues and patio heaters. The back door was open with blankets spilling out. The car was removed from the scene after a bomb squad disabled the explosives.

A bomb squad called to the scene manually disabled the explosives.

Sky News television reported that a police officer seized a telephone from the car — believed to have been a potential detonator for the explosives — and an American lawmaker briefed on the investigation confirmed that British authorities found a cell phone.

“They found a cell phone and it was going to be used to detonate the bomb,” said U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

The American Medical Association has launched a new peer-reviewed journal, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. Here’s their explanation of what they’re about:

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is the first comprehensive and authoritative journal emphasizing public health preparedness and disaster response for all health care and public health professionals globally. The journal will translate science into practice and integrate medical and public health perspectives. With the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax attacks, the tsunami in Indonesia, hurricane Katrina, SARS and the fear of pandemic influenza, all health care and public health professionals must be prepared to respond to emergency situations. In support of these pressing public health needs, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness is committed to the medical and public health communities who are the stewards of the health and security of citizens worldwide. 

Table of contents for the inaugural issues of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.

Certainly this experience yesterday, where the entire emergency radio communications system for the state of Illinois went a little bonkers, shows that we’d be smart to stay in touch with local ham radio operators.

STLtoday – News – Missouri State News
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A test by the federal government of the new national Emergency Alert System went awry and resulted in faulty emergency messages being sent out over television and radio stations in Illinois Tuesday morning, state officials announced.

The test was part of a program by the federal government to install the new satellite warning system in all 50 states. While federal officials were conducting what was supposed to be an internal test of the Illinois portion of the system, the test emergency signal was accidentally sent out.

The audio and written messages were sent from a Springfield location to radio and television stations around the state, said Patti Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. There were four messages, spaced about 10 minutes apart, starting shortly after 7 a.m.