FederalDaily - September 1, 2005
Highlights of the Federal Response to Hurricane
Katrina
According to the Department of Homeland Security:
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deployed 23
Disaster Medical Assistance Teams to Alabama, Tennessee, Texas
and Louisiana.
- FEMA is moving supplies and equipment into the hardest hit
areas, especially water, ice, meals, medical supplies, generators,
tents and tarps.
- More than 40 Coast Guard aircraft, as well as more than 30
small boats, patrol boats, and cutters are conducting
post-hurricane search, rescue and humanitarian aid operations,
waterway impact assessments and waterway reconstitution operations.
- The Department of Transportation dispatched more than 390
trucks that are beginning to deliver millions of meals ready
to eat, millions of liters of water, tarps, millions of pounds
of ice, mobile homes, generators, containers of disaster supplies
and forklifts to flood damaged areas.
- The Department of Agriculture is coordinating damage assessments
to area crops, livestock, and other agriculture-related operations.
- The Department of Health and Human Services has sent 38 U.S.
Public Health Service Officers to Jackson, Miss., for deployment.
:: Back to Top ::
Military Life Insurance Increases Sept. 1
The Department of Defense announced on Tuesday the Servicemembers’ Group
Life Insurance (SGLI) maximum coverage increases to $400,000 on Sept. 1. On
Thursday, all members eligible for SGLI will automatically be insured for the
maximum coverage of $400,000. The monthly SGLI premium remains $3.25 per $50,000
of coverage, so the monthly premium for full coverage will be $26 beginning
in September 2005. These changes will not affect coverage under Family SGLI,
which will continue under previously existing elections. A member who wishes
to retain the $400,000 of coverage does not need to take any action. To
choose to decline or reduce coverage, service members must complete a new SGLV
8286 form, which is available on the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site
at www.insurance.va.gov.
:: Back to Top ::
Soldiers at Risk for Heat Illness
A study reviewing 22 years of data on heat illness hospitalizations and deaths
in the Army indicates soldiers remain at risk for exertional heat illness.
That is according to research presented in the August issue of Medicine & Science
in Sports & Exercise®, the official journal of the American College
of Sports Medicine. While hospitalization rates for heat illnesses declined
from 1980 through 2002, cases of heat stroke increased. During that time period,
5,246 soldiers were hospitalized and 37 died from heat-related illnesses, which
include heat injury—a mild-to-severe form characterized by organ and
tissue injury with high body temperatures as a result of strenuous exercise—and
heat exhaustion, which is not associated with organ damage.
:: Back to Top ::
Navy Career Management System Offline Due to Hurricane
Due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Job Advertising & Selection
System Career Management System servers located at the Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command, New Orleans, are currently offline, the Navy announced. The
estimated time for restoration is unknown. Because the outage is affecting
the Aug. 23-31 application cycle, current applications cannot be reviewed.
Sailors who submitted applications this cycle or are less than six months from
their projected rotation dates are encouraged to contact their detailer prior
to 12 p.m. on Sept. 2. For Assignment Incentive Pay billets, sailors must contact
Joseph Ferdinand at (901) 874-3545 (DSN 882-3545) or via e-mail at joseph.ferdinand@navy.mil.
:: Back to Top ::
|
