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First responders can struggle to gain experience with large-scale emergencies, such as terrorism and natural disasters, due to their rare and unpredictable occurrence. Live simulations are an effective means of preparing rescue workers to navigate these events, but agencies are often deterred from conducting disaster simulations by financial constraints and concerns for the safety of both civilians and officers. To overcome these challenges, organizations are investing in large multi-purpose facilities as a way to ensure more public safety workers can train for the complex and massive events they may encounter in the field. - See more at: http://www.envisagenow.com/large-scale-training-facilities-prepare-responders-for-real-world-disasters/#sthash.TQhfsK4H.dpuf

A well-developed infrastructure can be the difference between citywide resilience and longstanding disorder. Notably, this infrastructure consists of both the coordination of first responders and the physical structures they need to support emergency work. Both of these components impact the way a city reacts to natural disasters or other severe weather disturbances. Understanding environmental and climatic patterns proves critical in preparing for weather disturbances and natural disasters. Often, severe weather accompanies shifts in climate but affects each region differently. Armed with this knowledge, city officials across the country are examining ways they can alter infrastructure to mitigate disaster and rapidly repair the damage it might cause.

Disasters can strike anywhere and at any time. In recent years, many U.S. states experienced natural disasters firsthand, subjecting both civilians and first responders to a wide range of severe scenarios. When properly trained, emergency workers are able to care for themselves and others in these situations. The process of planning for and evaluating these events, however, extends beyond the crisis in progress.

When disaster strikes, agencies spring into action to provide aid, rescue services, medical care and other forms of emergency response. More and more, first responders are looking for help from new technology to improve their ability to save lives. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)-commonly known as drones-could become an important innovation for disaster preparedness and relief.

By aiding first responders in their efforts and providing care for disaster victims, medical centers play a vital role in the success of emergency response. All agencies, including medical institutions, must examine how they act before, during and after an emergency to improve their end-to-end disaster preparedness.

Typically the work of science fiction, a zombie apocalypse has proven an effective way to engage citizens in disaster preparedness. Dispersing instructions within entertaining stories about the living dead, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention runs successful campaigns with this theme in order to share insights about how to brace for natural disasters. Getting residents prepared for emergencies helps trained first responders to become more effective in their own response within a community.

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces are accustomed to training regimens, but not many of these activities are conducted with troops from foreign countries present. This event is exactly what took place in early February, when soldiers from the U.S. and Japan trained together as part of a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan.

Free, over-the-air terrestrial television and radio broadcasting is a key element of disaster response, the International Telecommunication Union says in a draft report released in late November. The one-to-many nature of broadcasting means that so long as transmission capabilities exist, victims with access to receivers will have access to updated information. Unlike communications networks, which may fail after a disaster due to sudden and rushed demand to bandwidth or due to power loss, broadcast transmission is often robust and characterized by multiple local providers.

From depleted resources to toppling buildings, natural disasters can wreak havoc on communities. Some areas are more prone to particular weather-such as tornadoes, hurricanes or blizzards-while other regions see little need to plan for such catastrophes. When extreme weather impacts cities with large, unprepared populations, the opportunity for devastation increases. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the city spent years addressing the damage brought about by the disaster. Almost 10 years later, New Orleans is still recovering. To prevent other cities from suffering the same fate, several organizations have banded together to emphasize the importance of citywide resilience.

Earlier this year, a Washington emergency services agency wrapped up its annual social media disaster preparedness game, the "30 Days, 30 Ways Preparedness Challenge." Created by the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA), the game invites participants to complete one simple task each day aimed at training people to be more prepared for an emergency. CRESA partners with local organizations to develop activities that foster conversations about preparedness between families, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Some businesses encourage employees to join the challenge to create a shared experience for their teams.

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.

Prior to a disaster, public safety officials try to equip residents with the proper information and resources to survive catastrophe. Some communities are cultivating a volunteer-driven response by training citizens how to act during an emergency. These initiatives-such as the Citizen Preparedness Corps in New York, Operation Rescue Ready in Virginia and FEMA's Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)-are intended to help communities withstand the interim between disaster and the arrival of first responders.

When wildfires strike, firefighters are called upon to tame massive blazes, often without the benefit of significant financial support. That could change if a recent proposal from President Barack Obama is approved. The potential budgetary plan would allow the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior to access a FEMA disaster fund for aid when fighting the largest wildfires.

Difficulty measuring the effects of disaster preparedness has prevented a proper accounting of its benefits, says a paper published by the Institute of Medicine. "In principle, we could evaluate the effectiveness of an investment in preparedness with appropriate measures of outcomes such as response times, property saved, etc.," the paper (.pdf) says. But because emergencies are relatively rare and so different from each other, researchers rely on case studies or other qualitative methods, instead of empirical studies. The authors of the paper, dated Jan. 7, are two emergency medicine professors--Jesse Pines of George Washington University and Seth Seabury of the University of Southern California--and William Pilkington, the public health director for Cabarrus County, N.C.

The South is slowly thawing out from its rare winter freeze and snowfall, but the ramifications of what occurred will impact how the region handles disaster preparedness in the future. In Atlanta, approximately three inches of snow crippled the metropolitan area, leaving thousands stranded on roads and emphasizing the important role first responders play in such emergencies.

In today's world, firefighters do much more than quell blazes. They are frequently called upon to serve in emergency response situations ranging from active shooters to natural disasters. For these first responders to be prepared to meet the challenges faced in these scenarios, firefighter training throughout the U.S. must expand.

Finder: a portable radar device that could detect human heartbeats in disaster rubble.

During the summer and early fall, hurricanes become a major threat to a significant portion of the U.S. The combination of high winds, heavy rain and potential impact on coastlines can have far-reaching implications for communities, as was evident during storms like Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. Many agencies look to scientific forecasts to help prepare for natural disasters, but regardless of what these reports say, first responders must formulate plans and protocols to prepare for the worst.

Unmanned aircraft systems can be used in a variety of contexts. Hobbyists fly them for private use, as they might a model aircraft. E-commerce giant Amazon is exploring the use of drones for rapid product delivery. Drones are also used for humanitarian purposes, surveying damage caused by natural disasters. The versatility of drones entices state and local law enforcement agencies, as well. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, for example, deployed UAS to help monitor areas that are difficult to traverse along the Mexican and Canadian borders. When drones detect movement in these places, the CBP is able to send human agents equipped to deliver medical assistance. For local law enforcement, however, drone use is often misunderstood. As quickly as police departments find ways to leverage the benefits of unmanned vehicles, public criticism of such operations can shut them down. Along with an investment in technology and crafting good policy, public perception is a critical factor that law enforcement needs to address.

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.