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First Responder Resilience Research at two major universities regarding large-scale natural disasters strongly suggests that an effective response during and after a catastrophic event essentially depends on the resilience of first responders. These studies corroborate the perspective of the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) that Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel should be at the center of any critical infrastructure protection or resilience program. The EMR-ISAC recommends ESS departments and agencies identify and accept their personnel as the foremost of their critical infrastructures. Considering the profound significance of their human resource, ESS organizations should train and exercise to enhance responder capacity to be irrepressible, buoyant, enduring, flexible, and always response-able in any calamity. To bolster these qualities, emergency responders must be prepared to act effectively in dire circumstances, to seize the initiative, and to complete their assigned tasks. According to the researchers, greater resilience can be acquired when responders are instilled with a set of core values, ethics, and priorities that will guide their decisions and actions. Their studies conclude that response personnel should be rehearsed to assess and decide when plans need to be activated, adhered to, altered, postponed, ignored, etc. The EMR-ISAC suggests that prior exposure and practice with these matters will likely facilitate improved judgment formation and increase individual survivability and durability in all-hazards environments. Taken from the EMR-ISAC CIP INFOGRAM. For contact information, please see below. (To unsubscribe or update your e-mail address, please use the link at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Hurricane Preparedness for Responder Family Members The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) advises residents living in hurricane-prone areas to prepare now for the 2007 Hurricane Season that begins on 1 June. As FEMA urges individuals to take on preparedness as their own responsibility, the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) encourages first responders to "set the example" and ensure their families are ready for hurricane winds and floods. Doing so now will help to alleviate some of the concern for family safety when busily performing duties with no family contact. The following are basic FEMA tips to consider: - Discuss the type of hazards that could affect your family. Know your home's vulnerability to storm surge, flooding, and wind. - Locate a safe room or the safest areas in your home for each hurricane hazard. In certain circumstances the safest areas may not be at your home but within your community. - Determine escape routes from your home and places to meet. These should be measured in tens of miles rather than hundreds of miles. - Have an out-of-state friend or relative as a family contact, so all your family members have a single point of contact. - Make a plan now for what to do with your pets if you need to quickly evacuate. - Post emergency telephone numbers by your phones and make sure your children know how and when to call 9-1-1. - Check your insurance coverage. Flood damage is not usually covered by homeowners insurance. - Stock non-perishable emergency supplies and a Disaster Supply Kit. - Use a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio. Remember to replace its battery every 6 months as you do with smoke detectors. - Take First Aid, CPR, and disaster preparedness classes. More information regarding hurricane preparedness can be found at www.nhc.noaa.gov and also at http://www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/index.shtm. Taken from the EMR-ISAC CIP INFOGRAM. For contact information, please see below. (To unsubscribe or update your e-mail address, please use the link at the bottom of the newsletter.)

First Responder Hot Weather Preparedness The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) promotes extra precautions to ensure the protection of Emergency Services Sector personnel during extremely hot weather days of the 2007 summer months. Therefore, the EMR-ISAC offers the following suggestions provided by the International Association of Fire Chiefs: - Keep hydrated. Drink lots of water, on duty and off duty. Have drinking water available on all emergency vehicles. Urge personnel to drink plenty of water before coming on duty. - Avoid soft drinks, sugary liquids, or caffeinated beverages. - Encourage personnel to get plenty of rest while off duty. - Urge personnel to report any symptoms of dehydration, heat cramps, heat stroke, or heat exhaustion. - Establish a rehabilitation center at major incident scenes, preferably under a tent or in a shaded area. - Set up an extra hose to provide a place for personnel to cool off. - Bring extra personnel to major events to provide adequate relief for exhausted crews. - Limit outdoor exercise. More information about extreme heat can be seen at: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/heat/index.shtm. Taken from the EMR-ISAC CIP INFOGRAM. For contact information, please see below. (To unsubscribe or update your e-mail address, please use the link at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Third Annual Safety Stand Down The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) urges Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel to participate in the Third Annual National Safety Stand Down scheduled for 17-23 June 2007. An estimated 10,000 ESS departments and agencies throughout the country participated in last year's event that focused on emergency vehicle safety. The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and its co-sponsors request that all departments take part in this year's activities designed to bring international attention to the need to address preventable line-of-duty injuries and deaths among fire and emergency medical services personnel. The Stand Down will specifically concentrate on the proper training, preparation, and equipment necessary to respond to all-hazard incidents and safely return home at the end of the shift. Participating organizations will have access to several resources that include: drills, online sources, sample SOPs and SOGs, lessons learned, safety reports, links to health and welfare programs, and a planning and outreach guide. More information about the event can be seen at: http://www.iafc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=306. The EMR-ISAC fully supports the Stand Down's focus on protecting the vitally important personnel component of the ESS critical infrastructures. Taken from the EMR-ISAC CIP INFOGRAM. For contact information, please see below. (To unsubscribe or update your e-mail address, please use the link at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Dartmouth Develops Program for Terrorism Response Training: Virtual Terrorism Response Academy rewrites video game to prepare first responders HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth's Interactive Media Laboratory (IML) has launched a new, videogame-based training program for first responders featuring simulated terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction. The program, called "Ops-Plus for WMD Hazmat," is the first course for IML's Virtual Terrorism Response Academy (VTRA). The course provides more than 16 hours of training to handle CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive) emergencies. Dozens of local, state, and federal responders helped develop and test "Ops-Plus." "We blend video of real humans who are expert hazmat trainers into the gaming environment," said IML Director Joseph V. Henderson, MD. He brings to the project more than 23 years of experience creating interactive training for medical, military, and governmental users. "It's not just glorified PowerPoint. It's accessible and effective. Even if you've never played a video game, you can learn from 'Ops-Plus,' and you can easily use this over and over again to keep your skills sharp." Throughout the interactive program, fire, police and EMS trainees learn from leading WMD and hazmat-response experts. The course begins in the simulated Hazmat Learning Lab, then proceeds to fully-interactive, simulated emergency situations. During the program, the trainee uses accurately-modeled instruments, answers various WMD-related questions, and makes tactical decisions. In the debriefing section, an expert trainer explains the impact of the trainee's decisions during the simulations. "The trainee faces a series of increasingly-challenging tactical situations," said Henderson. "The choices the trainee makes drive realistic scenarios that would involve life-and-death consequences during real incidents." For example, the trainee must determine what personal protective gear and special instruments to use for scenarios involving a suspected "dirty bomb" lab, including equipment that detects and measures radiation. The scenarios encourage trainees to consider the time of day, the temperature, and weather conditions, all of which can influence real hazmat operations. The VTRA program helps address what Henderson said is a national problem of public-safety personnel being issued equipment and instruments they aren't fully trained to use. The program may be used individually or by instructor-led groups, either as preparatory/refresher instruction or as a complement to live training. IML created VTRA with federal funding administered by the Department of Homeland Security. "VTRA helps America's first responders achieve one of the overarching national priorities, which is strengthening chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive detection, response, and decontamination," said Corey Gruber, acting deputy administrator for the new FEMA National Preparedness Directorate. "The program's distance-learning approach enables us to reach millions of first responders right where they serve. It complements the hands-on training provided by federal, state, local and tribal facilities. VTRA allows students to arrive for hands-on training well-prepared, and it allows them to retain their skills and proficiency." Available for purchase since January, "Ops-Plus" has already met with enthusiastic response from local, state, and federal responders, training partners and academies. "As someone who's been through a lot of hazmat training, I can tell you VTRA helps me zero in on specific concepts I'm trying to get across," said Team Leader Alan Cagle with the Guilford County (NC) Emergency Services Hazmat Team. "Not everyone has been fortunate enough to learn about hazmat in person with John Eversole. VTRA captured the personalities of John and the other instructors. Using this program is like sitting across a table with them at a hazmat conference and learning from them one-on-one. This really is the next best thing to being there." "This is a valuable new tool for emergency responders," said Martin Wybourne, vice provost for research at Dartmouth. "I expect it will prove especially useful for rural communities that might not have ready access to such hazmat training otherwise." Wybourne also holds the Francis and Mildred Sears Professorship in Physics. IML designed "Ops-Plus" to run on older Windows-based computers that are still used in fire and police stations as well as the latest models. The program requires at least an 800 MHz processor (1.5 GHz recommended) and 256MB RAM (512 MB recommended). To create VTRA, Henderson's team used the open-source game "Quake II" and created a custom authoring environment dubbed Tamale. IML, part of the Dartmouth Medical School, specializes in combining emerging technology with innovative instructional design. IML created VTRA with support from Dartmouth's Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS). ISTS strengthens homeland security through interdisciplinary research, education and outreach programs that focus on technology critical for cyber security and trust. "IML has done a wonderful job using emerging technology to address the issue of emergency preparedness," said David Kotz, director of ISTS and a professor of computer science. "By developing software that's effective and easy to use, Joe Henderson's group has created a resource that will be beneficial for many, many first responders and their communities." Individual copies of "Ops-Plus" are $35 and can be purchased through the non-profit National Fire Protection Association. Bulk orders may be purchased directly from IML. More information about IML and VTRA at: http://iml.dartmouth.edu/vtra/ More information about ISTS at: http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/

Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) CIP INFOGRAM FAIR USE NOTICE This INFOGRAM may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. EMR-ISAC personnel believe this constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. To acquire a subscription to the weekly CIP INFOGRAM provided by the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC), follow the explicit instructions at: https://disasterhelp.gov/suite/doc/32357. The National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Infrastructure Protection is the central point for notifications regarding infrastructure threats, disruptions, intrusions, and suspicious activities. Emergency Services Sector personnel are requested to report any incidents or attacks involving their infrastructures using at least the first and second points of contact seen below: 1) NICC - Voice: 202-282-9201, Fax: 703-487-3570, E-Mail: nicc@dhs.gov 2) Your local FBI office - Web: http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm 3) EMR-ISAC - Voice: 301-447-1325, E-Mail: emr-isac@dhs.gov, fax: 301-447- 1034, Web: www.usfa.dhs.gov/subjects/emr-isac, Mail: J-247, 16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727 This INFOGRAM will be distributed weekly to provide the members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by e-mail at emr-isac@dhs.gov.

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