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Volume 23 — Issue 42 | October 19, 2023 |
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Lights and sirens have been a standard component of ambulances and other EMS vehicles for many years. They are used both to decrease the time it takes emergency medical personnel to respond to the location of an accident, illness, or injury, as well as the time it takes to transport the patient to a definitive care center. They are also used to keep medical providers safe while on the scene of an incident.
While there are some situations where the use of lights and siren can improve patient outcome by the time that it saves, there are also risks. A 2017 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) Office of EMS cites EMS vehicle crashes, provider or patient injury, EMS provider hearing loss, and worsened patient condition due to anxiety and stress as possible outcomes from the use of lights and siren.
The judicious and safe use of lights and siren is a topic of ongoing discussion and research in the EMS community. In 1994, the National Association of EMS Physicians and the then National Association of State EMS Directors created a position statement on emergency medical vehicle use of lights and siren. This position statement was updated in 2022 when it became a joint statement with several national EMS organizations. The updated statement made recommendations to guide the judicious use of lights and siren, given that evidence has shown only a small percentage of medical emergencies have better outcomes from lights and siren use.
In 2019, the National EMS Quality Alliance (NEMSQA) released its first set of standard EMS performance measures, which it refers to as its National EMS Quality Alliance Measure Set. Two of these measures relate to the use of lights and siren:
- Safety 01: the percentage of EMS responses that started with a 911 call and didn't employ lights or sirens.
- Safety 02: the percentage of EMS responses that started with a 911 call in which the lights and siren were not activated during patient transport.
After a large data-gathering effort, the national performance on these two measures in 2020 was 11% and 51.6%, respectively. The intent of these two measures was to determine how often EMS professionals are not using lights and sirens during response and transport. However, these low percentages indicate that most EMS responses are still using lights and siren, despite the recommendations in the joint position statement to reduce their use.
In 2021, NEMSQA, in collaboration with other EMS organization launched the first national EMS quality improvement collaborative, the Lights and Siren Collaborative. The culmination of a this 15-month collaboration is a change package of now-proven strategies to improve safety for EMS clinicians, patients, and community.
NEMSQA is hosting a webinar to present the results of the efforts of the Lights and Sirens Collaborative on Wednesday, Nov. 1 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. EST. Visit NEMSQA’s website to learn more and register for this webinar.
(Sources: NEMSQA, NHTSA, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, EMS World)
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Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones, are now being used in a wide variety of disaster management and public safety applications.
In disaster response, UAS are often used to gather aerial imagery for situational awareness. UAS can be used in wildland firefighting as a surgical firefighting tool, delivering fire retardant in small fires or hard-to-reach places that would be dangerous for manned flight. They are increasingly being used as a tool for surveillance and early detection of wildfires via remote sensing technology attached to UAS.
In the fire service and law enforcement, UAS can be used to support communications, rescue operations, monitoring the release of hazardous chemicals, scene reconstruction, and more. In emergency medical services, UAS can be used to speed medical care, delivering medical supplies to remote locations.
UAS are valuable resources in emergencies of all sizes, so the skillsets for operating UAS need to be standardized by establishing baseline qualifications. This enhances the interoperability and effectiveness of mutual aid when jurisdictions need to mobilize and share UAS resources within the framework of the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Integration Center has published three UAS resource typing documents. These documents update the existing resource types for UAS, incorporating the latest best practices as determined by a stakeholder group comprised of subject-matter experts from federal, state, local and non-governmental entities. The three updated documents are:
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Remote Pilot-In-Command: Operates an unmanned aircraft platform in a safe and secure manner according to all local, state, and federal regulations.
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Technical Specialist – Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Provides technical support to the UAS Team, including managing data recording equipment and software, managing communications systems and frequencies, and maintaining documentation in the appropriate chain of custody.
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Small Unmanned Aircraft System Team: An aircraft operations team without a human pilot onboard, also known as a drone. The pilot on the ground has a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or military license to collect data for improved situational awareness through remote sensing. The UAS Team operates under the Air Operations Branch, as established by the requestor.
Access the three updated UAS resource typing documents within FEMA’s Resource Typing Library Tool.
(Source: FEMA)
The 2023 United States Fire Administrator’s Summit on Fire Prevention and Control was held on Oct. 10, 2023, at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The event was attended by several key invited federal government officials and hundreds of national fire service leaders. It was also livestreamed for thousands of virtual attendees.
The President of the United States delivered remarks at the Summit, focused on legislation passed within the last year and federal grant programs benefiting the fire service, as well as efforts to improve local building safety through improved use of codes and standards. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) delivered remarks, which highlighted DHS efforts to address the critical issues covered at the Summit. FEMA’s Administrator also delivered remarks.
Additional materials are now available online for those who did not get a chance to attend, or those who did attend and would like to review the vital information that was discussed.
The United States Fire Administration has posted fact sheets on its 2023 Summit event page summarizing the critical issues facing the fire service that were discussed at the Summit:
- Codes and standards.
- EV and energy transition.
- Firefighter cancer.
- Firefighter mental health and well-being.
- Fire service recruitment and retention.
- Impact of climate change.
- Whole-of-government approach.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) provided video coverage of the event. The full livestream video recording is now available via the NFFF Video Channel and YouTube.
The USFA has created a dedicated webpage for all Fire Administrator’s Summits, consolidating all of the key information captured from this year’s event as well as the 2022 Summit. Any forthcoming proceedings from the 2023 Summit will be posted to USFA’s website once available, so check this page for updates. You can also follow USFA on Twitter for updates and to stay informed about USFA’s work.
(Sources: USFA, NFFF, DHS, White House)
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will host a webinar for public safety organizations, Ready & Resilient: Cyber Incident Response Strategies for Emergency Communications, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at 1 p.m. EDT, as part of its Implementing the National Emergency Communication Plan webinar series.
As a vital component of the nation’s critical infrastructure, public safety organizations remain a desired target for cyber threat actors. Establishing a culture of cyber readiness helps organizations detect threats and enable coordinated, effective response and recovery efforts.
To maintain the integrity of emergency communications systems and continuity of operations, public safety organizations must take proactive measures to respond to a wide variety of cyber incidents and vulnerabilities. By implementing cyber incident response strategies and funding ongoing cyber monitoring and mitigation activities, as outlined in the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP), public safety organizations can successfully react and respond to cyberattacks on communications systems.
This webinar will provide public safety stakeholders with detailed strategies and best practices for identifying and responding to cyberattacks on emergency communications systems. Stakeholders will also receive real-world insights from public safety officials that have experienced cyberattacks.
Visit CISA’s website to learn more and register for this webinar.
(Source: CISA)
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CISA updates toolkit to promote public safety communications and cyber resiliency
To assist public safety agencies in navigating the wealth of information available regarding communications resiliency, CISA created the Public Safety Communications and Cyber Resiliency Toolkit to identify and address emergent trends and issues, consolidate resources, educate stakeholders at all levels of government, and propose mitigations to enable resilient public safety communications.
As part of CISA’s commitment to provide the most up-to-date information in support of communications and cyber resiliency, the Toolkit is designed to be a living document, with the ability to grow and expand as new resources are developed and identified. Since its last update in December 2022, the Toolkit has been updated with 11 new resources spread over the existing sections.
For more information and additional guidance regarding communications resiliency, visit https://www.cisa.gov/safecom/technology.
(Source: CISA)
Final NIST Internal Report (NIST IR) 8473, Cybersecurity Framework Profile for Electric Vehicle Extreme Fast Charging Infrastructure
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) National Operation Center of Excellence (NOCoE) has published the final version of NIST Internal Report (NIST IR) 8473, Cybersecurity Framework Profile for Electric Vehicle Extreme Fast Charging Infrastructure.
This Profile is designed to be part of an enterprise risk management program to aid organizations in managing threats to systems, networks, and assets within the Electric Vehicle Extreme Fast Charging Infrastructure (EV/XFC) ecosystem (it is not intended to serve as a solution or compliance checklist).
The Profile is an application of the Framework Categories and Subcategories in the context of the EV/XFC cybersecurity ecosystem, as provided by the Department of Energy and Electric Power Research Institute. It is a non-regulatory, voluntary profile intended to supplement—not replace—an existing risk management program or the current cybersecurity standards, regulations, and industry guidelines that are in current use by the EV/XFC industry.
The Profile also provides ecosystem-relevant parties with a means to assess and communicate their cybersecurity posture in a manner consistent with the Framework. It also offers users with an industry level risk-based approach for managing cybersecurity activities and facilitates cross-collaboration between industry parties, vendors, and end users.
(Source: NIST)
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CISA, NSA, FBI, and MS-ISAC release phishing prevention guidance
On Oct. 18, CISA, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released a joint guide, Phishing Guidance: Stopping the Attack Cycle at Phase One. The joint guide outlines phishing techniques malicious actors commonly use and provides guidance for both network defenders and software manufacturers to reduce the impact of phishing techniques used in obtaining credentials and deploying malware.
CISA and its partners encourage network defenders and software manufacturers to implement the recommendations in the guide to reduce the frequency and impact of phishing incidents. For more information, see CISA’s Malware, Phishing, and Ransomware and Security-by-Design and -Default webpages.
(Source: CISA)
CISA releases new resources identifying known exploited vulnerabilities and misconfigurations linked to ransomware
On Oct. 18, as part of the Ransomware Vulnerability Warning Pilot (RVWP), CISA launched two new resources for combating ransomware campaigns:
- A “Known to be Used in Ransomware Campaigns” column in the KEV Catalog that identifies KEVs associated with ransomware campaigns.
- A “Misconfigurations and Weaknesses Known to be Used in Ransomware Campaigns” table on StopRansomware.gov that identifies misconfigurations and weaknesses associated with ransomware campaigns. The table features a column that identifies the Cyber Performance Goal (CPG) action for each misconfiguration or weakness.
(Source: CISA)
Five Eyes intel chiefs warn China's IP theft program now at 'unprecedented' levels
On Oct. 18, intelligence chiefs of the Five Eyes alliance warned that Chinese government spies stealing intellectual property (IP) and other sensitive data from private companies pose an "unprecedented" threat to national security.
The five from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand all appeared together on stage for the first time ever at a summit hosted by Stanford University's Hoover Institution, a public policy think tank.
The event coincided with a number of related matters, including a new round of sanctions by the US against the Chinese tech sector, and the start of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China.
This threat goes well beyond the traditional nation-state spies stealing government secrets from other countries, officials said. Increasingly, Chinese government IP thieves are focusing on emerging technologies – AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, robotics, and automation. The especially worrisome part of those efforts, according to the Five Eyes, is that China and other adversarial nations like Russia and Iran don't consult laws or safeguards when deploying such technologies.
Tuesday's summit also included discussions between the Five Eyes intelligence leaders and business execs about expanding private-public partnerships to better protect innovation and national security.
(Sources: The Register, Hoover Institution)
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