Law Enforcement Technology

DHS grant buys gear for Ohio fire department
A DHS grant will allow the Lancaster, Ohio fire department to upgrade aging equipment and purchase a sophisticated new wireless tracking system; the new system will allow commanders to track firefighters on the scene and can send out distress signals if the firefighter becomes trapped or is impaired; the DHS grant covered $57,000 of the total $62,000; another $300,000 DHS grant will pay for a new fire truck to replace an aging truck that dates back to 1983; Lancaster has suffered from budget shortfalls and was forced to lay off firefighters
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Enzyme provides protection against nerve gas
Nerve agents disrupt the chemical messages sent between nerve and muscle cells, causing loss of muscle control, and ultimately leading to death by suffocation; protection against nerve gas attack is a significant component of the defense system of many countries around the world; nerve gases are used by armies and terrorist organizations, and constitute a threat to both the military and civilian populations, but existing drug solutions against them have limited efficiency; a multidisciplinary team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, succeeded in developing an enzyme that breaks down nerve agents efficiently before damage to nerves and muscles is caused
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U.S. not ready for bioterrorism
New report finds that if a major disease incident or bioterrorism attack were to occur today, the United States would not be ready for it; significant local, state, and federal budget cuts have had a negative impact on public health departments’ ability to maintain staff capabilities, and their ability to respond to crises
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Sector Report for Tuesday, 28 December 2010: Law Enforcement Technology
This report contains the following stories.
* Paraglider unit gives police an eye in the sky

* ShotSpotter to detect gun firing in Huntington Station

* New camera technology may give soldiers eyes in the back of their heads
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Augmented GPS system can transmit emergency information around U.S.
Commercial global positioning systems (GPS) like those dispensing driving directions in cars can provide reliable location information to within twenty feet, while an augmented system used primarily by the Coast Guard for navigation is even more accurate; researchers say that the augmented system, called Differential GPS or DGPS, can also be used to concurrently transmit emergency messages or other relevant data for use by DHS or other government agencies
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2010's world weather extremes: quakes, floods, blizzards
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides, and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation; more people were killed worldwide by natural disasters in 2010 than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past forty years combined; disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes “are pretty much constant,” said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. “All the change that’s made is man-made.”
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Measuring carbon monoxide levels in bloodstream at the scene
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nonirritating toxic gas that can cause severe health problems or even death; communities in western Massachusetts use DHS grants to buy specialized devices that can quickly measure the level of carbon monoxide in a person’s bloodstream at a fire scene
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