When Katrina struck I remember the images of survivors waving from their rooftops tops during the day and I got to thinking what do they do at night? Then it struck me, use the night to work reverse cycle. Basically let's improve how the 12 of the 24 hours that are dark, are utilized. With new technologies like drones & smart phones we can do much better than SOS which was first recognized in 1905. SOS only tells you ...more »

Would the recognition & adoption of a standardized national illuminated color coded system for triaging MCI patients 24/7 contribute towards a patients "Golden Hour" and a responders overall safety & performance? Today different States & organizations use different triage cards and tapes for triaging patients. The one thing they all have in common is not the language or format of the triage cards but it is the color given ...more »

What type of biometric fabrics and sensors can be integrated with responder uniforms and personal protective equipment in order to track and communicate responder health? - What will the technology achieve? - How can health data be transmitted among responders? Between responders and dispatch? Between responders and incident command? - What environmental factors (temperature, moisture, etc.) do devices need to be able ...more »

Conducting/supporting a study that compares all currently available triage tagging tools (different styles of paper tags, triage ribbon, reflective slap wrap wrist bands, colored clothes pins, chemical lights, single colored chemlight alternatives, triage lights and paper tags with RFID) in daytime, nighttime and adverse condition scenarios. There are several studies that compare triage methods but I have found only one ...more »

Over the last few years several National ESF-9 Nighttime Trainings have utilized color coded illuminated markers to identify location and responsibilities of responders. Here is a link to a letter from one of the trainers stating it contributes to overall situational awareness & security, http://triagelights.com/pdf/providing-a-form-of-security.pdf . During the most recent exercise teams were broken down into the red ...more »

Drone and sensor technology could be an amazing boost to emergency response capacity - from high altitude phone repeater and mobile emergency broadcast antenna to infrared debris search agent, helping to locate trapped casualties. Another way to re-purpose early generation military equipment, and also employ former members of the military in a vitally important support role.

The emergence and adoption of wearable and embedded technologies has the potential to produce widespread and deep impacts on society in the U.S. and across the globe. These changes are not set to begin in a distant, science fiction-inspired future. Their impact has already influenced the way some people interact with one another, interact with their environment, and protect their health. The last 10 to 15 years alone ...more »

Responders of the future are likely to have similar needs to responders today - the ability to communicate with each other across agencies (interoperability), knowledge of their surroundings and assets available to them (situational awareness), availability when needed of basic tools like chainsaws. Ten years after Katrina, these basic capabilities are still far from ubiquitous.

Coastal Acoustic Sensors which would alert agents regarding illicit activity at or near the international boundary. The primary objective of this project would be to develop, test, and deploy a maritime coastal oriented acoustic monitoring system (MCOAMS). This system would listen for specific vessel traffic which could be involved in cross border illicit activity. In addition, this system could be linked to the current ...more »

Drones are increasingly being reported to authorities, but identifying culprits remains a challenge. There are several ways to catch a drone - shoot it down, laser it, set up and enforce a no-fly zone, use a net, or jam it. There must be a technology solution to countering drones and identifying culprits in a timely manner.

As we move into wearable technology I see the need for sensors built into an add-on platform to current body armor. The sensors would track 3 items and transmit it back to a decision maker / monitor. First: an officer's heart rate, above or below trigger points; Second, body core temp above or below a trigger point and Last, high impact or g loads indicating blunt force trauma (gunshot, impact weapon or stabbing weapon). ...more »

The lack of innovation in the disaster relief space is leaving our first responders without the necessary tools to effectively complete their mission objectives. The Life Cube seeks to fix this by tackling 21st century problems with 21st century technology. The Life Cube begins as a 5’ by 5’ square shipping container that can be loaded into trucks or air-dropped anywhere on the globe. The hard-walled container protects ...more »

A Unified and Adaptive Emergency Response requires good solid technology, which has been implemented for the operation. Everyone has a different system and always will. Communicating data is always going to be a challenge, especially from the field as decision makers, at all levels, need quality ground truth information to make good decisions. See Hierarchical Distributed Decision Making (HDDM) for emergency response ...more »

A reserve corps of citizens' animals (pets) that can be trained to perform certain tasks when needed or continuously as in monitoring for certain chemical agents or drugs. Examples: Animals equipped with wearable electronics to search for victims of a building collapse or lost children; trained to alert to drug activity or bomb making materials. Alerts, audio, and geo-locating information would be transmitted automatically ...more »

Crowdfunding has become one of the great enabling platforms of our generation. Much like the internet it should be thought of more as a platform or an ecosystem, that allows for others to build on top of. Communities like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo may have started off as places for products to be funded, but now they are place for ideas to come to life. I believe DHS S&T needs to get ahead of the curve and tap into this. ...more »