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Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD)--A Framework for the 21st-Century Natural Resource Manager
From the Executive Summary: "An assumption of stationarity--i.e. 'the idea that natural systems fluctuate within an unchanging envelope of variability' (Milly et al. 2008)--underlies traditional conservation and natural resource management, as evidenced by widespread reliance on ecological baselines to guide protection, restoration, and other management. Although ecological change certainly occurred under the relatively stable conditions of the recent past, the nature of change under intensifying global change is different; it is unidirectional, and rapidly pushing beyond the bounds of historical variability. In the past, a manager could plausibly work to reverse or mitigate many stressors or their impacts to approximate pre-disturbance ecological conditions, but now accelerated warming, changing disturbance regimes, and extreme events associated with climate change reduce that potential. Indeed, even 'holding the line' in the face of inexorable human-caused change is ever more difficult and costly. Thus, the convention of using baseline conditions to define goals for today's resource management is increasingly untenable, presenting practical and philosophical challenges for managers. As formerly familiar ecological conditions continue to change, bringing novelty, surprise, and uncertainty, natural resource managers require a new, shared approach to make conservation decisions. [...] The RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) decision framework has emerged over the past decade as a simple tool that captures the entire decision space for responding to ecosystems facing the potential for rapid, irreversible ecological change."
United States. National Park Service
2020-12
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Climate Resilience: DOD Coordinates with Communities, but Needs to Assess the Performance of Related Grant Programs
From the Highlights: "DOD manages a domestic real-estate portfolio with an estimated replacement value of nearly $930 billion. DOD has acknowledged climate change and extreme weather as threats to its installations, operations, and readiness; and has noted the importance of coordinating with state and local governments to improve climate change preparedness and resilience. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review DOD's efforts to coordinate with communities surrounding its installations to limit the exposure to climate change and extreme weather. This report assesses the extent to which DOD (1) reports using the physical infrastructure and support services of communities surrounding domestic installations, and the vulnerabilities to such infrastructure and services from climate change and extreme weather, and (2) coordinates with such communities to limit installation exposure to the effects of climate change and extreme weather, and is able to determine the effectiveness of related community coordination grants."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations: DOD Needs to Address Governance and Oversight Issues to Help Ensure Superiority, Report to the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives
From the Highlights: "According to DOD, the EMS [electromagnetic spectrum] is essential for facilitating control in operational environments and impacts operations in the air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains. The pervasiveness of the EMS across warfighting domains means that maintaining or achieving EMS superiority against an adversary is critical to battlefield success. House Report 116-120 that accompanied a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 included a provision that GAO [Government Accountability Office] assess DOD's EMS strategy. This report (1) describes reported threats from peer adversaries; (2) outlines challenges to DOD's superiority in the EMS; and (3) evaluates the extent to which DOD has implemented EMS-related strategies and is positioned to achieve future goals."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Indian Health Service: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Provider Misconduct and Substandard Performance, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "IHS [Indian Health Service] provides care to American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) through a system of federally and tribally operated facilities. Recent cases of alleged and confirmed misconduct and substandard performance by IHS employees have raised questions about protecting the AI/AN population from abuse and harm. For example, in February 2020, a former IHS pediatrician was sentenced to five consecutive lifetime terms for multiple sex offenses against children. Several studies have been initiated or completed in response, and IHS has reported efforts to enhance safe and quality care for its patients. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review IHS oversight of misconduct and substandard performance. This report (1) describes IHS policies related to provider misconduct and substandard performance and (2) assesses IHS oversight of provider misconduct and substandard performance."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Financial Assistance: Lessons Learned from CARES Act Loan Program for Aviation and Other Eligible Businesses, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has resulted in catastrophic loss of life and substantial damage to the global economy, including the aviation sector. U.S. passenger air carriers have lost almost $20 billion and over 47,000 jobs in 2020, with losses forecast to continue into 2021. In March 2020, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the CARES [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security] Act, which provides over $2 trillion in emergency assistance and health care response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including businesses in the aviation sector. The CARES Act contained a provision for GAO [Government Accountability Office] to review the loans provided under the Act. This report examines, among other things, eligible businesses' participation in the loan program and lessons learned from the program for Congress and Treasury [Department of the Treasury]."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Environmental Protection: Action Needed to Ensure EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Activities Support Its Strategic Goals, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "In partnership with states, EPA oversees about 1.2 million regulated entities' (e.g., industrial facilities and local governments) compliance with federal environmental laws and regulations, including those governing air, water, and hazardous waste. OECA [Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance] conducts much of this oversight through EPA's 10 regional offices and a range of enforcement and compliance activities. OECA selects national initiatives to focus its resources on advancing EPA's strategic plan. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review EPA's enforcement efforts. This report examines how (1) EPA's enforcement and compliance priorities have changed since 2015 and the extent to which EPA implements them, (2) EPA's coordination with states to enforce and ensure compliance with environmental laws has changed since it shifted priorities, and (3) EPA has assessed whether its activities to enforce and ensure compliance with these laws meet its objectives."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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2020 Census: The Bureau Concluded Field Work but Uncertainty About Data Quality, Accuracy, and Protection Remains, a Report to Congressional Requesters
"'The Census Bureau has completed data collection operations for the 2020 Decennial Census. As the Bureau begins processing responses to deliver data for apportionment and redistricting, it will need to ensure the quality, accuracy, and protection of the data collected. In recent years, GAO [Government Accountability Office] has identified challenges to the Bureau's ability to conduct a cost-effective count of the nation, including new innovations, acquisition and development of IT systems, and other challenges. In 2017, these challenges led GAO to place the 2020 Census on its High-Risk List. Since 2007, GAO has made 113 recommendations specific to the 2020 Census. As of December 2020, 20 of the recommendations had not been fully implemented.' GAO was asked to provide regular updates on the 2020 Census. This report examines the cost and progress of key 2020 Census operations critical to a cost-effective enumeration, and early warnings that may require Census Bureau or congressional attention."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Report of the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission
From the Document: "[W]e are pleased to submit the following report with our review of US foreign policy in the Americas to reduce the flow of illicit drugs and the damage associated with drug trafficking. Our recommendations provide a roadmap for cost-effective, evidence-based drug control policies that will address their fundamental objective: reducing the number of American lives lost to drug abuse. Drug trafficking is a complex, constantly evolving threat that requires a comprehensive but flexible approach. We believe our recommendations will enable the US government to implement a long-term, inter-agency strategy that can be adapted to the needs of our Latin American partners. It also provides for an evidence-based approach based on relevant indicators and periodic assessments."
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs
2020-12
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2020 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
From the Document: "This Report responds to our mandate 'to monitor, investigate, and report to Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People's Republic of China.' [...] The Commission conducted seven public hearings, taking testimony from 62 expert witnesses from government, the private sector, academia, think tanks, research institutions, and other backgrounds. [...] This year's hearings included: [1] China's Quest for Capital: Motivations, Methods, and Implications; [2] China's Military Power Projection and U.S. National Interests; [3] A 'China Model?' Beijing's Promotion of Alternative Global Norms and Standards; [4] China's Evolving Healthcare Ecosystem: Challenges and Opportunities; [5] China's Strategic Aims in Africa; [6] The Chinese View of Strategic Competition with the United States; and [7] U.S.-China Relations in 2020: Enduring Problems and Emerging Challenges."
U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
2020-12
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Foreign Assistance: USAID Should Analyze Data on the Timeliness of Expenditures, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "Congress provides foreign assistance funding through various appropriation accounts for international development projects. USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] is the primary U.S. agency responsible for implementing these projects and may have up to 11 fiscal years to expend its appropriations from certain accounts. USAID requires program managers to follow its forward funding policy, with some exceptions, and annually monitor ULOs [unliquidated obligations] to identify excess funds that may be eligible for deobligation and used for other purposes. A Senate report provides for GAO [Government Accountability Office] to consult with the appropriations committee on a review of USAID's expenditure rates. This report examines (1) USAID data on ULOs for funds appropriated in fiscal years 2009-2019, (2) the extent to which expenditures in selected accounts met our definitions of timely or delayed under USAID policy, (3) the extent to which USAID monitors ULOs and the timeliness of expenditures, and (4) factors that USAID cites as contributing to expenditure delays and excess ULOs and steps taken to manage them."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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2020 Census: Census Bureau Needs to Assess Data Quality Concerns Stemming from Recent Design Changes, Report to Congressional Addressees
From the Highlights: "As the Bureau [U.S. Census Bureau] was mailing out invitations to respond to the decennial census and was preparing for fieldwork to count nonresponding households, much of the nation began closing down to contain the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic. [...] This report, the first in a series of retrospective reviews on the 2020 Census, examines the key changes that the Bureau made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and how those changes affect the cost and quality of the census."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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COVID-19 Overdose Crisis: A Pandemic Fueling an Epidemic in Florida in 2020
From the Executive Summary: "Based on the data from the Florida Department of Health [FDOH], all drug overdose deaths (provisional) are up 43% from 2019, 55% from 2018, and overdose deaths are projected (based on FDOH trend analysis) to be 60% higher by the end of 2020."
Project Opioid
Bailey, Andrae; Cortelyou-Ward, Kendall
2020-12?
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COVID-19 Overdose Crisis: Recommendations
This resource contains a number of recommendations for dealing with the opioid overdose crisis during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Project Opioid
2020-12?
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Viral Vulnerability: How the Pandemic is Making Democracy Sick in the Western Balkans
From the Summary: "[1] The covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] crisis has accentuated Western Balkans countries' pre-existing vulnerabilities related to the rule of law and democratic governance - but has not brought about a new political era in the region. [2] Western Balkans governments have often taken selective and arbitrary approaches to applying restrictions in response to the pandemic, sometimes using these measures to silence their critics and opponents. [3] The measures could have the most severe long-term effects of any aspect of the crisis response. [4] They exacerbate the greatest threat to the accession process in the Western Balkans: backsliding on the EU's political criteria. [5] Yet the EU seems less inclined than it once was to allow Western Balkans governments to get away with democratic backsliding just because they align themselves with the bloc geopolitically."
European Council on Foreign Relations
Huszka, Beáta; Lessenska, Tania
2020-12
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National Strategy for Planetary Protection
From the Document: "This document was developed through extensive interagency deliberation among United States Government department and agency representatives involved in the PP-IWG [Planetary Protection Interagency Working Group]. This Strategy will advance the Nation's role in the sustainable exploration of space by appropriately protecting other planetary bodies and the Earth from potentially harmful biological contamination from space exploration activities. The Strategy builds on efforts by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other stakeholders in the Federal Government to develop a more cohesive national effort that balances scientific discovery, human exploration, and commercial activity in space."
United States. White House Office
2020-12
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Federal Mission Resilience Strategy 2020
From the Executive Summary: "The Federal Mission Resilience Strategy (hereafter, 'Strategy') builds on existing continuity policy to accelerate the evolution of our Federal Government to become more resilient against all threats and conditions through an enduring structure of distributed risk and capabilities. The Strategy was developed in response to direction from the National Security Council Principals Committee and supports the National Security Strategy by refocusing national continuity policy implementation to better address emerging threats to the performance of essential functions and services. Federal Mission Resilience is the ability of the Federal executive branch to continuously maintain the capability and capacity to perform essential functions and services, without time delay, regardless of threats or conditions, and with the understanding that adequate warning of a threat may not be available. Federal Mission Resilience will be realized when preparedness programs, including continuity and enterprise risk management, are fully integrated into day-to-day operations of the Federal executive branch. The Strategy model of 'Assess, Distribute, and Sustain' reduces the reliance on reactive relocation of personnel to alternate locations and emphasizes a more proactive full-time posture of distribution and as necessary, devolution to minimize disruptions to essential functions and services. This shift in policy implementation is supported by three lines of effort (LOE). Through these LOEs, Federal executive branch Principals will drive efforts within their components to increase the capability and capacity to continuously perform essential functions and services to mitigate against all threats, including adversarial actions and regional disruptions."
United States. White House Office
2020-12
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Uranium Management: Actions to Mitigate Risks to Domestic Supply Chain Could Be Better Planned and Coordinated, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration] has several defense needs for enriched uranium, including low-enriched uranium to produce tritium for nuclear weapons. To meet these needs, NNSA relies on commercial sectors of the domestic uranium industry, such as uranium mining or enrichment, which make up a supply chain for unobligated uranium. However, this industry faces commercial viability risks. In April 2020, the President's Nuclear Fuel Working Group released a strategy to mitigate risks to the domestic uranium industry. This working group includes DOE [Department of Energy], the Department of Defense, and other agencies. Senate Report 115-262 included a provision that GAO [Government Accountability Office] review NNSA's planning for the future supply of unobligated enriched uranium. This report examines (1) risks agencies and others have identified to the unobligated uranium supply chain and agency actions to mitigate those risks, and (2) the extent to which the Nuclear Fuel Working Group's risk mitigation strategy incorporates desirable characteristics of a national strategy."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Warnings Unheeded, Again: What the Intelligence Lessons of 9/11 Tell Us About the Coronavirus Today
From the Abstract: "This article argues that the coronavirus pandemic represents a global intelligence failure on the part of the traditional intelligence community as well as the national and international medical intelligence and surveillance systems designed to detect and prevent outbreaks just such as this one. Comparing these failures with intelligence failures of the past such as the 9/11 attacks can help us understand how we got to where we are today--and even more important, how we might prevent future disasters by avoiding these failures next time. Today's crisis is very different from previous intelligence failures, but in both the 9/11 attacks and the coronavirus pandemic, the United States was threatened by an enemy that was present in our country well before it was recognized. This article outlines steps that must be taken to ensure that when the next crisis arises, warnings can be sounded, and they will be heeded."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Dahl, Erik J.
2020-12
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How Should the National Guard Be Employed for the Next National Disaster?
From the Abstract: "Since Hurricane Katrina, military emergency managers have warned that military guidance does not adequately inform National Guard employment in large-scale, nationally significant disasters. The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has turned this hypothetical assertion into a practical shortcoming. While there is very little debate that COVID-19 is a nationally significant natural disaster, there are still doctrinal obstacles to adjudicating the military's responsibility to provide national, state, or local disaster assistance. The United States must be prepared for the next nationally significant threat. For the next COVID-threat there must be a way to adjudicate conversation between lead federal agencies, the DoD, and the National Guard in order to better source Guard resources for large-scale, complex disasters."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Jara, Paul E.
2020-12
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Two Transformations In, USCIS Confronts Further Change in Post-Pandemic Futureure
From the Abstract: "The Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic both upended the day-to-day workings of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and presented an opportunity to reexamine where policy and practice impede future productivity. The agency has already undertaken two transformations in the first two decades of this century, to varying success: its reestablishment as an administrative non-enforcement agency after 9/11 helped make it nimble in enacting sudden operational change, but the incomplete modernization (specifically, digitizing documents and records) remains a weakness for shifting workloads in a shelter-in-place environment. Ongoing disruption from the pandemic, including both an unanticipated breakdown in its funding model and a prolonged reduction of in-office productive capacity, requires rethinking how the agency meets its mission post-pandemic. The adoption of 'virtual' or distanced interaction with applicants is emerging as a potentially necessary third major transformation."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Locke, Michael S.
2020-12
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Information Technology: Federal Agencies Need to Take Urgent Action to Manage Supply Chain Risks, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "Federal agencies rely extensively on ICT [information and communications technology] products and services (e.g., computing systems, software, and networks) to carry out their operations. However, agencies face numerous ICT supply chain risks, including threats posed by counterfeiters who may exploit vulnerabilities in the supply chain and, thus, compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an organization's systems and the information they contain. For example, in September 2019, the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reported that federal agencies faced approximately 180 different ICT supply chain-related threats. To address threats such as these, agencies must make risk-based ICT supply chain decisions about how to secure their systems. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to conduct a review of federal agencies' ICT SCRM [supply chain risk management] practices. The specific objective was to determine the extent to which federal agencies have implemented foundational ICT SCRM practices."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Disaster Housing: Improved Cost Data and Guidance Would Aid FEMA Activation Decisions, Report to Congressional Addressees
From the Highlights: "The 2017 and 2018 hurricanes (Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, and Michael) caused $325 billion in damage. FEMA provided post-disaster assistance, including rental and direct housing assistance. DHAP [Disaster Housing Assistance Program] was a pilot grant program that provided temporary rental assistance and was used to respond to several hurricanes before 2017. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review issues related to major disasters in 2018 and housing assistance provided after the 2017 and 2018 hurricanes. This report (1) describes the assistance FEMA provided in response to those hurricanes, and (2) evaluates the extent to which FEMA considered cost-effectiveness in activating programs."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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NASA Human Space Exploration: Significant Investments in Future Capabilities Require Strengthened Management Oversight, Report to Congressional Committees
From the Highlights: "NASA is pursuing an aggressive goal to return American astronauts to the surface of the Moon by the end of 2024. The success of NASA's plans hinges, in part, on two upcoming test flights. An uncrewed test flight and subsequent crewed test flight are intended to demonstrate the capability of a new launch vehicle, crew capsule, and ground systems. The House Committee on Appropriations included a provision in its 2017 report for GAO [Government Accountability Office] to continue to review NASA's human space exploration programs. This is the latest in a series of GAO reports addressing this topic. This report assesses (1) the progress the programs are making towards the first test flight, known as Artemis I, with respect to schedule and cost, and (2) the extent to which NASA's human space exploration programs are positioned to support the planned Artemis flight schedule beyond Artemis I."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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Nation's Fiscal Health: Information on the Spending and Revenue Implications of Potential Debt Targets, Report to Congressional Requesters
From the Highlights: "Even before the fiscal and economic effects resulting from COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], an imbalance between federal revenue and spending that is built into current law and policy was contributing to the growing federal debt. The Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2023 federal debt held by the public will reach 107 percent of GDP [gross domestic product], its highest point in U.S. history. This situation--in which federal debt grows faster than GDP--means that our nation is on an unsustainable fiscal path. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to review issues related to fiscal rules and targets and the federal fiscal condition. In response to this request, in September 2020, GAO issued a report (GAO-20-561) on key considerations for the design, implementation, and enforcement of fiscal rules and targets. This report supplements that work and describes how changes in assumptions of future spending and revenue affect the federal government's projected fiscal condition."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2020-12
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COVID-19 Effects and Russian Disinformation Campaigns
From the Abstract: "The effects of the novel coronavirus and its related disease COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] have been far reaching, touching American society and its Western partners' health and mortality, economics, social relationships, and politics. The effects have highlighted longstanding societal divisions, disproportionately harming minority groups and the socioeconomically disadvantaged with Black Americans and their communities hit especially hard. The problem being considered is the potential for Russian malign foreign influence to exploit the divides exacerbated by the coronavirus and target the United States and its European allies during the period leading to the 2020 elections and beyond. Possible coronavirus effects are inventoried and categorized into economic, healthcare, and environmental issue areas that may be leveraged and weaponized. The article includes the scenarios of such weaponization, including the description of focal points that may be attacked. We conclude with a set of recommendations to counter malign foreign influence."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Moy, Wesley R.; Gradon, Kacper
2020-12
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Public Health Departments Face Formidable Issues During COVID-19 Pandemic
From the Abstract: "COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] has raised serious questions about the pandemic response capacity and capability of local health departments. Workforce issues have made testing and tracing very challenging for these resource-strapped public health agencies. In addition, public health has failed to respond effectively to the disproportionate COVID-19 cases and deaths occurring within minority populations. Leadership issues have also hampered public health efforts to impact coordinated responses in local communities. Given these challenges, new coalitions of academic, private, and public health providers have begun performing traditional public health disease control measures and raised even more questions about the viability of public health."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Pilkington, William F.; Kumar, Deepak
2020-12
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Pandemic Policy and the Logistics of COVID-19 Mass Vaccination
From the Abstract: "The sudden emergence of the H1N1 Pandemic in 2009 tested the nation's pandemic plans. It was learned that the nation did not have a well-defined, tested and reliable twenty-first century vaccine distribution system. The existing planning model, the public health model of the 1950s and 1960s served as the basis for published planning guidance. In 2020, once again the nation finds itself in the throes of a pandemic, scrambling to limit exposure and infection to a novel coronavirus, COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] . Meanwhile, all efforts are being exerted to produce an effective and safe vaccine. What remains to be seen is what mass vaccination will look like, given that a proven model has yet to be tested, and as new federal guidance is developed and published. This essay explores the status of a COVID-19 vaccination campaign from a distribution perspective or in the context of the Incident Command System, the Logistics Section. It draws from H1N1 and surveys developments implemented in the interim, or the inter-pandemic decade. Finally, the essay takes an historical look at the nation's pandemic vaccine policy and distribution models over the past twenty years. From this analysis, a blended-hybrid model emerges for COVID-19 vaccine distribution whose basis is a public-private partnership."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Russo, Thomas P.
2020-12
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Pennsylvania's COVID-19 Response vs. Homeland Security Frameworks and Research: Masking the Whole Community
From the Abstract: "'This essay offers an intermediate discussion of select policy, strategic, operational, and tactical issues that demonstrate where and how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's novel coronavirus response on the one hand, and homeland security frameworks and research on the other, converge or--more often so--diverge, and how to narrow this gap. Although typically framed as a pandemic owned by the public health sector, the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] response falls directly within the homeland security mission space, whose core missions include 'Ensuring Resilience to Disasters.' In some respects, Pennsylvania's response exemplifies best practices suggested by research. In other dimensions, it is neither in line with what research would recommend nor with what the National Preparedness System would mandate. The Keystone State has yet to fully make the step from disaster to catastrophe as the characteristic challenge to U.S. emergency management in our century. Response to catastrophic crisis cannot be siloed; it requires adaptivity and an inclusive approach to the community.'"
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Siedschlag, Alexander
2020-12
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COVID-19: Public Health, Privacy, and Law Enforcement a Precarious Balancing Act
From the Abstract: "In the wake of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, the health community faces the delicate balancing act of preserving public health by containing the outbreak, while at the same time insuring that individual health information remains protected. Playing critical roles in both areas during the COVID-19 outbreak are communicable disease reporting systems. Unfortunately, barriers to and delays in sharing health data often compromise the effectiveness of disease mitigation programs. Data must be relevant, accurate, and timely, and communicable disease reporting systems are only as precise and useful as the data that is entered. This essay examines both the successes and the failures of protected health information (PHI) data sharing, reviews the laws and rules governing PHI data sharing for first responders, determines whether the need exists for real-time sharing of PHI, and offers recommendations for future implementation. In addition, it demonstrates that the health information currently available to the first responder community has led to a sense of security and confidence that is undeserved, in part because there is an absence of timely and accurate reporting of such information. Policy and legislation updates must address the needs of both government and the private sector for accurate, timely information reporting by the state's communicable disease reporting system. Health testing capabilities should be expanded and should produce accurate, timely results to accommodate the surge in testing that is necessary to identify the population's infected members."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Whiting, Christopher
2020-12
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Wearables: Useful Sentinels of Our Health?
From the Abstract: "As U.S. Coast Guard units develop strategies and policies aimed at safely reconstituting forces in the next phase of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, the ability to identify and isolate personnel who may be infected as early as possible is critical to protecting the organization's most critical resource. Existing wearable technologies provide the ability to monitor physiological data markers accurately and continuously. While unable to provide a direct diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, these markers may present a viable means for remotely identifying early onset of COVID-19 symptoms, and isolating potentially infected and infectious members. Additionally, the use of wearables has shown potential in some studies to act as a behavior change catalyst, which could enable workforce members to develop improved health and rest habits, leading to a more resilient and virus-resistant workforce. As a military entity, the Coast Guard possesses unique and previously untested authorities regarding the ability to impose a mandatory monitoring program on its members. However, given the political implications of such a strategy, a voluntary program may provide a better option for expeditious implementation. As the Coast Guard seeks short-term ways to protect its members from COVID-19 exposure and long-term strategies to facilitate the development of a more resilient workforce, wearables may provide a supplemental advantage worth their financial investment, though more study is necessary to validate their utility toward that end."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Austin, Matthew S.
2020-12
