Emergency Response


Second NIOSH Report on Oil Cleanup Pushes PPE

Twenty-six health hazard evaluation investigators have visit the gulf region. This second interim report evaluated cases treated at a Venice, La., infirmary; June 8-10 offshore oil burns; and a barge oil vacuuming operation involving 18 barges moored together off Grand Isle, La.

Extra law enforcement patrols beginning July 16 in King County, Wash. are part of a statewide "Slow down or pay up" campaign statewide

Crackdown Targets Washington State Speeders

Extra law enforcement patrols beginning July 16 in King County are part of a statewide "Slow down or pay up" campaign statewide and a push to eliminate deaths and serious injuries in traffic crashes by 2030.

Denver PAD Program Takes Off

The Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross launched Save a Life Denver on Monday, offering 1,000 AEDs at low or no cost to high-use businesses and promising to train 10,000 people annually in CPR and AED use.

Fire Prevention Week 2010 will focus on smoke alarms.

NFPA Sounds Alarm for Fire Prevention Week 2010

This year's campaign theme, "Smoke Alarms: A sound you can live with," emphasizes the importance of smoke alarms in preventing fire deaths, injuries, and property loss.

National survival from ventricular fibrillation is estimated at 21 percent, Drs. Mickey Eisenberg and Bruce Psaty write.

Experts Advise Auditing All Witnessed VF Collapses

Dr. Mickey S. Eisenberg, MD, Ph.D., and co-author Bruce M. Psaty, MD, Ph.D., write in the July 7 issue of JAMA that "a starting assumption is that every patient with witnessed ventricular fibrillation should survive."

NACCHO Executive Director Robert M. Pestronk said the job losses at local health epartments "make life riskier."

Public Health Spotlight: Job Losses, New Accreditation

The National Association of County & City Health Officials holds its annual meeting next week in Memphis with officials worried about 23,000 jobs lost thus far at local health departments nationwide.

NIOSH Alert Covers Fire Risk Management Practices

The 36-page document addresses the right way to fight fires in abandoned, vacant, or unoccupied structures, which can present unexpected hazards.

EMS Safety Culture Proposals Due July 9

Meanwhile, IAFC has asked its members to answer a survey that will help the association launch a redesigned website next year.



The site www.poolsafely.gov features this still image from the English-language public service announcement.

New CPSC Ads Promote Pool Safety

Public service announcements timed for the Fourth of July holiday remind the public of basic steps to prevent drownings.

DOL Doles $27M to Oil Spill States

The funds are being granted to workforce agencies in the four Gulf Coast states experiencing economic hardship as a result of wage decline and job loss in the shrimping, fishing, hospitality, and tourism industries.

Enzi Calls for NIOSH Accounting of 9/11 Payments

The ranking member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee said he wants to know how $475 million given to medical providers was spent.

Scientists Create New Tool to Predict Disaster Losses

Bayesian network approach enables emergency planners to better predict, assess and manage natural and man-made catastrophes.

The New Safety U

Loyola University Chicago recently became the first university to launch an electronic pre-plan program for fire emergencies.

A Triumph's Lessons

Fortunately, NTSB spent 15 months investigating the January 2009 ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after the plane hit a flock of Canada geese and lost power in both engines.

The Hazmat Suicides

When you see a person down in a car, not breathing, your first instinct is to get him or her out of there. That instinct can prove deadly if followed, especially by someone who doesn't know how to protect himself.

Ensure all employees are trained and know what is to be done in an emergency, including emergency egress during a fire.

Back to Basics: Safe Egress

Ensure all employees are trained and know what is to be done in an emergency. Review the plan with new hires or newly assigned employees so they know the plan and their responsibilities.

Officer Philip Ortiz, 48, died June 22 after a vehicle struck him from behind while he was engaged in a traffic stop on I-405.

CA Highway Patrol Mourns Five Officers

Four separate highway accidents in June followed a May 7 plane crash in which one officer died. The funeral for Officer Philip Ortiz is taking place today.

Congress ordered FRA to identify the 10 states that have had the most highway-rail grade crossing collisions, on average, over the past three years and direct them to prepare these plans.

10 States Get Deadline for Grade Crossing Plans

The five-year action plans to reduce accidents and incidents at highway-rail grade crossings must be completed by Aug. 27, 2011.

This photo from the Kleen Energy site is on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board page about its investigation of the explosion.

CSB Wants OSHA, NFPA to Act on Gas Purging

A 4-1 vote Monday night at a public meeting of the board in Portland, Conn., adopted 18 urgent recommendations, including prohibiting the practices that resulted in the explosion at Kleen Energy's plant.

Joseph A. Main is assistant U.S. secretary of labor for mine safety and health.

Underground Investigation of Upper Big Branch Mine Begins

MSHA said a month of exploration by mine rescue teams to confirm the mine is safe for investigators is completed. This new phase involves teams with expertise in mapping, dust surveys, electrical, photography, flames and forces, geology, and evidence gathering.

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