Jim McKay

Folsom

Editor at Emergency Management

Editor of Emergency Management magazine, father of two and fly fisherman.

Articles

Albanese drops the ball on rugby league diplomacy with PNG - Openforum

Dec 21, 2024 | openforum.com.au | Jim McKay

In his acceptance speech after Labor won the 2022 election, Anthony Albanese promised to look after disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens. During the cost of living crisis over the past two years he told people he felt their pain and had their backs. He just inverted these assurances with a $600 million handout to one of Australia’s most powerful and profitable sporting organisations, the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC).
Software, volunteers bridge gap for Iowa first responders

Sep 10, 2024 | firerescue1.com | Jim McKay

By Jim McKayGovernment TechnologyATLANTIC CITY, Iowa — Atlantic City, Iowa, in Cass County, is located halfway between Des Moines and Omaha, Neb., which is to say there is a lot of open space there. And that’s a problem when it comes to law enforcement, fire and EMS responding to 911 calls. For EMS, it takes an average of 32 minutes for an ambulance — there is one full-time ambulance service — to get to a call.
Software, volunteers bridge gap for Iowa first responders

Sep 6, 2024 | ems1.com | Jim McKay

By Jim McKayGovernment TechnologyATLANTIC CITY, Iowa — Atlantic City, Iowa, in Cass County, is located halfway between Des Moines and Omaha, Neb., which is to say there is a lot of open space there. And that’s a problem when it comes to law enforcement, fire and EMS responding to 911 calls. For EMS, it takes an average of 32 minutes for an ambulance — there is one full-time ambulance service — to get to a call.
Unified Command Must Be in School, First Responder Playbook

Aug 23, 2024 | govtech.com | Jim McKay

But what about in a school setting? In a school emergency, teachers and administrators are often lauded for heroic efforts to save children before law enforcement or fire personnel arrived on the scene. But that’s when the balance of power shifts and the teachers and administrators become survivors as police, fire or EMS — depending on the emergency — take over the situation.
Software, Volunteers Bridge the Gap for Iowa First Responders

Aug 23, 2024 | govtech.com | Jim McKay

And that’s a problem when it comes to law enforcement, fire and EMS responding to 911 calls. For EMS, it takes an average of 32 minutes for an ambulance — there is one full-time ambulance service — to get to a call. But a pilot program is showing promise in getting help to some of those calls within five minutes. The Iowa United First Aid program enlists volunteers who are on standby and equipped with basic first aid gear to help on EMS calls, like heart attacks, lacerations, falls and the like.
COVID-19 Spikes This Summer in Calif. as the Bird Flu Lurks

Aug 22, 2024 | govtech.com | Jim McKay

Are we in for another pandemic? So far, California has seen 10 weeks of very high levels of coronavirus in wastewater testing. Compare that to last year when the state recorded eight weeks of very high levels and 2022 when there were 16 weeks at that level.
Texas firefighters train for wildfires in the urban interface

Aug 11, 2024 | firerescue1.com | Jim McKay

By Jim McKayGovernment TechnologyAUSTIN, Texas — When Randy Denzer, vice president of the Austin Firefighters Association, looks at Austin, Texas, he thinks of California and catastrophic fire. After the Labor Day fires in 2011, which claimed two lives and destroyed more than 1,600 homes in Austin, Denzer thought that one day there would be a bigger fire and the city would be unprepared for it.
Could Promising Fire Suppression System Be a Game-Changer?

Aug 9, 2024 | govtech.com | Jim McKay

There are advances in cameras that use artificial intelligence to help firefighters get a jump on a fire and get resources there. But too often, fires are out of control quickly, as firefighters battle from both the ground and the air with fire retardant. But what if you replaced that retardant with a suppression chemical that put the fire out immediately?
Wildfire Fighting Agencies Spend Too Little on Prevention

Aug 8, 2024 | govtech.com | Jim McKay

That was one of the takeaways from a survey of 173 public-sector wildland firefighting professionals around North America released in the 2024 State of North American Wildfire Resilience Report from environmental technology firm AEM. A key finding was that a good percentage of these agencies have yet to adopt prevention techniques because they lack the funding or technology to make it happen.
Mapping Tool Shows Climate Change Effects Are Nationwide

Aug 2, 2024 | govtech.com | Jim McKay

The Atlas of Accountability tracked the 713 federal disaster declarations issued from 2011 to 2023, and while most of the news might be focused on California, Louisiana, Texas and Florida, storms are happening everywhere, with states like Vermont, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Iowa and Alaska becoming “hot spots.”Of the nine counties with the most federally declared disasters in that time period, with more than a dozen each, eight are in Kentucky and one is in Vermont.