Advancing Regulatory Science for Medical Countermeasure Development: Workshop Summary

Whether or not the United States has safe and effective medical countermeasures--such as vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tools--available for use during a disaster can mean the difference between life and death for many Americans. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ...

Biological Threats and Terrorism: Assessing the Science and Response Capabilities: Workshop Summary

In the wake of September 11th and recent anthrax events, our nation s bioterrorism response capability has become an imminent priority for policymakers, researchers, public health officials, academia, and the private sector. In a three-day workshop, convened by the Institute ...

BioWatch and Public Health Surveillance: Evaluating Systems for the Early Detection of Biological Threats: Abbreviated Version

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the anthrax letters, the ability to detect biological threats as quickly as possible became a top priority. In 2003 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced the BioWatch program--a federal monitoring system ...

Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Research and Development to Improve Civilian Medical Response

The threat of domestic terrorism today looms larger than ever. Bombings at the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City's Federal Building, as well as nerve gas attacks in Japan, have made it tragically obvious that American civilians must be ready ...

Countering Agricultural Bioterrorism

The report discusses the US defense system for agriculture and its use of science. The committee concluded that the United States is vulnerable to agricultural bioterrorism and needs a comprehensive plan to defend against it. The committee ...

Countering Biological Threats: Challenges for the Department of Defense's Nonproliferation Program Beyond the Former Soviet Union

In response to a request from the U.S. Congress, this book examines how the unique experience and extensive capabilities of the Department of Defense (DOD) can be extended to reduce the threat of bioterrorism within developing countries outside the former ...

Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology

Crisis Standards of Care: Summary of a Workshop Series

During a wide-reaching catastrophic public health emergency or disaster, existing surge capacity plans may not be sufficient to enable healthcare providers to continue to adhere to normal treatment procedures and follow usual standards of care. This is a particular concern ...

Defending the U.S. Air Transportation System Against Chemical and Biological Threats

Historically, most terrorist attacks on civilian targets have involved the use of firearms or explosives, and current defensive strategies are aimed at preventing attacks perpetrated by such means. However, the use of the nerve agent sarin in 1995 to attack ...

Dispensing Medical Countermeasures for Public Health Emergencies: Workshop Summary

On March 3-4, 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events hosted a workshop titled "Medical Countermeasures Dispensing." The overall objective was to discuss ...

Distribution and Administration of Potassium Iodide in the Event of a Nuclear Incident

This book assesses strategies for the distribution and administration of potassium iodide (KI) in the event of a nuclear incident. Potassium iodide can prevent thyroid cancer caused by exposure to radioactive iodine that could be released in such an event. ...

Evaluating Testing, Costs, and Benefits of Advanced Spectroscopic Portals for Screening Cargo at Ports of Entry: Interim Report (Abbreviated Version)

To improve screening of containerized cargo for nuclear and radiological material that might be entering the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to deploy new radiation detectors, called advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs). The ASPs are intended ...

Evaluating Testing, Costs, and Benefits of Advanced Spectroscopic Portals: Final Report Abbreviated Version)

This letter is the abbreviated version of an update of the interim report on testing, evaluation, costs, and benefits of advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs), issued by the National Academies' Committee on Advanced Spectroscopic Portals in June 2009 (NRC 2009). This ...

Field Evaluation in the Intelligence and Counterintelligence Context: Workshop Summary

On September 22-23, 2009, the National Research Council held a workshop on the field evaluation of behavioral and cognitive sciences--based methods and tools for use in the areas of intelligence and counterintelligence. Broadly speaking, the purpose of the workshop was ...

Guidance for Establishing Crisis Standards of Care for Use in Disaster Situations: A Letter Report

The influenza pandemic caused by the 2009 H1N1 virus underscores the immediate and critical need to prepare for a public health emergency in which thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people suddenly seek and require medical ...

Intelligence Analysis for Tomorrow: Advances from the Behavioral and Social Sciences

The intelligence community (IC) plays an essential role in the national security of the United States. Decision makers rely on IC analyses and predictions to reduce uncertainty and to provide warnings about everything from international diplomatic relations to overseas conflicts. ...

Intelligence Analysis: Behavioral and Social Scientific Foundations

The U.S. intelligence community (IC) is a complex human enterprise whose success depends on how well the people in it perform their work. Although often aided by sophisticated technologies, these people ultimately rely on their own intellect to identify, synthesize, ...

Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism

Vulnerabilities abound in U.S. society. The openness and efficiency of our key infrastructures transportation, information and telecommunications systems, health systems, the electric power grid, emergency response units, food and water supplies, and others make them susceptible ...

Medical Countermeasures Dispensing: Emergency Use Authorization and the Postal Model: Workshop Summary

During public health emergencies such as terrorist attacks or influenza outbreaks, the public health system's ability to save lives could depend on dispensing medical countermeasures such as antibiotics, antiviral medications, and vaccines to a large number of people in a ...

NAE Fact Sheets on Terrorist Attacks

The National Academies has prepared, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, fact sheets on five types of terrorist attacks. Drawing on our many reviewed publications, the expertise of our members, and the knowledge of other esteemed authorities, the fact sheets provide reliable, objective information.

Nuclear Forensics: A Capability at Risk (Abbreviated Version)

Nuclear forensics is important to our national security. Actions, including provision of appropriate funding, are needed now to sustain and improve the nation's nuclear forensics capabilities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working with cooperating agencies and national laboratories, should ...

Preparing for Terrorism: Tools for Evaluating the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program

The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) program of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides funds to major U. S. cities to help them develop plans for coping with the health and medical consequences of a ...

Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism: A Public Health Strategy

The Oklahoma City bombing, intentional crashing of airliners on September 11, 2001, and anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001 have made Americans acutely aware of the impacts of terrorism. These events and continued threats of terrorism have raised questions ...

Protecting Individual Privacy in the Struggle Against Terrorists: A Framework for Program Assessment

All U.S. agencies with counterterrorism programs that collect or "mine" personal data -- such as phone records or Web sites visited -- should be required to evaluate the programs' effectiveness, lawfulness, and impacts on privacy. A framework is offered that ...

Protecting People and Buildings from Terrorism: Technology Transfer for Blast-effects Mitigation

Concerned with the vulnerability of U.S. civilian and military personnel to terrorist bombing attacks, the U.S. Congress directed the Department of Defense to undertake a comprehensive research and testing program aimed at protecting people in buildings from such attacks. The ...

The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise: Innovative Strategies to Enhance Products from Discovery Through Approval: Workshop Summary

During public health emergencies such as pandemic influenza outbreaks or terrorist attacks, effective vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other medical countermeasures are essential to protecting national security and the public's well-being. The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE)--a partnership among ...

Radiation Source Use and Replacements (Abbreviated Version)

In the United States there are several thousand devices containing high-activity radiation sources licensed for use in areas ranging from medical uses such as cancer therapy to safety uses such as testing of structures and industrial equipment. Those radiation sources ...

Research Priorities in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Public Health Systems: A Letter Report

Schools of public health act as a resource by providing expertise to strengthen our nation's emergency response systems. In response to the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), there is an immediate and critical need to define research priorities ...

Responsible Research with Biological Select Agents and Toxins

The effort to understand and combat infectious diseases has, during the centuries, produced many key advances in science and medicine--including the development of vaccines, drugs, and other treatments. A subset of this research is conducted with agents that, like anthrax, ...

Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Approach to Risk Analysis

The events of September 11, 2001 changed perceptions, rearranged national priorities, and produced significant new government entities, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created in 2003. While the principal mission of DHS is to lead efforts to secure ...

Review of the Scientific Approaches Used During the FBI's Investigation of the 2001 Anthrax Letters

Less than a month after the September 11, 2001 attacks, letters containing spores of anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis, or B. anthracis) were sent through the U.S. mail. Between October 4 and November 20, 2001, 22 individuals developed anthrax; 5 of ...

The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation

TRB Special Report 294: The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation explores the roles that transit systems can play in accommodating the evacuation, egress, and ingress of people from and to critical locations in times of emergency. The report ...

Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage: Public Report

In response to a request from Congress, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Homeland Security sponsored a National Academies study to assess the safety and security risks of spent nuclear fuel stored in cooling pools and dry casks ...

Seeking Security: Pathogens, Open Access, and Genome Databases

Within the last 30 years, the genomes of thousands of organisms, from viruses, to bacteria, to humans, have been sequenced or partially sequenced and deposited in databases freely accessible to scientists around the world. This information is accelerating scientists' ...

The Smallpox Vaccination Program: Public Health in an Age of Terrorism

A Survey of Attitudes and Actions on Dual Use Research in the Life Sciences: A Collaborative Effort of the National Research Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science

The same technologies that fuel scientific advances also pose potential risks--that the knowledge, tools, and techniques gained through legitimate biotechnology research could be misused to create biological weapons or for bioterrorism. This is often called the dual use dilemma of ...

Terrorism and the Chemical Infrastructure: Protecting People and Reducing Vulnerabilities

Tracking and Predicting the Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous Material Releases: Implications for Homeland Security

This report examines ways in which atmospheric dispersion models and meteorological observations can be used to help emergency personnel prepare for and respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear attack...