New App for the Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER). The National Library of Medicine (NLM) WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) is now available as an app for the iPhone and iPod touch (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wiser-for-iphone-ipod-touch/id375185381?mt=8). WISER is also compatible with the iPad.

WISER is a tool to assist emergency responders with hazardous material (hazmat) incidents. WISER provides a wide range of information on chemical, biological, and radiological agents, including substance identification, physical characteristics, human health and emergency medical treatment information, and containment and suppression assistance.

WISER is also available as a stand-alone application for Microsoft Windows PCs, Windows Mobile devices, Palm OS PDAs, and via the Web as WebWISER (http://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/). See the WISER home page (http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/) for more information.

Content and functionality of this application will be enhanced in the coming months, and a WISER for BlackBerry version will be coming soon.

Notices of WISER updates and news are available by joining the WISER e-mail list (http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/listserv_join.html). (posted 6/10/10)

Contributed by Pertti (Bert) J. Hakkinen, Ph.D., Senior Toxicologist, and Toxicology and Environmental Health Science Advisor (to the Director), Specialized Information Services, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Information on "Crude Oil Spills and Human Health" from National Library of Medicine. A page of links to information on "Crude Oil Spills and Human Health" is now available from the National Library of Medicine at http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/oilspills.html. The page provides links to information on how the United States responds to oil spills, state agencies in the Gulf region that respond to spills, occupational hazards for professionals and volunteers assisting with clean-up, seafood safety, and more.

The links under "Featured Sites" focus on the latest updates about the recent spill and subsequent controlled burning of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This spill followed the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit oil platform 50 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta on April 20, 2010.

This information is compiled by the Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC), Specialized Information Services (SIS), U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Please send your comments and suggestions about additional health information content to tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov. (posted 4/30/10)

Announcing NIH NLM "Reunite." A new iPhone app, "Reunite," which is available in the iTunes Store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reunite/id368052994?mt=8#, has been developed as a part of ongoing research in improving post-disaster family reunification technologies at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

"Reunite" generalizes and builds on initial concepts developed through "Found in Haiti" and includes enhancements that could enable its use in future disaster events. Like "Found in Haiti," which was developed specifically for family reunification efforts after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the app is designed to help provide structured information by e-mail to the People Locator interactive notification Wall (http://pl.nlm.nih.gov/) offered by NLM. "Reunite" not only provides an improved user interface but also includes technical advances such as better image capture, image tagging, text and voice notes, and use of Google Maps to obtain addresses, with the capability to save these addresses. Other enhancements include automated download of tags (from NLM servers) for disaster events where U.S. Government is providing relief efforts and color coding for these different disaster situations and XML coded data transfer to the Person Locator Web site. This version also supports French and Spanish languages.

The app is primarily intended for medical aid and relief workers who are assisting in family reunification efforts after a disaster but may also be used by the general public to report missing and/or found people to the site. NLM’s Web site service will also populate relevant Person Finder services, such as one that has been maintained by Google, created after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile in January and February 2010, respectively. Users can choose to take a new photo of a found person seeking reunification using their iPhone's camera or use an existing image from their camera roll/photo library to report a missing person. The picture can also be tagged, e.g., for identifying an individual from a family photo. The following information (all optional) can be provided about the person in the photo:

POMAX, an enterprise-class commodity trading and risk management system by Navita Systems, provides three benefits no other software can match: quick installation, low cost, and higher option value. Read more. (posted 4/12/10)

"Environment and Public Health," a Course That Will Change Your Career--and Your Life! Landing a job in the fields of environment and public health not only requires a wide variety of technical skills, ranging from epidemiology to environmental science to emergency response for bioterrorism attacks, but also experience and a registered environmental health specialist (REHS) license. Rutgers University Office of Continuing Professional Education in Brunswick, New Jersey, will offer a course this summer that will provide the expertise and experience needed to help prepare for the REHS state licensing exam. The course will consist of a seven-week classroom session followed by a 200-hour (five-week) field training internship. Read more. (posted 3/26/10)

Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Recommends Professional Education Program on Risk Communication. The Harvard School of Public Health is offering the program "Effective Risk Communication: Theory, Tools, and Practical Skills for Communicating About Risk" on May 17–19, 2010, in Boston, Massachusetts. Read more. (posted 2/2/10, updated 3/18/10)

Energy Risk Management, SMi Group Limited’s 5th annual risk management conference for the energy industry, will be held June 21–22, 2010, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, St. James, London, United Kingdom. Read more. (posted 2/18/10)

FTI-International Risk Releases Assessment "Terrorism Trends in 2010."FTI-International Risk (www.intl-risk.com) has just released its 2010 terrorism threat assessment. The report offers an assessment of the likelihood of terrorist activity in Asia, with a specific emphasis on India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia. To request a copy of the report, send an e-mail to reports@intl-risk.com. (posted 2/2/10)

Announcement of the Second Year of a Course in Public Health Informatics. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine are pleased to announce the second year of the course titled "Public Health Informatics," which will be held on Tuesdays at 5:30–7:30 PM, February 16 through May 11, 2010, at the university campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This course represents collaboration designed for the primary purpose of sharing knowledge and building interest in public health and disaster informatics. The primary audience for the course is government employees (federal, state, local), with a limited number of seats for agency contractors and not-for-profit organization staff. Links to eligibility requirements, application procedures, the 2010 syllabus, and other information are available at http://www.usuhs.mil/publichealthinformatics/index.html. Enrollment will be capped at 25 students. Questions about the content or the course may be addressed to Ron Gimbel, PhD, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland, rgimbel@usuhs.mil, telephone 301-295-3077, or Pertti (Bert) Hakkinen, PhD, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, pertti.hakkinen@nih.gov, telephone 301-827-4222. (posted 2/2/10)

Haiti Earthquake. A new web page of Haiti earthquake health information links is now available from the (U.S.) National Library of Medicine (NLM), Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS) at http://disaster.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/haitiearthquake.html.

The page lists links to new web pages about the Haiti earthquake situation from both government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is also a section on Haitian Creole and French-language materials. Links to background information on earthquakes and subsequent health issues, such as public health assessments, emergency surgical care, and management of dead bodies, are included. The page will continue to expand and will add a section on hazards from concrete dust and other airborne particulates from the collapsed buildings and subsequent clean-up activities. Contributed by Pertti (Bert) J. Hakkinen, Ph.D., Senior Toxicologist, and Toxicology and Environmental Health Science Advisor (to the Director), Specialized Information Services, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. (posted 1/25/10)