The Domestic Preparedness Journal and the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation are pleased to announce Protecting GPS Satellites, Signals, and America A Webinar Panel Discussion       Congressman to Introduce Webinar on Protecting GPS The Honorable John Garamendi (D-CA) will provide opening remarks for a 17 November webinar co-sponsored by the Domestic Preparedness Journal and the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. Garamendi is the chair of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee and has long been concerned about the vulnerability of America’s Global Positioning System (GPS). The webinar will focus on ways to deter attacks on and interference with GPS satellites and signals. “America’s over-reliance on GPS makes it a high priority target for a wide range of bad actors,” said Dana A. Goward, President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, and one of the webinar moderators. “And, since other nations, such as China, Russia, and Iran, have terrestrial systems they can use when space is not available, the U.S. is at a strategic disadvantage.” This “technology resilience gap” is one of several dangers that could lead to armed conflict that webinar panelist George Beebe discusses in his book “The Russia Trap.” His concern is that, having such a pronounced relative weakness can invite meddling and exploitation by adversaries. Even if done on a small scale, this could lead to a series of escalating responses ending in an unintended, much more serious conflict that neither party wants. Beebe is Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for the National Interest. He spent more than two decades in government service as an intelligence analyst, diplomat, and policy advisor, including service as director of CIA’s Russia analysis, and as Special Advisor to Vice President Chaney for Russia/Eurasia and Intelligence Programs. Eliminating the gap between the U.S. and its adversaries is key to protecting GPS and the nation, according to webinar panelist Greg Winfree, Director of the Texas Transportation Institute. Winfree previously served as an Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation. While acknowledging there is no single answer, he has asserted that providing at least one alternative system will go a long way toward “getting the bullseye off GPS.” The third webinar panelist, Scott Pace, has supported Winfree’s approach. Pace is the Director of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute and former Executive Director of the National Space Council. He has commented that having an alternative to GPS will contribute to national security and improve global stability. It will “lower the pressure on us to escalate and respond” should GPS satellites be damaged, or services disrupted. The webinar will be held on Wednesday the 17th of November from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM EST. More information is available at DomesticPreparedness.com. Attendance is free but attendees must register in advance HERE.

BEMA International with the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). Recovery\Homelessness a State of Emergency

 

BEMA International membership

To support our members that are currently, and have experienced forms of recovery\homelessness at some point in their life.  The Black Emergency Managers Association International are joining with the National Coalition for the Homeless ( NCH, https://nationalhomeless.org/ ) to end and prevent homelessness while ensuring the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness are met.

As a ‘state of emergency’

• from the COVID-19 crisis where an increase of eviction is still ongoing,
• from the impacts of climate change and disasters for displaced, migration, and transition

we play a key role in ensuring this basic need of individuals and families are met.  Members of the and our whole community.

 

Black Emergency Managers Association International   Washington, D.C.  20020 bEMA International   Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and  Partnering (C5&P)   A 501 (c) 3 organization

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.  We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.  In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late.  Procrastination is still the thief of time.  Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity.  This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos or community.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘Where Are We Going From Here:  Chaos or Community’.

Counterfeit Drugs a $30 billion business

WHO analyzed “100 studies from 2007 to 2016, covering more than 48,000 samples, [which] showed 10.5 percent of drugs in low and middleincome countries to be fake or substandard. With pharmaceutical sales in such countries running at nearly $300 billion a year, this implies that trade in fake medicines is a $30 billion business

Illicit Organ Harvesting a $1.2 billion\yr industry.

• Global Financial Integrity watchdog, the Council of Europe says the illicit trade in human organs is worth between $600 million and $1.2 billion every year

GREATER LA   multi-part investigation

The big and shady business of organ harvesting

Hosted by Steve Chiotakis Oct. 17, 2019 LOS ANGELES

 

Organ donation form.Photo credit: Magnus D (CC BY 2.0)

Did you tick the donor box when you got your driver’s license? That may mean that upon your death, an organ harvesting company can rush to get your bones, organs, or tissue at the morgue, even before your body is seen by the coroner. According to a multi-part investigation by the LA Times, those companies are selling body parts for big money. And in some cases, the procurement companies have upended death investigations. 

-------------------------------------------------

Full Coverage: The Times’ investigation into how companies that harvest body parts upend death investigations

Companies that harvest human organs, bones and other parts have moved into government morgues across the country to gain access to more bodies. In some cases, procurement teams are taking body parts before coroners are able to conduct an autopsy, even in the midst of sensitive investigations such as possible homicides. The procurement companies say there has never been a case in which a death investigation has been harmed by the procurement of body parts. Yet, The Times found more than two dozen cases in which investigations were complicated or upended by procurement, in just two Southern California morgues.

BUSINESS    In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended Oct. 13, 2019

The Times found a rising number of death investigations across the country were complicated or upended after transplantable body parts were taken before a coroner’s autopsy.

BUSINESS   How organ and tissue donation companies worked their way into the county morgue

How organ and tissue donation companies worked their way into the county morgue Oct. 13, 2019

How firms helped rewrite a law to make it difficult for coroners to stop them from harvesting body parts.

BUSINESS  Key cases where death probes were complicated by harvesting of 

body parts

Key cases where death probes were complicated by harvesting of body parts Oct. 13, 2019

The Times found dozens of cases in which autopsy investigations were hindered or delayed by the procurement of tissues or organs — something the industry claims never happens.

BUSINESS  Worried about how your body parts will be used? Here’s what you can do

Worried about how your body parts will be used? Here’s what you can do Oct. 13, 2019

Worried about the risks of organ donation? Here’s what you can do

BUSINESS  Executives coached coroners on how to 

keep body parts harvesting records secret

Executives coached coroners on how to keep body parts harvesting records secret

Oct. 13, 2019

Executives coached coroners on how to keep body parts harvesting records secret

BUSINESS    Summary of findings: What can go wrong 

when firms harvest bodies before autopsies

Summary of findings: What can go wrong when firms harvest bodies before autopsies Oct. 13, 2019

Los Angeles Times reporters found two dozen cases in which a death investigation was harmed by the procurement of body parts.

BUSINESS

Do you have a story to share about the donation of tissues or organs during a death investigation? Oct. 13, 2019

Tell us here.

BUSINESS

County supervisors to examine body part harvesting in the morgue after Times investigation Oct. 30, 2019

L.A. County supervisors order an in-depth report on body part procurement in the morgue after Times investigation.

BUSINESS

Coroner employees say body part donation interfered with death investigations 

Feb. 8, 2020

In internal complaints, emails and other documents, pathologists, investigators and other coroner employees detailed how procurement interfered with their work.

BUSINESS

Before harvesting body parts, procurement firm must preserve evidence, coroner says Feb. 11, 2020

A company that procures body parts from the deceased in the Los Angeles County morgue will begin preserving evidence in death investigations by taking photos of bodies, the county’s chief medical examiner-coroner told the board of supervisors Tuesday.

“When children learn to devalue others, they can devalue anyone, including their parents.”

Vulnerable Population Community. Register for Disaster Response and Disability: Approaches for Citizen Responders.

 

 

 

Webinar Announcement Disaster Response and Disability: Approaches for Citizen Responders Please join FEMA�s Individual and Community Preparedness Division on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 from 1:00pm - 2:00pm ET for a webinar on disaster response actions that support people with access and functional needs, as well as those with disabilities. The Disaster Response and Disability: Approaches for Citizen Responders webinar features federal, state and academic subject matter experts who will present approaches to increase inclusivity for people with access and functional needs, and those with disabilities, in disaster response. Topics include Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and You Are the Help Until Help Arrives. A Q&A session will follow the presentations. For more information and to register for this webinar, visit Disaster Response and Disability: Approaches for Citizen Responders. Closed captioning and an American Sign Language interpreter will be provided. For reasonable accommodations or questions, please email FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.� Agenda Aaron Levy, Director, FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Division Aaron Levy is the Director of FEMA�s Individual and Community Preparedness Division where he leads the agency�s efforts to help people prepare for disasters. Aaron oversees programs that partner at all levels of government, the private sector and community organizations to increase citizen and community preparedness and encourage disaster resilience across the nation. Linda Mastandrea, Director, FEMA Office of Disability Integration and Coordination Linda Mastandrea is the Director of FEMA�s Office of Disability Integration (ODIC) and Coordination. She will present on the office�s role within FEMA, emergency response and preparedness, and communities.� ODIC advises the FEMA Administrator and helps the agency�s offices proactively design programs, services, policies and procedures that integrate the needs of people with disabilities into the whole spectrum of emergency and disaster preparedness, response and recovery. ODIC also helps people with disabilities and their families prepare for and respond to disaster, while working with state, local, tribal and territorial stakeholders to build resilient, inclusive communities for people with disabilities. Samantha Royster, CERT Program Manager, North Carolina Department of Public Safety Samantha Royster is the CERT Program Manager for North Carolina Emergency Management. She will present the state�s efforts to include acces and functional needs in many aspects of emergency management, specifically CERT training.� Samantha will share how to incorporate the whole community into CERT Basic Training and full-scale exercises; as well as awareness training for inclusive positive interactions. During the 2018 National CERT Conference, Samanthat presented on disability awareness, and educated attendees on the daily challenges people with disabilities face and how these challenges compound in a disaster situation. In this webinar, she will describe how she conducted this exercise and how participants planned to change their behavior in the future as a result. Pattijean Hooper, Ph.D., CEM, Trident University International Dr. Pattijean Hooper will present on the concept that all emergency management programs should be both useful and universally accessible � including planning, preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation and policies. Unlike many field planning models that often have people with disabilities positioned as waiting to be rescued, her presentation will approach emergency management with the assumption that if the program is designed to be inclusive, the results will be inclusive. Two specific programs will be highlighted: The Accessible Community Emergency Response Team (Accessible CERT) training, followed by the Accessible CERT Train-the-Trainer course, were the first CERT class in the State of Washington taught�by deaf people to�deaf people, using American Sign Language. The Accessible�Stop the Bleed�training was a tactile and auditory presentation to a group of 20 blind individuals interested in community response operations should they encounter an active shooter incident.� Webinar Registration If you would like to register for this webinar, please visit the following link: Disaster Response and Disability: Approaches for Citizen Responders. Please note there is limited capacity for this session. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please contact us at FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.� Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events, entities, organizations, services, or products. Please let us know about other events and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included in future newsletters by contacting� FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.

 

Black Emergency Managers Association International Washington, D.C.  20020   bEMA International Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and  Partnering (C5&P)   A 501 (c) 3 organization
Community\Civil Society Imperative.  The impacts of climate change are increasing the frequency and intensity of disasters.  Individuals, families, and communities must take a proactive approach and behaviors to save lives, their  communities, their culture and heritage.