EMERGENCY PARTNER POSTINGS

Volume 2, No. 12

August 1998

August 1998 marks the 1^st Anniversary of the Virtual Forum! The year passed quickly with steady growth in the Partnership and the Forum. The EIIP began modestly as the collective vision of six Partners; we currently are approaching 90 formal Partners. While additional Partners agreed to the criteria and signed the Partnership Agreement form, the Virtual Forum expanded from once a month to three-times-weekly live sessions. Remarkably, over 100 emergency professionals worked with us to learn the interactive medium and made online presentations for our audiences. These pioneers received certificates acknowledging their contribution to the success of the Virtual Forum this year; they will be listed on the site in honor of our 1^st Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday, August 5, 12:00 Noon EDT.

Of special note --- a special message from Philippe Boulle, Director, United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR --- soon-to-be Partner), will be delivered to our audience for the Virtual Forum gala event. Everyone is invited to join in the celebration!

EIIP Road Trips:

• The EIIP was represented in a panel discussion during the 23^rd Annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop in Boulder, CO, July 12-15. The session was entitled "Information Dissemination: New Technologies and New Issues." The workshop was ideal for making new contacts for Partners and noting topics for future interactive discussions in the Virtual Forum.
• The EIIP was also represented at a Meeting of Disaster Experts, hosted by the U.S. State Department, for the purpose of discussing the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN), July 16-17. A number of EIIP Partners also were in attendance. For further information about the meeting see: http://www.state.gov/www/issues/relief/july.html
• Last but not least during July, we attended the FEMA co-sponsored Technology Partnerships for Emergency Management Workshop and Exhibition, held July 21-23 at Argonne National Laboratory. See http://www.emforum.org/vforum/lc980722.htm for a transcript of the Live! From session, and see http://www.emforum.org/eiip/slides/argonne/sld001.htm for slide presentation "Using Live Chat for Professional Development in Emergency Management."

Please Note:

• "Round Table" led by a Guest Host, Tuesdays at 1:00 PM Eastern Time
• Thursday 8:00 PM ET, "Mutual Aid" session. Any topic or issue can be addressed.

August 5: 1^st Anniversary Celebration of the Virtual Forum! Cyber-cake and -balloons for everyone! Join us for a special message from Philippe Boulle, Director, United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), and to honor all our speakers and presenters in our first year of interactive online discussions with/for emergency professionals.

August 12: Claire Rubin, Claire Rubin & Associates, presents her paper "What Hazards and Disasters are Likely in the 21^st Century - or Sooner?" in the Virtual Library. See http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/wp/wp99.html for an online copy of the paper.

August 19: Virtual Classroom, Mary Ann Rollans, University of Arkansas, Emergency Management Degree Program (tentative).

August 26: Tech Arena, Manifold, low cost GIS software.

The following submitted the agreement form to become formal Partners and are listed on the EIIP Virtual Forum web site, with links to Websites if available (see http://www.emforum.org/partners/partic.htm). Each Point of Contact (POC) has been welcomed to the EIIP and encouraged to become an active participant and worker in the Partnership:

Arkansas Tech University: Dr Mary Ann Rollans, Dean (afmr@atuvm.atu.edu)

Essential Technologies, Inc.: George L. Kozar, Director Government Sales (gkozar@essentech.com)

Information Management Consultant: Jan Zastrow, MLIS (zastrow@hawaii.edu)

Soft Risk Technologies, Inc.: James H. Fraser (jhfraser@ix.netcom.com)

Terrebonne Readiness & Assistance Coalition (TRAC): Peggy Casé, Executive Director (pcase@cajun.net)

Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment, Organization of American States (OAS): Stephen Bender, Natural Hazards Project (natural-hazards-project@oas.org)

Western Disaster Center: Richard H. Davies, Director of Technology & Operations(rhdavies@wdc.ndin.net)

Interested in joining the EIIP? New Partners are welcome; Partnership Criteria and Agreement Form may be found at the following URL: http://www.emforum.org/partners/criteria.htm

EIIP Logo Accessible to Partners

We continue to add new Partners to the EIIP. Part of the EIIP Memorandum of Agreement states that we will link to each other's web sites, if one exists. In response to a request of a new Partner for the EIIP logo, we have made the logo easily accessible and in an appropriate size for any of our Partners' use at: http://www.emforum.org/images/ic_forum.gif

An Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) "hotwash" is scheduled August 20, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM and August 21, 8:30-11:30 AM in Tampa, Florida at the Hyatt Regency West Shore Hotel. EMAC States that provided assistance to Florida wildfires and Florida emergency management staff will discuss critical issues related to the activation - elements of the compact that worked well, identification of procedures that need fine tuning, issues to be addressed to further refine EMAC, etc. All EMAC States are invited to attend, as well as those States interesting in becoming members of the compact. An EMAC hotwash will also be conducted on September 8 in Charleston, SC, prior to the opening of the NEMA Annual Conference. For information, contact Trina Hembree, NEMA (thembree@csgcomm.csg.org) or Mike Sherberger (GA), EMAC Operations Subcommittee Chair (mike_g_sherberger@gema.state.ga.us).

See also EIIP transcript of EMAC Round Table session, 7/21/98, accessible from Virtual Library Live Chat Archives, http://www.emforum.org/vlibrary/livechat.htm.

The schedule for graduate level degree courses at George Washington University's Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management follows with contact information:

September 1998:
Introduction to Emergency Management. The introductory course for the University of California Berkeley Extension Emergency Preparedness Planning and Management Certificate Program held at The George Washington University Virginia Campus. Ashburn, VA: September 18 and 19, 1998.

Strategic Planning and Implementation in Emergency Management. A required course for the University of California Berkeley Extension Emergency Preparedness Planning and Management Certificate Program held at The George Washington University Virginia Campus. Ashburn, VA: September 21 - 24, 1998.

October 1998:
Business Recovery for Your Organization. A required course for the University of California Berkeley Extension Emergency Preparedness Planning and Management Certificate Program held at The George Washington University Virginia Campus.
Ashburn, VA: October 12 - 15, 1998.

November 1998:
Integrating Emergency Management Structures into Your Organization. A required course for the University of California Berkeley Extension Emergency Preparedness Planning and Management Certificate Program held at The George Washington University Virginia Campus. Ashburn, VA: November 16 - 19, 1998.

January 1999:
Corporate/Public Agency Coordination and Interdependence. A required course for the University of California Berkeley Extension Emergency Preparedness Planning and Management Certificate Program held at The George Washington University Virginia Campus. Ashburn, VA: January 18 - 21, 1999.

Contact: Greg Shaw, The GWU Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management, 20101 Academic Way, Suite 220B, Ashburn, VA 20147-2604. Tel: (703) 729-8271, Fax: (703) 729-8272, E-mail: glshaw@gwu.edu

Everything is somewhere — maps help you find it. Computer maps help you find it faster. Participants in the April 1, 1998 Maryland CSEPP Exercise utilized maps that were generated with computer-based Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The maps, prepared by SSI Services, Inc., Harrisburg, PA, displayed the Aberdeen/Edgewood area and included features such as municipal boundaries, roads, waterways, schools, hospitals and EOC locations. The exercise maps also outlined the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) of the Edgewood Area Chemical Agent Storage Yard.

GIS is more than a map making program. A true GIS incorporates the tools to produce maps and common computer database operations. This allows the GIS user to do traditional queries in the database and then display the results on a map. Emergency planners utilize queries to perform “what if scenarios”. Because the data is digital and easily updated, different scenarios can be developed in a shorter time frame than using traditional paper maps.

When the results of a query are displayed, planners can see how their scenario relates to the geography of the area. For example, when planners established the EPZ for Edgewood, the area within the zone was easily delineated. If planners wanted to expand the EPZ, a GIS analyst would change the circumference of the zone and the new affected area would be automatically drawn on the map. This rapid display of material on a map makes GIS a valuable tool to emergency planners.

In addition to emergency planning, there are many uses of GIS. GIS is now taught in schools, colleges, and universities. Environmental scientists use GIS to perform environmental impact studies. Traffic engineers utilize GIS to plan the construction of new highways and municipalities are using GIS to manage their water and wastewater systems. In the private sector, retailers use GIS to site the location of new stores and map sales territories. More and more people are beginning to see the advantage of geography based planning tools.

Need more insight into the Y2K issue? Bookmark Computerworld, World’s Technology Newspaper --- news, updates, features, and forums at http://www.computerworld.com. See the July 13 issue, Vol 32, No 28, page 53, for an article entitled “Desktops are not immune to year 2000” by David Orenstein.

Need a countdown to 2000? The Red Sky Millennium Clock is a freeware Java utility (download from http://www.millennium.redsky.com) that queries an atomic clock to provide the precise time and a countdown to 2000. The elegant, 650K-byte applet, developed by Red Sky Interactive in San Francisco, also gives an accurate rendering of the Earth’s rotation.

OAS Virtual Conference on Disaster Reduction in the Education Sector
The Organization of American States, http://www.oas.org, Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment, along with the United Nations International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction Secretariat and the United Nations Development Program, will host a "Virtual Conference on the Hemispheric Plan for Disaster Reduction in the Education Sector" October 19-23, 1998, via the Internet. The objective of the conference is to promote the implementation of the "Hemispheric Action Plan for Vulnerability Reduction in the Education Sector to Socio-Natural Disasters." The components/topics include "Academic Aspects," "Public Participation," and "Physical Infrastructure." For information about the conference or to register, contact the Natural Hazards Project, Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment, Organization of American States, 1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006; e-mail: natural-hazards-project@oas.org; tel: (202)458-6295; fax: (202) 458-3560.

OAS, in conjunction with several other international agencies, is also hosting three regional workshops to further the aims of and develop "action plans" regarding the "Summit Conference on Sustainable Cities," held in Bolivia in 1996. A principal theme will be the reduction of vulnerability of transportation infrastructure, potable water and sanitation, and electric energy to natural hazards. The workshops will each focus on a different Latin American Region:

• Southern Cone: Mendoza, Argentina: September 17-18, 1998
• Andean Region: Santafe de Bogota, Colombia: October 15-16, 1998
• Central America: San Jose, Costa Rica: October 27-28, 1998.

* * * *

Virtual Fire & Rescue Expo Call for Presenters
Virtual Fire & Rescue Expo, The Cyberspace Conference, is accepting workshop proposals from prospective presenters for VFRE Fall, scheduled Nov. 1-15, 1998, at http://www.vfre.com. Proposals will be accepted through Aug. 15, 1998. Open round-the-clock with free admission, VFRE's spring conference in May scored more than 22,000 user sessions, more than 500,000 hits and attendance from 62 countries--double the traffic of the first conference in 1997. This accessible Web-based conference shows no sign of slowing down in its evolution as an important supplemental conference for the fire, rescue and emergency services community.

To present at the next VFRE, send name, a brief outline of your proposed topic, e-mail address, telephone number and resume or credentials to: Pat West, VFRE Coordinator, National Fire & Rescue Editor, patwest@nfrmag.com. * * * *
National Public Sector Productivity Conference Call for Registrants and Participation in "Performance Measurement, Performance Improvement," November 1998. This "virtual meeting" will be conducted during the second and third weeks of November, 1998. It will address four major themes: Citizen-Driven; Government Performance; Communicating Performance; and Lessons Learned: Twenty-Five Years of Performance. Further details on the NCPP Web Site at http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ncpp.

Noticed the use of ‘cookies’ in URLs when on the Virtual Forum and other sites? What are ‘cookies’? Definition: Cookies are small amounts of structured data shared between a WWW server and a user’s browser. Cookies give the server information about a user’s identity, preferences or past behavior. Not every browser can support cookies. To learn more, see the following resources:

• Cookie Central, general information about cookies, http://www.cookiecentral.com.
• Cookie Specification, quick update on the latest work to update the cookie standard, http://portal.reserch.bell-labs.com/~dmk/cookie.html.
• RFC 2109 from the Internet Engineering Task Force, technical details on proposed new standard for cookies, http://info.internet.isi.edu/innotes/rfc/files/rfc2109.txt.
• Information on cookies and privacy from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Computer Incident Advisory Capability team, http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/I-o34.shtml.
• Frequently Asked Questions from Netscape Communications Corporation, http://search.netscape.com/assist/security/faqs/cookies.html.
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol Working Group discussion list for technical information; send email with the subject ‘subscribe’ to http-wg-request@cuckoo.hpl.hp.com, or read the list of archives, http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/http/hypermail/.
• Book: Cookies by Simon St. Laurent, McGraw-Hill

* * * *

To illustrate how federal agencies are moving to the Web, check out the following:

• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is online with a WWW site of land records that individuals researching family history can use to find information on their ancestors. The web site, http://www.glorecords.blm.gov, lets researchers view text data from General Land Office (GLO) records and images of the actual documents. (Requires Tagged Image File (TIF) format viewer capability.) This year, the BLM also turns to the Internet to find homes for 6,000 wild horses and burros living on federal lands. BLM’s online auction system allows potential buyers to see photos of horses and place bids at http://www.adoptahorse.blm.gov.
• For wildfire season, NASA launched a new page to bring up-to-date information about fires to the public and scientific community. Recent fires in Florida and Mexico were visible as satellite and infrared images at http://modarch.gsfc.nasa.gov/fire_atlas/fires.html.
• To eliminate bureaucratic mumbo jumbo following a June 1 Presidential memo, the National Partnership for Reinventing Government launched a web site to comply. The Plain Language Action Network, http://www.plainlanguage.gov, site is packed with helpful tips for agencies to craft simple, easy-to-read letters, forms, notices and other pubic communications. Good resources; note the “Example Library.”
• Find out why the little-understood weather phenomenon La Niña may pack a nastier punch than El Niño. Learn the differences between the two and how they affect global weather patterns at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980727/27nina.htm.

National Emergency Management Association (NEMA)Update:

NEMA Slate Announced - NEMA announces slate of candidates to serve as officers for 1998-99: President Elect: Joe Myers (FL); Treasurer: Gary Whitney (SD); and Secretary: Lorayne Frank (UT).

Elections will be held during the '98 NEMA Annual Conference, Charleston SC, Saturday, September 12, 1998 during the closing general session. State Directors not able to attend the meeting should provide a written proxy to their Regional Vice President in order to participate in the elections process. * * * *

National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue (NI/USR) Update:

XII Reports Available - The Final Report on XII Part One at Hanscom Air Force Base in May and the Proposed Schedule of XII Part Two for this Fall, are on the NIUSR Web site http://niusr.org. Contact: National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue (niusr@ix.netcom.com). * * * *

Coordek, Inc. Update:

See http://www.sitrep2200.com to download SitRep2200 V 2.0 beta; the optimized performance version will be available in the coming weeks. Coordek, Inc. will be at the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) tradeshow in November and hopes to see lots of people who access the EIIP website there. Contact James Bowen, Coordtek Inc., Ottawa, Ontario 613-722-3008. * * * *

August 7, 1998: Planning for a Safer Tomorrow Seminar, Denver, Colorado - Sponsored by Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Response Association (DERA), Colorado Office of Emergency Management, Colorado Natural Hazards Mitigation Council, Community Associations Institute, Intessera Technologies, Kistner and Associates, Western Insurance Information Service, and Rocky Mountain Insurance Council. See http://www.disasters.org/safer-tomorrow.

September 9-12, 1998: NEMA Annual Conference, Charleston SC. Register online today! http://nemaweb.media3.net/nema/nema3.cfm

September 13-16, 1998: 10th International Disaster Recovery Symposium and Exhibition, Orlando, FL. Sponsored by the Disaster Recovery Journal and the Disaster Recovery Institute International. Contact (314) 894-0276 or http://www.drj.com for details.

September 22, 1998: Earthquakes: Mean Business: A One-Day Symposium on Issues in Business Continuity and Recovery, Focusing on Earthquake Preparedness. Sponsored by: Association of Contingency Planners (ACP) and Utah Seismic Safety Commission (USSC). Salt Lake City, Utah. Contact: Mike Stever (mike.stever@ci.slc.ut.us).

October 3-9, 1998: Synergy-Participation-Involvement-Community-Enrichment (SPICE), 1998 International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Conference & Worshops, Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, AZ, http://www.pin.org/iap2.htm

October 6-8, 1998: World Aid '98, Global Expo and Conference on Aid in Action,
Palexpo in Geneva. On the eve of the new century, World Aid '98 is the unique humanitarian summit on crises and their context for those with a stake in aid come together to debate "The Future For Aid" and how best to serve those caught in catastrophe. WorldAid'98 http://www.worldaid.org or email (info@world.org).

October 15-16, 1998: Year 2000 and EURO Summit - Sheraton Rome, Rome, Italy. Over 30 international speakers will address legal, corporate and technological aspects of year 2000 and the EURO. Keynote speakers are: Karl Feilder, CEO of Greenwich Mean Time (UK) and Irene Dec, Vice President & Y2K Manager of Prudential Insurance Company of America (USA). The Summit will provide an excellent opportunity to network and generate new business. There will be extensive coverage by the international media. Program information and the registration form are posted at website: http://www.y2k-summit.com. Call 0039-6-5809690 or e-mail: info@y2k-summit.com

October 20-21, 1998: Info Fest Workshop, Emergency Management Association of Tennessee (EMAT), Smoky Mountains Resorts, Pigeon Forge, TN.

November 7-11, 1998: 1998 Annual IAEM Conference, The Omni Waterside Hotel, 777 Waterside Drive, Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 622-6664 Fax (757) 625-8271 Reservation deadline October 11 Call immediately for rooms; the IAEM room rate of $75 single/double (includes taxes) will apply the official meeting dates of November 4-11, and also two days before and two days after on a space-available basis. Register online - http://www.emassociation.org

February 11-14, 1999: Disaster ’99: Examining Your Disaster Readiness, St. Petersburg Bayfront Hilton, St. Petersburg, Florida; sponsored by Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation in conjunction with Florida College of Emergency Physicians. For all persons and agencies involved with emergency preparedness, management and response. Brochures available in October; see http://www.fcep.org.

March 21-14, 1999: 10th Annual Corporate Contingency Planning Seminar, San Diego, CA. Sponsored by the Disaster Recovery Journal and the Disaster Recovery Institute International. Contact (314) 894-0276 or http://www.drj.com for details.

Treasury overhauls web site: An electronic smorgasbord of data in a well-organized format, http://www.treas.gov, is available by clicking on the welcoming image of the Treasury building. The site is packed with everything from what happened on this date in Treasury history to a Learning Vault with various educational offerings. Point your cursor to Educational Links which pulls together pages for kids and also features the Dog of the Month page honoring canines who happen to be Treasury employees. Dog of the month for July was B-Bad, a yellow Lab who works with the Customs Service in Texas and helped sniff out 995 pounds of marijuana hidden in a car.

Avoid nasty download surprises: Grab Download Calculator, a pop-up utility, to see how long it will take to download an Internet file, http://www.intel.com/home/club/dic.htm.

"Emergency Partner Postings" is a monthly update on progress of the partnership, activities, and services available through Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership (EIIP) Virtual Forum web site, other electronic sources of information, and articles of interest concerning awareness and use of information technology. The news will be posted on the web site the last week of each month.

We encourage readers to submit articles for this newsletter about use of the Internet for emergency management and other aspects of information technology. Deadline for contributions is the 20th of each month for that month's newsletter. Submit contributions to Ashley Streetman, (astreetman@emforum.org).

* * * *