Harkin holds hearings on Homeland Defense

Iowa’s emergency management and public health leaders teleconferenced this morning with Senator Tom Harkin, who will hold hearings this week on homeland security. Harkin says the federal government is already forwarding 13-million dollars to Iowa for preparedness.Eleven-point-four million from the C-D-C goes toward public health infrastructure, one-point-four million goes to hospital readiness, and 200-thousand goes to Des Moines for disaster planning. State epidemiologist Patricia Quinlisk says the state will apply by week’s end for more money from the federal government for disaster preparedness.Earlier this month, Iowa was awarded one-point-seven million federal dollars to buy first responder equipment. The funds go to Iowa’s Department of Public Defense to buy things like: personal protective outfits; chemical, radiological, and biological detection equipment; decontamination equipment; and specialized communications gear.