NIHS News

Health sciences students key to volunteer workforce in emergency preparedness and response staffing plan

Date:  October 24, 2011

UofL associate professor Ruth Carrico, PhD, awarded CDC grant to develop model

Louisville, KY- Building on the success of Louisville's response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ruth Carrico, PhD, plans to use a $250,000 one-year cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create an emergency countermeasure staffing plan that utilizes nursing, pharmacy and public health students. Major project partners include the University of Louisville School of Nursing and the JB Speed School of Engineering.

IMDSS Project launches new website

Date:  October 17, 2011

The Incident Management Decision Support System (IMDSS) provides on-site commanders with real-time data from first responders, citizens, and local and national government agencies - allowing the incident response team to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.

Disaster seminar held in Union, Webster Counties

Date:  October 10, 2011

Union and Webster County emergency officials are learning what they need to know just in case an epidemic occurs. 

Many people responsible for keeping communities safe during disasters, sharpened their skills on Wednesday at a disaster seminar.

Dr. Lusk Presents Project to the NERC

Date:  October 3, 2011

Dr. Braden Lusk, with the University of Kentucky presented his project, "Blast Protection for Power Transformers," to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) at the Sheraton Hotel in St. Loius, MO on September 15, 2011.   

The Challenge

The task of assuring the security of our homeland involves protecting the citizens of the United States, the nation's critical infrastructure and key assets. This is necessary to sustain the nation's vitality against terrorism and other threats. This protection must originate at the community level. It requires discovering, developing and deploying new technology that will support first responders and key decision makers in local communities.

The Mission

NIHS' mission is to discover, develop and deploy solutions that protect and preserve the critical infrastructure of the nation's communities.

The Institute

NIHS aligns projects and research objectives with the needs and requirements of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The strategy is to manage a distributed research enterprise that effectively transitions research and development into solutions. NIHS works with DHS to determine technology needs at the community level. Then, teams are quickly assembled from multiple universities to develop solutions to the needs.

The Strategy

Through management of the Kentucky Critical Infrastructure Protections Program (KCI), the National Institute for Hometown Security (NIHS) provides an ongoing, integrated program dedicated to developing new technologies and devices. NIHS works through qualified academic institutions to accomplish the technological objectives.