Center of Excellence

We have updated our 2008 Shows & Expos page with some new events.

Click here to see our Shows & Expos page.

We added the following events:

• 15-18 July: 2008 Western Regional Preparedness Conference (Las Vegas, NV)
• 12-13 August: Enforcement Expo (Columbus, OH)
• Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Congress 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada, 06-08 Oct 2008
• 12-14 November: Contingency Planning Management (CPM) 2008 East (Orlando, FL)
• 2008 Texas School Administrator Safety (TSAS) Conference, South Padre Island, Texas, 17-20 Nov 2008

Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS.gov) is the national network of Lessons Learned and Best Practices for emergency response providers and homeland security officials. LLIS.gov’s secure, restricted-access information is designed to facilitate efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to acts of terrorism and other incidents across all disciplines and communities throughout the US.

Secure: LLIS.gov is an encrypted system and all users are verified emergency response providers and homeland security officials.

Peer-validated content: All Lessons Learned and Best Practices are peer-validated by homeland security professionals.

After Action Reports and Information clearinghouse: LLIS houses an extensive catalog of AARs as well as an updated list of homeland security documents from DHS, and other Federal, State, and local organizations.

Who Is Eligible?
Emergency response providers and homeland security officials from the local, state, and federal levels are eligible to join Lessons Learned Information Sharing.

Click here to Register.

All content on LLIS.gov is available once you have logged into their site. Only emergency response providers and homeland security officials from the local, state, and federal levels are eligible to join Lessons Learned Information Sharing.

LLIS.gov (Lessons Learned Information Sharing) strives to develop original lessons learned and best practices that assist emergency response professionals and homeland security officials prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from all hazards, including natural disasters. Given the current flooding throughout the midwest, the following original research highlights some of the resources on LLIS.gov related to natural disasters.
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* Best Practice: Shelter Operations: Pet-Friendly Shelters
* Good Story: Linn County, Iowa’s Program to Evacuate Individuals with Special Needs
* Lesson Learned: Hospital Emergency Planning: Ensuring Emergency Communications Capabilities
* Lesson Learned: Disaster Medical Assistance Teams: Carrying a Stock of Commonly Used Medications during Reconnaissance Rounds
* Practice Note: Mass Evacuation: Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s Evacuation and Reentry Branch

From The Chronicle issue dated June 27, 2008.

Colleges Wade Into Survival Training for Campus Shootings

A new video offers tips on how to react when shots are fired

By ERIC HOOVER

Run here during a fire. Seek help for alcohol poisoning. Call this number if a roommate threatens suicide.

For years students have received instructions for all sorts of emergencies. But should they also learn what to do in the rare event that someone starts shooting?

This month a company in Spokane, Wash., plans to release Shots Fired on Campus, an instructional DVD with strategies for preventing and surviving a gun rampage. About 50 colleges have ordered the video, and its creators expect to sell several hundred more this fall.

The market appears ripe. Since the massacre at Virginia Tech last year, colleges everywhere have prepared for “active shooter” scenarios. As last February’s fatal shootings at Northern Illinois University affirmed, however, even the most rapid police response may come too late for some people who first encounter a gunman.

That’s why some campus-safety experts say colleges must better prepare those who do not wear badges. In April the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators published “The IACLEA Blueprint for Safer Campuses,” in response to the Virginia Tech incident. The group recommended that colleges train students and faculty and staff members in how to respond to such emergencies. Among the training methods it recommends are residence-life programs, orientation sessions, and print and digital materials.

Although colleges everywhere have developed training programs for their employees, many stop short of asking students to think through how they might react if they heard gunshots in their building.

That’s a mistake, says Randy Spivey. “Since Virginia Tech, there’s been a lot of focus on law-enforcement response strategies and notification procedures,” he says, “but very little on what to do if you’re that person in the event.”

Mr. Spivey used to run hostage-survival programs for the U.S. Department of Defense. Now he is executive director of the Center for Personal Protection & Safety, a company that specializes in prevention of workplace violence. About six months ago, his business released Shots Fired — When Lightning Strikes, a training video that recreates an office shooting. More than 300 colleges have licensed the DVD for their use.

Requests for a campus-specific version led the company to create Shots Fired on Campus, which sells for $495. For another $1,000, colleges can buy media files of the video to put up on their Web sites.

The 20-minute video, filmed at Eastern Washington and Gonzaga Universities, begins with a student hiding behind a tree and calling 911 on her cellphone. “I’m on campus … ” she says. “There’s a guy here shooting.”

Read the whole article here: Colleges Wade Into Survival Training for Campus Shootings