>> Four students graduated from the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSINOSHKOSH with bachelor’s degrees in fire and emergency response management (FERM). The FERM bachelor’s degree provides fire and emergency personnel with leadership and administrative skills necessary to advance their careers and lead public health and safety organizations. The degree is intended for individuals who already possess an associate’s degree in fire protection, fire science, paramedic technician, or emergency management from the Wisconsin Technical College System and want to take their careers to the next level, potentially including the ranks of lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, and executive chief. The degree program was launched in 2006 in response to a growing need for education to support succession planning. www.uwosh.edu.
>> The DUNKIN’ BRANDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONhas awarded a grant to the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC) to support its National Juniolr Firefighter Program. In 2009, the NVFC will award $5,000 grants to 10 fire departments to help them start a junior firefighter program or improve an existing one. The national program provides resources and tools to help departments develop, maintain, expand, and participate in a local junior firefighter program. Spartan Motors and Baskin-Robbins also support the program. A 2008 grant resulted in 520 junior firefighter programs and 275 junior firefighters registering with the national program. www.dunkinbrands.com/foundation, www.nvfc.org.
>> Oblique aerial imagery captured by PICTOMETRY INTERNATIONAL CORP. is featured in a Next Generation 9-1-1 Proof of Concept project completed earlier this year by the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.The Proof of Concept focused on expanding emergency call answering capabilities to help emergency responders answer calls from people using voice, video, text messaging, and other increasingly popular consumer technologies. When combined with Pictometry software, users can access up to 12 different high-resolution views of any location. The software also enables users to measure directly from the imagery and insert geographic information system content and other data. www.pictometry.com.
>> RAE SYSTEMS INC. has launched a newly redesigned corporate Web site. The Web site was updated to better inform customers in the five key market segments of oil and gas, hazardous material management, industrial safety, civil defense, and environmental toxic gas and radiation monitoring. Products are now organized for easier customer search by category including portable detection, portable wireless detection, fixed detection, area wireless detection, and decision support tools. Additional new features include an automatic catalog and product configuration guide. www.RAESystems.com.
>> ALLIANZ LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA (ALLIANZ), a sister company of FIREMAN’S FUND INSURANCE CO., has awarded its first Heritage Program grant. The $40,000 grant was awarded to the Minneapolis (MN) Fire Department to help replace turnout gear that the department lost in recovery efforts after the tragic Minneapolis I-35W bridge collapse in March 2007. The department grant was directed by the Heritage Program’s employee-driven program, the Bucket Brigade. www.firemansfund.com.
>> The U.S. FIRE ADMINISTRATION (USFA) announced that the NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (NIOSH)has added its logo to the National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge 100 Percent Participation Certificate. This seat belt campaign endorsement reinforces the message to the fire service of the importance of wearing these safety devices. NIOSH joins the USFA, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation as leading supporters of the Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge Campaign. The program’s goal is one million firefighter signatures and 30,000 participating fire departments. www.trainingdivision.com/seatbeltpledge.asp.
>> TRX SYSTEMS won first place in the third annual Global Security Challenge (GSC) competition. As a result, TRX received a $500,000 federal contract from the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), the U.S. national forum that identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates interagency, international research, and development requirements for combating terrorism. TRX qualified for the GSC final by making it through two earlier rounds of judging, including co-winning the American regional semifinal at the University of Maryland in September. At the international final competition held in London in November, TRX Systems beat out five other semifinal winners from the American, Asian, and European regionals. www.trxsystems.com., www.globalsecuritychallenge.com.
>> ENVIRONMENTAL TECTONICS CORPORATION’s Simulation Division was awarded a contract to deliver multiple ADMS-COMMAND Advanced Disaster Management Simulator systems to a national training institute in the Middle East. The contract includes several team training systems, customized scenarios, regionalized environments, and models of appropriate vehicles, equipment, responders, and citizens. The ADMS-COMMAND systems will be used to train emergency responders in command and control. Trainees will exercise in dynamic scenarios in realistic virtual environments. www.admstraining.com.
>> GE GLOBAL RESEARCH was awarded U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) funding to develop a mobile standoff radiation imaging system (SORIS) prototype. The research is part of a DHS program to provide new tools for law enforcement and first responders to better protect against nuclear threats. The project’s goal is to build a prototype imaging system that can identify radioactive sources from longer distances with greater specificity, pinpointing their origins almost to an exact location. Once completed, SORIS will add radiation detection to a broad portfolio of detection products offered today by GE’s Homeland Protection business. www.ge.com/research.
>> BULLARDoffers Bullard Smartline online thermal imaging camera (TIC) training program. Free to all Bullard customers, the program takes users through six lessons that explain thermal imaging technology and how to interpret thermal images and also provides a self-assessment test. The training covers Bullard T4, T3Max, T320, T3XT, and TacSight SE 35 and S2 TICs. A CD containing the training program will also be included with every Bullard purchased. The training tool can be accessed by visiting www.Bullard.com/trainonline.
