New Mass Gathering Resources for Emergency Responders

May 9, 2012

Source: Emergency Management and Response – Information and Analysis Center

The Homeland Security Digital Library made “Mass Gatherings” a new Featured Topic section of their web site. Some of the more recently published items from the topic area:

The Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (NWCPHP) 90-minute online training module “Mass Gatherings: Are You Prepared?” discusses the topics of risk evaluation, surveillance, health response, coordination, and communication. It includes a training scenario, and the entire training can be completed at once or in short sessions if necessary. The NWCPHP has other training modules, webinars, and table-top exercises available.

“Operation Partnership: Trends and Practices in Law Enforcement and Private Security Collaborations” helps private security and law enforcement agencies recognize the opportunities of combining resources while overcoming common problems such as jurisdiction and trust. An already-existing and working partnership like this can be invaluable during a planned mass gathering event.

Less than 100 days to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, and the world is watching to see how the city is planning for and will deal with the thousands of participants, tourists, and foreign dignitaries to the international games. In addition to the usual planning that come with mass gatherings, there is a concern of terrorist activity and the MI5 director-general is reported as recently saying that the terror threat is “substantial.” The Greater London Authority published “Business as Usual? London’s emergency and health services’ preparations for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” which discusses how to keep public health and emergency services running smoothly without any noticeable gaps.