Tag Archives: emergency care

Commercial Mobile Alert System: The Future of Emergency Warning Notification

In emergency situations it is critical to obtain accurate information quickly. As our technology has evolved, so have our abilities to communicate. In the 1950’s, the state of Kansas instituted a basic tornado alert system of fire station sirens to warn residents of small towns to take shelter, saving many lives. Recent emergency communication capabilities, especially in severe weather situations, have improved our access to the most current information. We are now able to track weather conditions on TV, the internet, and through text alerts on mobile devices. The Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) will take warning systems to the next level by sending emergency alerts to mobile devices such as cell phones and pagers. Scheduled to become available in 2012, CMAS will send 3 types of alerts:

  • Presidential alerts: This is any alert message issued by the President for local, regional, or national emergencies, and is the highest priority alert
  • Imminent threat alerts: These are notifications of emergency conditions, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, where there is an immediate threat to life or property and action should be taken
  • Child abduction emergency/AMBER alerts: These are alerts related to missing or endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation

Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices: Summary of a Workshop Report on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps discusses the extensive body of knowledge regarding alerts and warnings and the public response and action before, during, and after emergency situations. Additionally, this book considers the many questions that arise when considering how to apply this knowledge to CMAS and more generally to the use of mobile and other new information and communications technologies for alerts and warnings.

Improving Disaster Management: The Role of IT in Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery identifies promising applications of information and communication technology (IT) to disaster management, potential areas of research for improving the effectiveness of IT, and mechanisms that would enhance research, development, and deployment efforts. This book is intended to inform federal, state, and local policy makers and public safety and emergency management professionals about future opportunities for the application of IT to disaster management.

These books and others on the subject of communication and disaster management can inform discussion and provide information for decision-making.

Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices

Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices: Summary of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps

This book presents a summary of the Workshop on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices: Current Knowledge and Research Gaps, held April 13 and 14, 2010, in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the National Research Council’s Committee on…
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Improving Disaster Management

Improving Disaster Management: The Role of IT in Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

Information technology (IT) has the potential to play a critical role in managing natural and human made disasters. Damage to communications infrastructure, along with other communications problems exacerbated the difficulties in carrying out response and…
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Successful Response Starts with a Map

Successful Response Starts with a Map: Improving Geospatial Support for Disaster Management

In the past few years the United States has experienced a series of disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which have severely taxed and in many cases overwhelmed responding agencies. In all aspects of emergency management, geospatial data and tools…
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Tsunami Warning and Preparedness

Tsunami Warning and Preparedness: An Assessment of the U.S. Tsunami Program and the Nation’s Preparedness Efforts

Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on…
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Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises

Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises

Worldwide, millions of people are displaced annually because of natural or industrial disasters or social upheaval. Reliable data on the numbers, characteristics, and locations of these populations can bolster humanitarian relief efforts and recovery programs. …
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Ten New Science Books: Lab Animals, Vaccines, Cancer Care, and more…

We’ve been a little quiet lately here at Notes From NAP, due largely to some technical tinkering we’ve needed to do as the summer quietly moves in, so our apologies. We’re back with a bang, though: Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals was released last week, and is our featured publication of the week. See more publications in the topic of Lab Animal Research.

Featured Publication

Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (prepublication)

A respected resource for decades, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals has been updated by a committee of experts, taking into consideration input from the scientific and laboratory animal communities and the public at large. The Guide incorporates new scientific information on common laboratory animals, including aquatic species, and includes extensive references. It is organized around major components of animal use:

Key concepts of animal care and use. The Guide sets the framework for the humane care and use of laboratory animals.

Animal care and use program. The Guide discusses the concept of a broad Program of Animal Care and Use, including roles and responsibilities of the Institutional Official, Attending Veterinarian and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Animal environment, husbandry, and management. A chapter on this topic is now divided into sections on terrestrial and aquatic animals and provides recommendations for housing and environment, husbandry, behavioral and population management, and more.

Veterinary care. The Guide discusses veterinary care and the responsibilities of the Attending Veterinarian. It includes recommendations on animal procurement and transportation, preventive medicine (including animal biosecurity), and clinical care and management. The Guide addresses distress and pain recognition and relief, and issues surrounding euthanasia.

Physical plant. The Guide identifies design issues, providing construction guidelines for functional areas; considerations such as drainage, vibration and noise control, and environmental monitoring; and specialized facilities for animal housing and research needs.

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals provides a framework for the judgments required in the management of animal facilities. This updated and expanded resource of proven value will be important to scientists and researchers, veterinarians, animal care personnel, facilities managers, institutional administrators, policy makers involved in research issues, and animal welfare advocates.

All New Publications This Week

Considerations for Ensuring Safety and Efficacy of Vaccines and Therapeutic Proteins Manufactured by Using Platform Approaches: Summary of a Workshop (forthcoming)

A Foundation for Evidence-Drive Practice: A Rapid Learning System for Cancer Care: Workshop Summary (prepublication)

Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy (prepublication)

A Summary of the December 2009 Forum on the Future of Nursing: Care in the Community (final)

Residential Energy Consumption Letter Report (final)

Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use (final)

Achieving Effective Acquisition of Information Technology in the Department of Defense (final)

The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise: Innovative Strategies to Enhance Products from Discovery Through Approval: Workshop Summary (final)

Regionalizing Emergency Care: Workshop Summary (final)

Nine new books: emergency care, obesity prevention, engineering innovation, and more

Nine new publications—both pre-publications and final versions—hit the website last week, and as usual, we’re rounding them up here. Stay tuned to Notes From NAP. In the next few weeks, we’ll be writing about some of our most popular publications in addition to these weekly lists of what’s new.

Featured Publication

Regionalizing Emergency Care: Workshop Summary (prepublication)

During medical emergencies, hospital staff and emergency medical services (EMS) providers, can face barriers in delivering the fastest and best possible care. Overcrowded emergency rooms cannot care for patients as quickly as necessary, and some may divert ambulances and turn away new patients outright. In many states, ambulance staff lacks the means to determine which hospitals can provide the best care to a patient. Given this absence of knowledge, they bring patients to the closest hospital. In addition, because emergency service providers from different companies compete with each other for patients, and emergency care legislation varies from state to state, it is difficult to establish the necessary local, interstate, and national communication and collaboration to create a more efficient system.

In 2006, the IOM recommended that the federal government implement a regionalized emergency care system to improve cooperation and overcome these challenges. In a regionalized system, local hospitals and EMS providers would coordinate their efforts so that patients would be brought to hospitals based on the hospitals’ capacity and expertise to best meet patients’ needs. In September 2009, three years after making these recommendations, the IOM held a workshop sponsored by the federal Emergency Care Coordination Center to assess the nation’s progress toward regionalizing emergency care. The workshop brought together policymakers and stakeholders, including nurses, EMS personnel, hospital administrators, and others involved in emergency care. Participants identified successes and shortcomings in previous regionalization efforts; examined the many factors involved in successfully implementing regionalization; and discussed future challenges to regionalizing emergency care. This document summarizes the workshop.

See the rest of this week’s new publications

New This Week: Secondhand Smoke, Helium, Water Quality

It’s Friday, which means that we’re rounding up the books that have come out this week, including the final on a book on secondhand smoke exposure, healthcare in a public health emergency or disaster and the final of a book on near-earth objects, which may be of interest to a certain doctor in Lorton, Virginia.

Featured Publication

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects: Making Sense of the Evidence (final)

Data suggest that exposure to secondhand smoke can result in heart disease in nonsmoking adults. Recently, progress has been made in reducing involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke through legislation banning smoking in workplaces, restaurants, and other public places. The effect of legislation to ban smoking and its effects on the cardiovascular health of nonsmoking adults, however, remains a question.

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects reviews available scientific literature to assess the relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and acute coronary events. The authors, experts in secondhand smoke exposure and toxicology, clinical cardiology, epidemiology, and statistics, find that there is about a 25 to 30 percent increase in the risk of coronary heart disease from exposure to secondhand smoke. Their findings agree with the 2006 Surgeon General’s Report conclusion that there are increased risks of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality among men and women exposed to secondhand smoke. However, the authors note that the evidence for determining the magnitude of the relationship between chronic secondhand smoke exposure and coronary heart disease is not very strong.

Public health professionals will rely upon Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects for its survey of critical epidemiological studies on the effects of smoking bans and evidence of links between secondhand smoke exposure and cardiovascular events, as well as its findings and recommendations.

All New Publications This Week

Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Final Report (prepublication)

Selling the Nation’s Helium Reserve (prepublication)

Letter Report Assessing the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program’s Science Framework (prepublication)

Technical Capabilities Necessary for Systemic Risk Regulation: Summary of a Workshop (forthcoming)

Crisis Standards of Care: Summary of a Workshop Series (final)

New Books: Science At Sea, Oral Health And Emergency Care

It’s an abbreviated week with the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, so Wednesday afternoon is taking the place of Friday afternoon in the announcements of what new has hit our site this week. For the Americans in our audience, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Featured New Book

Science at Sea: Meeting Future Oceanographic Goals with a Robust Academic Research Fleet (final)

The U.S. academic research fleet is an essential national resource, and it is likely that scientific demands on the fleet will increase. Oceanographers are embracing a host of remote technologies that can facilitate the collection of data, but will continue to require capable, adaptable research vessels for access to the sea for the foreseeable future. Maintaining U.S. leadership in ocean research will require investing in larger and more capable general purpose Global and Regional class ships; involving the scientific community in all phases of ship design and acquisition; and improving coordination between agencies that operate research fleets.

More New Books This Week

The U.S. Oral Health Workforce in the Coming Decade: Workshop Summary (final)

The National Emergency Care Enterprise: Advancing Care Through Collaboration: Workshop Summary (final)