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Firefighters who work at San Francisco International Airport are receiving additional training on how to respond to airplane crashes following the Asiana Airlines accident in which a teenage girl was run over and killed by two emergency vehicles while lying wounded on the runway. Commanding officers from the San Francisco Fire Department's airport division will receive 40 to 80 hours of advanced instruction next year at the Fire Training Research Center at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. Instructors from the center already have provided basic disaster response training in San Francisco to 80 of the department's firefighters and paramedics.

Advancements in technology are drastically changing the way public safety agencies carry out their missions. Whether it is employing readiness software to keep better records or using the latest mobile devices to bring critical information to the field, officers must adapt their training and procedures-sometimes radically-to benefit from cutting-edge gadgets.

For those living in remote or heavily wooded areas, wildfires threaten homes where it is difficult to fight and contain the inferno. The high temperatures and dry weather characteristic of the summer season are conditions ideal for fires to start and spread. Many emergency response organizations are embracing end-to-end disaster preparedness to ensure they are ready for wildfires well in advance of an outbreak.

As advancements are made to manufacturing and technology, the strengths and shortcomings of military equipment shift, altering what a soldier is able to do in the field. Recently, the U.S. Army explored ways to change how they acquire, maintain and place stockpiles of equipment to enable a faster and more efficient response.

Each year, public safety professionals learn more about the complexities of firefighting. Technology has advanced with that knowledge, allowing first responders to capture critical data and use it to inform future calls. Faced with budgetary and personnel shortages that hamper management of that data, however, fire departments stand to benefit from adoption of cloud-based solutions. Taking on the burden of hardware and software maintenance, Software as a Service (SaaS) greatly mitigates the technical overhead for a firehouse. Cloud computing improves performance, increases access to important information, and lowers the total cost of ownership for software. For fire departments, that efficiency translates into more effective emergency response.

The new year will bring new challenges and new approaches to solving old ones, everything from advancements in unmanned aircraft to a fleetwide program to reduce red tape. Here are a few things you need to know as 2014 begins.

Advancing technology affords police departments the opportunity to make their operations faster and more effective. Some departments are exploring using cloud computing-data stored securely on a third-party system that is accessible instantly across remote locations-to provide digital evidence storage. Although traditional bunkers are still needed to protect physical evidence, the proliferation of digital videos, photos and other records can be easily stored on the cloud to the advantage of law enforcement agencies.

Examine past incidents critical to the advancement of law enforcement tactics and culture when responding to issues of public safety.

Community policing is a widely-adopted model put into practice for nearly 40 years. The concept stemmed from a desire to address community concerns about rising crime rates through increased citizen involvement. To strengthen relationships with their constituents and improve their own reputations, police officers asked for assistance in solving and preventing crimes in the area. Recent advancements in technology are altering the ways in which law enforcement agencies can incorporate community policing into their operations. By providing an easier and more efficient way for people to report crime and share information, social networks like Facebook and Twitter significantly impact how well police connect with people. Software for mobile devices facilitates and eases communication both internal and external to a department. Officers who master these digital tools may increase the effectiveness of community policing in their jurisdictions.

In advance of President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address, the White House provided the public with "spoilers" prior to the speech. This is unusual; new proposals are kept secret until the last minute as a political tactic to maximize the power of the speech. From free community college to enhanced cybersecurity protocols, a few of these issues will have direct impact on our nation's first responders - See more at: http://www.envisagenow.com/state-of-the-union-previews-key-initiatives-to-watch-in-2015/#sthash.e4hRNXDg.H5qYVkri.dpuf