View as a webpage / Share

Volume 22 — Issue 40 | October 6, 2022

Violence against EMS providers: Improving officer safety

The recent tragic murder of an emergency medical technician from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) has spread shock, sadness, and anger across the nation. Based on what is known so far, the murder appears to be an unprovoked act of violence by someone with no connection to the officer. An investigation will be conducted which may reveal new facts in the future.

This incident’s seemingly random nature has served as a reminder that violence to emergency responders is always a possibility. One can never declare a scene absolutely “safe,” and situational awareness must always be maintained, even when attention is also being given to the response itself.

The Editorial Director of EMS1, in a recent article honoring the slain officer, emphasizes that emergency scenes are dynamic. Monitoring your surroundings as well as creating distance and shielding while treating patients are important steps for personal safety.

Emergency medical services (EMS) providers face particularly high levels of violence, mostly from patients they are treating. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) tracks injuries among EMS workers. Data for 2020 show that violence was the second most frequent cause of injuries to EMS workers.

Learning basic self-defense techniques and wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) that can guard against a knife slash or a bullet are some considerations EMS agencies are considering or already employing. Some departments are trying out new approaches. An EMS department in Austin, Texas is implementing a training program that focuses on changing how violent patients are approached, including how to detect a possibly violent patient early in the incident so that EMS providers are ready to respond appropriately.

While the importance of situational awareness, self-defense skills, and PPE should not be underestimated, they may not be the entire solution either. A 2017 study by the U.S. Fire Administration, in partnership with Drexel University and the International Association of Firefighters, examined the nature of violence against EMS workers to support a more systems-level solution. The publication, Mitigation of Occupational Violence to Firefighters and EMS Responders, analyzed existing literature to determine risk factors for violence against EMS providers. The analysis led to development of a conceptual framework of the EMS work environment and what aspects of the environment impact violence against EMS providers.

Using the findings of the USFA’s study, Drexel University’s Center for Firefighter Injury Research & Safety Trends (FIRST), Stress and Violence in Fire-Based EMS Responders (SAVER) program developed a SAVER Systems Checklist, designed to shift the onus of safety and health from that of the individual first responder to the organization by focusing on actions that the leadership team (departments and union) can institute through training, policy, and environmental modifications. You can learn more about the Systems Checklist and related projects on Drexel University’s website.

(Sources: EMS1, NIOSH, NAEMT, USFA, Drexel University)

Highlights

Violence against EMS providers: Improving officer safety

DEA warns that brightly colored “rainbow fentanyl” is being used by drug cartels to target young Americans

NEMSAC requests input on improving the safety and effectiveness of post-crash care at traffic incidents

Oct. 11 livestream event: U.S. Fire Administrator's Summit on Fire Prevention and Control: State of Science

Cyber Threats

The U.S. Fire Administration operates the Emergency Management and Response – Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC).

For information regarding the EMR-ISAC visit www.usfa.dhs.gov/emr-isac or contact the EMR-ISAC office at: (301) 447-1325 and/or fema-emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

DEA warns that brightly colored “rainbow fentanyl” is being used by drug cartels to target young Americans

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning the public about brightly colored fentanyl being used to target young Americans. The drug is being pressed into brightly colored pills made to look like candy or sidewalk chalk and in a recent incident, was found being transported hidden in children’s toys.

“Rainbow fentanyl” was first reported to DEA in February 2022, and as of September 2022, it has been seized in 21 states.

Fentanyl available in the United States is primarily supplied by two criminal drug networks, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Drug traffickers often use social media to advertise these drugs and conduct sales.

With the holiday season approaching and given these recent developments targeting young people, parents and caregivers should be especially alert to any candy or prescription drugs given to their children where the legitimacy of the source is unknown or questionable.

All public safety agencies can help increase public awareness by sharing the following information from the DEA widely in their areas of responsibility:

• The flyer What Every Parent and Caregiver Needs to Know about Fake Pills.
• DEA’s One Pill Can Kill campaign.
• DEA’s resource collection on fentanyl, with many resources that may be useful to parents, caregivers, and communities.

In the event first responders must respond to a call involving fentanyl or a fentanyl overdose, it is a good idea to have the most up-to-date information and training about your departments’ protocols for administration of naloxone, commonly used to treat opioid overdoses.

Most states now allow basic life support (BLS) emergency medical services (EMS) providers to administer naloxone, either intranasally or as an intramuscular injection using an auto-injector. EMS agencies that administer naloxone should also be aware of the effects of some adulterants that are mixed with fentanyl, particularly xylazine. For overdoses involving combinations of xylazine and opioids, naloxone can reverse the opioid effects but has no effect on xylazine. This can impact the success of the overdose response.

As the first to respond to many opioid overdoses, law enforcement officers are in a unique position to administer naloxone quickly and many agencies have begun to train officers on naloxone administration. The DEA’s Law Enforcement Naloxone Toolkit provides tools to help agencies develop a law enforcement overdose rescue program and train officers to administer naloxone.

The distribution of naloxone to the public for administration by a family member or caregiver in the event of an overdose has been controversial, due to concerns that the availability of the rescue drug will encourage more abuse of opioids like fentanyl. However, the life safety risks posed by fentanyl are very high and there is not much time to intervene when someone overdoses. Therefore, the CDC is encouraging health care providers and public health agencies to make naloxone and fentanyl test strips available to the public.

(Source: DEA)

NEMSAC requests input on improving the safety and effectiveness of post-crash care at traffic incidents

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) in January 2022. As part of its comprehensive system approach to improving transportation safety, the Strategy outlines a vision and goals for safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles and safer speeds.

Of particular interest for emergency services agencies is the Strategy’s vision for “post-crash care,” which is delivered to victims of motor vehicle crashes by 911 telecommunicators, dispatchers, emergency medical services providers and other first responders at transportation incidents.

The NHTSA posed questions to the EMS and 911 communities, requesting their input on the post-crash care element of the National Roadway Safety Strategy.

The National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC) has drafted responses to these questions from NHTSA. The following drafts are open for public comment and input prior to formal submission to NHTSA by NEMSAC.  

• The “post-crash care” component of the NRSS. This draft provides advice regarding the major actions the DOT can take to significantly reduce fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways through support of the post-crash care elements of the NRSS.
• National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines and National Field Trauma Triage Guidelines. This draft advocates for the adoption and implementation of these two national guidelines. It also describes their role in achieving the goals set out in the NRSS.

The NRSS and these two draft responses from NEMSAC are worth a read by anyone interested in learning more about national initiatives for improving roadside safety for emergency responders and the effectiveness of post-crash care by EMS and 911 practitioners.

If you have questions or wish to provide comments on either of these two documents, please email your comments and questions to NHTSA.NEMSAC@dot.gov by Oct. 21, 2022 at 5 pm EDT.

(Source: NHTSA, NEMSAC)

Oct. 11 livestream event: U.S. Fire Administrator's Summit on Fire Prevention and Control: State of Science

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), a component of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in partnership with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), will host the U.S. Fire Administrator's Summit on Fire Prevention and Control: State of Science on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, from 1 to 6 p.m. EDT.

The summit marks the 75th anniversary of the 1947 President Truman Conference on Fire Prevention and Control that launched the America Burning report and established the USFA. The summit also kicks off the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week.

The summit will take place at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland and will feature presentations from the country's most prominent fire service leaders and researchers.

The event will also be livestreamed for reporters, the public, the fire service, and local, state and national policy makers who want a better understanding of the challenges and recommended solutions to the critical fire problem in America.

Viewers of the livestream will be introduced to topics such as:

• The risks associated with the evolution of high-risk structures like lithium-ion energy storage facilities and massive shipping warehouses with robotic technology.
• The training that structural firefighters need to respond to the new hazards associated with wildfires in the urban interface.
• Recruitment and retention challenges faced by fire departments across the nation.
• The impact of the growing number and intensity of fires on the physical and mental health of firefighters, including the prevalence of cancer and suicide among the ranks.

To learn more about the event, the topics that will be discussed, and the list of speakers, visit the USFA’s website. To register for the livestream event, visit the NFFF’s registration page.

(Source: USFA)

Cyber Incident Assistance

MS-ISAC
SOC@cisecurity.org
1-866-787-4722

IdentityTheft.gov

IC3

Cybercrime Support Network

General Information

StopRansomware.gov

CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog

FTC scam list

CISA alerts

Law Enforcement Cyber Center

TLP Information

CISA directs federal agencies to improve cybersecurity asset visibility and vulnerability detection

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued today Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 23-01, Improving Asset Visibility and Vulnerability Detection on Federal Networks, that directs federal civilian agencies to better account for what resides on their networks.

Over the past several years, CISA has been working urgently to gain greater visibility into risks facing federal civilian networks, a gap made clear by the intrusion campaign targeting SolarWinds devices. The Biden-Harris Administration and Congress have supported significant progress by providing key authorities and resources. This Directive takes the next step by establishing baseline requirements for all Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to identify assets and vulnerabilities on their networks and provide data to CISA on defined intervals.

The new Directive can be found at Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 23-01.

(Source: CISA)

Top CVEs actively exploited by People’s Republic of China state-sponsored cyber actors

CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) providing the top Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) used since 2020 by People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actors. PRC state-sponsored cyber actors continue to exploit known vulnerabilities to actively target U.S. and allied networks, including software and hardware companies to illegally obtain intellectual property and develop access into sensitive networks.

CISA, the FBI, and the NSA urge U.S. and allied governments, critical infrastructure, and private sector organizations to apply the recommendations listed in the Top CVEs Actively Exploited by People’s Republic of China State-Sponsored Cyber Actors to increase their defensive posture and reduce the threat of compromise from PRC state-sponsored malicious cyber actors.

For more information on PRC state-sponsored malicious cyber activity, see CISA’s China Cyber Threat Overview and Advisories webpage, the FBI’s Industry Alerts, and the NSA’s Cybersecurity Advisories & Guidance.

(Source: CISA)

FBI and CISA publish a PSA on malicious cyber activity against election infrastructure

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and CISA have published a joint public service announcement that:

• Assesses malicious cyber activity aiming to compromise election infrastructure is unlikely to result in large-scale disruptions or prevent voting.
• Confirms “the FBI and CISA have no reporting to suggest cyber activity has ever prevented a registered voter from casting a ballot, compromised the integrity of any ballots cast, or affected the accuracy of voter registration information.”

The PSA also describes the extensive safeguards in place to protect election infrastructure and includes recommendations for protecting against election-related cyber threats.

(Source: CISA)

Top 10 Malware August 2022

In August 2022, the Top 10 Malware line-up changed considerably compared to the previous month. This month, LingyunNET, RecordBreaker, and TeamSpy made their first appearance, while SocGholish and Tinba returned to the Top 10 malware. LingyunNET is riskware that utilizes the victim's system resources. RecordBreaker is the successor to Racoon Stealer. RecordBreaker is an infostealer sold as malware-as-a-service on underground forums and steals data such as passwords, cookies, browser data, etc. TeamSpy is spyware that has been known to use a popular remote access tool, TeamViewer, and malware to steal information from victims. The Top 10 Malware variants comprised 47% of the total malware activity in August 2022, decreasing four percent from July 2022.

(Source: Center for Internet Security)

The InfoGram is distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures.

Fair Use Notice:
This InfoGram may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The EMR-ISAC believes 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.

Disclaimer of Endorsement:
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement of the linked websites or the information, products or services contained therein. Reference to any specific commercial products, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the EMR-ISAC or the U.S. government.

Section 504 Notice:
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that FEMA grantees provide access to information for people with disabilities. If you need assistance accessing information or have any concerns about access, please contact FEMAWebTeam@fema.dhs.gov.