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As we reported in last week's Homeland1.com special coverage, FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison received the International Association of Emergency Managers' National Security Award, the highest honor presented by the association, at the IAEM's 2008 annual conference, held Nov. 15–20 in Kansas City.

There were quite a number of other awards presented at the conference, and I’ll start this wrap-up with the one that’s nearest and dearest to us at Homeland1.com.

Interagency Disaster Preparedness Award

Travis Parrish, Homeland1.com and IAEM-USA President Larry J. Gispert (2007-2008) present the 2008 IDPA Certificate of Merit to the Emergency Medical Services Task Force – State of New Jersey (Photo/Karen Thompson, IAEM)

Co-sponsored by Homeland1.com, this award was presented in 2005 and 2006 by Homeland Protection Professional magazine, Homeland1's predecessor. The IDPA recognizes programs that involve an ongoing multi-agency effort whose mission is primarily disaster and/or terrorism mitigation, prevention, response and/or recovery.

The 2008 winner is the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for its "Schools' Pandemic Influenza and Infectious Disease/Public Health Emergency Toolkit," which provides a means for improved communication and collaboration between the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the more than 80 LA County school districts and more than 1.8 million children. The award entry was submitted by Kim Guevara, corporate philanthropy officer and director of emergency management for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

A Certificate of Merit was presented to the Emergency Medical Services Task Force – State of New Jersey for the Port Security EMS Response Plan – U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York. The plan defines the response objectives and the responsibilities of a variety of agencies for the first 90 minutes following a major incident involving a chemical or port facility, passenger ferry terminal, major cruise line, or major bridge or tunnel in the New York Harbor area. Submitting the entry were Henry P. Cortacans and Devin Kerins, state planners for the New Jersey EMS Task Force.

Career Excellence Award

This recognizes a national or international leader who has made significant contributions throughout his/her career to promote and improve the emergency management profession. The 2008 recipient is Albert H. Fluman, Supervisory Senior Exercise Program Specialist at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, for his role in development and training for thousands of emergency managers, elected and appointed officials, and first responders through EMI, including his development of the Integrated Emergency Management curriculum and individual training courses provided at EMI.

Academic Recognition Award

This honor recognizes an academic leader or institution that has made a significant contribution to the formal education of students pursuing a career in emergency management or through research that has helped shape the field of emergency and disaster management. The 2008 recipient is Prof. Jim Cole of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. After nearly 20 years of teaching at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, Cole was appointed to his current position as professor of geology in Canterbury’s Department of Geological Sciences, where he directs the Natural Hazards Research Centre <www.nhrc.canterbury.ac.nz>. Cole was also recognized for his outstanding research career, which includes programs that discovered new volcanic centers and have significantly increased our understanding of what triggers super-eruptions from highly active volcanic centers in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, and around the world.

Travis Parrish, Homeland1.com and IAEM-USA President Larry J. Gispert (2007-2008) present the 2008 IDPA to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. (Photo/Karen Thompson, IAEM)

U.S. Dept. of Defense Uniformed Emergency Manager of the Year

This was the first year that this award was presented, and the inaugural award went to TSgt Gregory P. Brannon, U.S. Air Force. Deployed to Kuwait, TSgt Brannon wrote the first ever emergency management plan, protecting 174,000 U.S. and coalition forces personnel and forging relationships between the host nation and U.S. responders. He personifies the U.S. Air Force slogan, "No one comes close” and is recognized as one of the best enlisted leaders in the EM career field.

U.S. Dept. of Defense Civilian Emergency Manager of the Year

Also presented for the first time, this award was presented to Steven A. Robertson, Chief, Readiness and Emergency Management Flight, U.S. Air Force. Robinson led the first-ever Presidential emergency management support team to Bogota, Colombia. Additionally, he led Air Force support to the Warren Grove fire command, which involved the largest New Jersey wildfire in 40 years, and he designed and fielded the Air Force prototype Mobile Emergency Operations Center.

Business & Industry Preparedness Award

This honor is based on excellence in implementing a program that plans for multiple hazards, sets implementation priorities, is cost effective, links all levels of the organization, and coordinates with local emergency response and management agencies. The program must be repeatable by similar organizations in business and industry. This year’s winner is The George Washington University’s Office of Public Safety & Emergency Management for its Planning Guidance and “SafeTea” Plan Sessions.

Partners in Preparedness Award

This award is intended to recognize programs that demonstrate innovative, multi-participant involvement between local governments/governmental entities and private-sector businesses, non-governmental organizations/non-profits, or individuals which have resulted in effective and efficient incident management, emergency management or homeland security processes. The 2008 winner was the partnership between the Chinese Information & Service Center, Seattle, and the Seattle Office of Emergency Management, which teamed up to provide emergency preparedness information to Chinese and Vietnamese communities in Seattle.

Public Awareness Awards

These IAEM awards recognize outstanding public awareness programs or public education products related to emergency management, homeland security or disaster preparedness. The 2008 recipients are:

• Division 1, Local Emergency Management Agency

First Place: City of Bellevue, Wash., for its multi-language emergency preparedness videos.

Second Place: Seattle Parks & Recreation and Seattle Office of Emergency Management for the STEP (Student Training Employment Program) job readiness program.

Third Place: City of Everett, Wash., for its emergency preparedness public education campaign “Who Depends On You?”

• Division 2, State/Regional/National Government, International, or Non-Profit

First Place: The City of Houston for “Are You Ready,” a community preparedness campaign for the Greater Houston region.

Second Place: The Golden Gate Regional Center, San Francisco, for its disaster preparedness video series.

Honorable Mention: Southern Methodist University, Dallas, for its “SMU Aware 2008 Calendar.”

• Division 3, Commercial or Other For-Profit Organizations

First Place: Emergency Management & Safety Solutions, Inc., San Francisco, for its “Advanced Pandemic Planning for Critical Infrastructure - A Roundtable and Whitepaper Series for U.S. Critical Infrastructure.”

Technology & Innovation Awards

These recognize the development of technology and innovation to improve emergency management operations, public education or the emergency management/homeland security field. The 2008 award recipients are:

• Division 1, Local Emergency Management Agency

First Place: Sarasota County (Fla.) Office of Emergency Management for development of the People with Special Needs registration "WebPSN" database software.

• Division 2, State/Regional/National Government, International, or Non-Profit

First Place: The U.S. Geological Survey for its Shakecast Program.

Second Place: The New South Wales State Emergency Service, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, for its Business FloodSafe Online Toolkit.