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The fall symposium of the NCCIA was held at the National Defense University
(Washington, DC) on 25th & 26th October 2005. The symposium bought together a
diverse group of past NCCIA attendees and some new faces that included folks with
direct experience of the impact of Hurricane Katrina (the most recent critical
incident) and folks who are actively engaged with the possible next critical
incident - a pandemic influenza episode.
A full report will be posted shortly but the experiences discussed at the symposium
and the timeliness of some of the points raised by the symposium participants' merit
a quick initial report of the highlights.
Read Initial Report
The horrific bombings in London on 7 July 2005 are a grim reminder that terrorist attacks are aimed at undermining political will. Coming in conjunction with the G8 Summit in the United Kingdom, the attacks on the transportation system were designed to shock and frighten people throughout the West.
Read Full Comments (PDF)
Prudent steps are necessary to prepare for a potential influenza pandemic, according to Stephen Prior, the Research Director for the National Center for Critical Incident Analysis. Dr. Prior outlined his recommendations in a presentation to the National Executive Forum for State Homeland Security Directors in Annapolis on June 7.
Dr. Prior called for the establishment of state or regional task forces, for broad participation in public policy formation to deal with a health emergency, for planning to support the first responder and health provider workforce and for planning to cope with possible "pandemic panic" and the psychosocial impacts of massive deaths.
Read Full Presentation (PDF)
The nation is under a threat seen only three times in the last century – a threat that once unleashed will impact every citizen, our social fabric, our economy, and some would say our very way of life. The NCCIA – a disparate group of experienced leaders, academics, practitioners, and trained crisis responders – met last March to discuss the looming threat from a pandemic influenza. They concluded that there is much that we need to do to prepare our nation for the possibility of an outbreak and that time is limited if those actions are to be effective.
The threat from a pandemic influenza sounds innocuous enough, after all we experience influenza every year and it has limited periodic impact. But the seasonal influenza is as different to a pandemic influenza as a tidal surge is to a tsunami – And make no mistake this impending pandemic influenza could impact the nation with the lethality of the most recent tsunami in South East Asia and, at the present time we are almost as unprepared as the inhabitants of those tragically impacted islands.
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In 2004 America must balance the democratic ideal of holding free and open elections with the requirement to protect the security of our electorate, the study found. At stake is more than just the outcome of this year’s voting. The lack of bipartisan consensus at home about the validity of the electoral process creates additional vulnerability to threats from abroad.
The interim report is being issued by the National Center for Critical Incident Analysis (NCCIA) following a symposium in October at the National Defense University in Washington. The study was part of a meeting that included thirty experts on homeland defense, law enforcement, public health, psychology and journalism.
Read Full Report (PDF)
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