EMERGENCY PARTNER POSTINGS

Volume 4, No. 5

January 2000

EIIP 2000 --- Best Wishes for the New Millennium!
The Year 2000 is an important and exciting milestone for everyone --- the EIIP is no exception. As announced a few months ago, the EIIP is now a nonprofit organization and strives to grow with the Internet and technology. Starting this month, the EIIP will offer one live chat session per week, each Wednesday at 12 Noon Eastern Time, due to cutbacks in our immediate funding for the fiscal year. However, look for other varied interactive opportunities as the EIIP continues to reach out and explore other collaborations and partnerships. We will alert our friends and supporters as we progress.

New Year's Resolution
Since we will be offering fewer chat sessions than originally planned, we will adjust pledge levels accordingly, however, whether or not you have made a formal pledge, please put at the top of your New Year's Resolutions list to attend at least one chat session per month. If you have fallen behind in filling you pledge, please do not let that serve as a deterrent, but resolve to try to meet it from here on out. After all, it is so much easier to do than losing weight!

Wednesdays - 12:00 Noon EST:
January 5: Virtual Classroom - Y2K After-Action, with Lacy Suiter, FEMA Response and Recovery Directorate.

January 12: Virtual Library - "Uses of the Internet in Emergency Response" co-authored by Caroline L. Herzenberg, Craig Swietlik, Donald E. Newsom, and Kenneth M. Bertram, from Argonne National Laboratory.

January 19: Forum - Group Discussion

January 26: Tech Arena - EM Assist CD with Bill Karl, President, EM Assist.

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:

Dewberry & Davis: POC Robert C. Swan, Debris Management Consultant, BSwan@dewberry.com

International Centre for Emergency Techniques: POC J. V. Meertens, icet@euronet.nl

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

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain recently introduced legislation that would make the Internet tax moratorium permanent. The current 3-year tax moratorium, that stopped states from imposing any new Internet-related taxes, will expire October 2001.

Stop Junk Mail and Telemarketing Calls

A new Internet-based service purges junk mail and telemarketing calls at night and on the weekend. See http://www.CircularFile.com to read about this service. For $20, the company contacts the 15 data distribution centers that feed consumers' addresses and telephone numbers to mail processors and telemarketers to remove your contact information from their lists. By law, the companies must remove your name and relevant information for five years. According to the CircularFile web site, an 80% reduction in junk mail and telemarketing calls is guaranteed in 6 to 8 weeks.

Virus Map Online

A real-time virus-tracking site can be seen at http://wtc.trendmicro.com/wtc. The Trend World Virus Tracking Center is a world map with views and graphs that identify the top 10 malicious code outbreaks in each region of the world.

January '00 EENet Schedule:
January 5:, 2:00 PM ET, Classroom Connection - "Community Emergency Response Team" (CERT)
January 12: 2:00 PM ET: Disaster Resistant Homes (rebroadcast from1/27/99)
January 19: 2:00 PM ET: National Alert Broadcast (Best of)
January 26: 2:00 PM ET: Gems from EENet - "Recruiting & Retaining Volunteers: Preserving a National Resource"

For a description of each of these programs and broadcast information,
visit the EENet Web site: http://www.fema.gov/home/emi/eenet.htm .

FY2000 Firewise Communities Workshop Series on Wildland Fire Mitigation:
Sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fire Administration, and many other organizations.

• Stevenson, Washington: March 29-31, 2000
• Durham, New Hampshire: June 2000
• Brooklyn Park, Minnesota: September 25-27, 2000
• Atlanta, Georgia: October 18-20, 2000
• Santa Cruz, California: February 2001
• Austin, Texas: April 2001
• Denver, Colorado: June 2001
• Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania: September 2001
• St. Louis, Missouri: October 2001

For more information, see: http://www.firewise.org/communities; or contact: Jim Smalley jsmalley@nfpa.org or Dan Bailey danbailey@earthlink.net .

If not for the rollover of the New Millennium …

• Would we have found all those old computers hidden away in every department?
• Or known about the badly designed sprinkler systems and electronic door locks?
• Or met our new best friends, the Y2K consultants?
• Or started close relationships between suppliers and customers?
• Or had near as much to talk about?
• Or, most importantly, turned up potential problems that could bite us without Y2K?

Hey, is this millennium bug great, or what?

Y2K After Action:
The EIIP Virtual Forum features a "Y2K After Action" discussion in the Virtual Classroom on Wednesday January 5, 12 Noon EST.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Update:

FEMA Director James Lee Witt Addresses Project Impact Summit: Director Witt addressed a group of over 1,200 in Washington, D.C. December 12-16 for the Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities Summit. He recalled the progress that Project Impact has made in communities nationwide and asked the audience to help him bring the Project Impact initiative into every community in America by 2025. Director Witt also promised to invest in new technologies to help communities not only identify natural hazards ahead of time, but also to prevent damage and save lives when disasters strike. For the full text of the speech, see http://www.fema.gov/library/jlw121399.htm.

America Burning Recommissioned:
America Burning, The Report of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control is a landmark document that focused attention on the nation's fire problem and the needs of the fire services and allied professions. The report led to the passage of Public Law 93-498, The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, which created the United States Fire Administration. America Burning is still recognized as the single most significant publication about fire in the history of the United States. The report served as a catalyst for major changes in fire and life safety efforts and the reduction in the country's staggering annual losses from fire.

James Lee Witt, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has established a new panel on America Burning. Director Witt has asked the Panel to provide him with 1) insight into the future goals, evolution and activities of the fire services and prevention community and 2) recommendations on how the community's achievement of its goals can be
supported and accelerated.

Comments may be submitted via form found at http://www.fema.gov/americaburning/ until March 1, 2000.

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National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Update:

NEMA/NGA/OJP announces Southern Regional Terrorism Workshop: NEMA, NGA and OJP, will sponsor a series of regional terrorism workshops over the next two years. The first is tentatively scheduled for February 16 - 17, 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia. States in the workshop will include: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MI, MO, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, PR, VI and District of Columbia. The meeting will provide a forum for teams of governors' policy advisors, emergency management directors, lead state law enforcement, fire and public health officials to come together to identify state and regional issues related to domestic preparedness.

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International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Update:

New Bulletin Board Feature on the IAEM Web Site: IAEM recently expanded their Web site with a Bulletin Board where members and emergency management practitioners can discuss a wide array of topics. The Bulletin Board currently has three categories of discussion ongoing --- Emergency Management News and Views (very broad discussions are found here), Positions Vacant and Positions Wanted. Please check it out at http://www.iaem.com/discuss/

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American Red Cross (ARC) Update:

You are invited to participate in a one-day workshop on drought. The purpose of the workshop is to explore drought and its effects. The National Disaster Education Coalition (NDEC), a federation of public and private organizations dedicated to providing outstanding education materials and information on natural hazards, will use information gathered to write
information about drought for the public. In addition to explaining drought and its effects, the information will outline steps individuals, families, and communities should take before and during a drought. The information is intended to be generic and supplemented by region or event-specific materials prepared by other organizations.

The one-day workshop will be held on February 17, 2000, in Silver Spring, Maryland, at the offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, 1325 East West Highway (SSMC2). The meeting will convene in the second floor conference room at 8:30 a.m. and run until approximately 4:30 p.m.

As a participant, you will be asked to identify key points about the impacts of a drought on personal daily lives, on businesses, on agriculture, on the environment, and ultimately on health of people, plants and animals, and water supply systems. You will be encouraged to provide your expertise on drought-related publications that summarize key issues and identify
handouts available from organizations and agencies.

If you have any questions about accommodations, meeting logistics, or registration, please contact Linda Kremkau, NOAA/National Weather Service, or call (301) 713-0091, x118, or email: Linda.Kremkau@noaa.gov. To register for this workshop, simply email Linda.Kremkau@noaa.gov. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no
registration fee, but since space is limited, early registration is suggested. -- Rocky Lopes, American Red Cross, Convener, NDEC.

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American Red Cross - Puerto Rico Update:

The American Red Cross signed an Alliance with a local college to collaborate in the offer of the AA College degree in Emergency Management at the National College of Business and Technology. The college has applied and expects to receive the certification from their accrediting agency in early 2000. The college will start its program officially in March 2000.

The American Red Cross sponsored a 3-day EMI course for emergency managers and for the professors who will participate with the University of Puerto Rico and the National College of Business and Technology in the AA Emergency Management course. What makes this course different is the participation of the University of South Florida's Center for Disaster
Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CDMHA) in the course. CDMHA will video-teleconference from Tampa as several of the USF professors deliver several sections of the course content. The video-teleconference facilities are provided by the McDonalds Corporate office for the Caribbean and Central America.

The American Red Cross and Caribbean Pictometry have joined forces to apply some of the latest technologies in mapping to the disaster arena. The Satellite Aperture radar (SAR) and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are being used to show the latest topography in Puerto Rico. They have pre-scripted Mission Assignments for the use and application of this technology for before and after ortho rectified photos of the island. The technology and the photogrametry is done by CPI, an Intermap franchisee.

For further information, contact Gilberto Guevara, ARC/Puerto Rico, guevarag@crossnet.org.

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Organization of American States (OAS) Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment (USDE) Update:

Workshop on Central American School Reconstruction January 26-28, 2000: The USDE of the OAS and the Regional Operations Department 2 of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will conduct a Central American School Reconstruction Workshop in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Public and private sector players will discuss natural hazard vulnerability reduction criteria, identify technical assistance and investment needs, and recommend actions for school reconstruction to make schools less vulnerable to natural hazards. For further information, phone (202) 458-6295 or email natural-hazards-project@oas.org .

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The National Fire Academy Alumni Association (NFAAA) Update:

HELP WANTED -- National Fire Academy Alumni Association State Co-Coordinators: The NFAAA Board of Directors is seeking persons interested in assisting with activities within their respective states. Duties and responsibilities include: maintaining communications with the Board/regional member and coordinating activities with other co-coordinators. Coordinates membership recruitment, builds relationships with elected and appointed state officials. Serves as a liaison to the state fire marshal, state training director, regional TRADE representatives, state colleges and universities with fire and emergency service programs. Develops and maintains an active e-mail list of NFAAA members within each state and creating an system that allows our members to communicate between each other in their respective states plus other states. Ultimately, each state will be linked to a nationwide system and which will facilitate communication on issues of training and education.

Only those with a high level of motivation towards the development of a strong NFAAA need apply. We are now at 10,000 members and GROWING! Selected applicants must be exceptionally resilient and have a burning desire to see the NFAAA goals attained. There is no pay; however, rewards are tremendous at the self-actualization level. State co-coordinators must have access to a computer with e-mail capabilities. Candidates can be either career or volunteer from the rank of firefighter to fire chief, active or retired. If interested please contact the NFAAA board chairman. You can also find more information at our new Website at: http://www.Nfaalumni.org -- Chairman, Frank Livingston, Nfaalumni@TOPASSISTANT.com

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Emergency Management Association of Tennessee (EMAT) Update:

EMAT Board of Directors Meet Online: EMAT's leadership will meet on Thursday, January 27 for their first online business meeting in the EIIP Partner room. EMAT has chosen this means of meeting to accommodate the Board members' busy schedules and to facilitate more meetings for conducting the state association's business. See the EMAT Web site at http://www.emat.org/ .

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Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Update:

The Association of State Floodplain Managers Mitigation Committee is searching for information and photographs to be included in the 2000 version of "Mitigation Success Stories in the United States" (see the ASFPM Web site - http://www.floods.org/mitsucc.htm - for this year's edition).

The format for entries in the compendium is 1) background, 2) description, 3) benefits, 4) cost, and 5) funding sources. Submissions should be succinct - a couple of pages at the most - and should be illustrated with photos or other graphics, if possible. Preferably, submissions should be in Microsoft Word and sent as an attached e-mail file to the ASFPM Mitigation Committee Co-Chair, Mark Matulik, e-mail: mark.matulik@state.co.us. The deadline is March 31, 2000.

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It is with great pleAsure that we annOunce our first electronic magazine named "PREVENT DISASTERS". We welcome joint research proposals from universities and other research organizations who are interested in the issues mentioned in this newsletter. -- Prabhath Patabendi, TEAM DPSD, patabedi@slt.lk

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Dewberry & Davis Update:

Dewberry & Davis is New EIIP Partner: The Dewberry & Davis Companies
(http://www.dewberry.com) is an Infrastructure, Planning and Design firm founded in 1956 as a six-person civil engineering and surveying firm in Arlington, Virginia. The Company now employs approximately 1,400 people in 26 locations in 12 U.S. states primarily throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. The Company's professionals are skilled in 32 practice areas, from digital mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) to land surveying, project programming, and management, all civil engineering and architectural disciplines, and construction administration. The EIIP Point of Contact for Dewberry & Davis is Robert C. Swan, Debris Management Consultant (BSwan@dewberry.com). See also the EIIP Virtual Library presentation on the Debris Management Cycle, http://www.emforum.org/vlibrary/991103.htm

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January 26-28, 2000: Central American Workshop on School Reconstruction, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; see OAS/USDE update above. natural-hazards-project@oas.org .

February 16-17, 2000: Southern Regional Terrorism Workshop, Atlanta, Georgia. Conducted by NEMA/NGA/OJP. http://www.nemaweb.org

April 27-30, 2000: Disaster 2000: Taking Command, 21st Annual International Disaster Management Conference, Orlando, Florida. Sponsored by Florida Emergency Medical Foundation. Brochures will be available in January; email: info@fcep.org .

May 8-10, 2000: CPM 2000 Conference & Exhibit, Contingency Planning & Management, Baltimore, MD. See http://www.ContingencyPlanExpo.com .

http://web.bookweb.org/
Wintertime is perfect to do some reading for enjoyment. But what is worth reading? At the BookWeb, you can get suggestions on what to take to your reading group or give as a gift.

"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 Lori Wieber, lwieber@emforum.org.

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