"Wolf ears" that help locate victims buried beneath rubble, remote-controlled helicopters that help inspect damage in inaccessible terrain and computer programs that instantly translate interviews with non-English-speaking disaster victims were among the technologies on display at the Technology Partnerships for Emergency Management Workshop and Exhibition held in Colorado Springs this summer.

More than 500 participants, including many first responders, and 50 exhibitors, including contingents from six nations, took part in the workshop, sponsored by fema and hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Highlights of the workshop included interactive displays on solar technology, disaster-resistant safe-room construction and water purification, along with plenary sessions on:

* Terrorism, featuring "Worldwide Trends and International Terrorism," presented by author Neil Livingstone, co-chairman and ceo of Global Options;

* Wildfires, including a keynote address by Colorado Springs Fire Chief Manuel Navarro and a presentation by John Maclean, author of "Fire on the Mountain," an account of the 1994 Storm King Mountain fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo.; and

* New technologies available for dealing with school violence, using the experience at Columbine High School as an example.

nrel researchers demonstrated methods for using solar energy to help emergency managers by providing electricity and hot water when the utility grid is down. "Solar-generated power and energy-efficient buildings can make a huge difference in the safety, comfort and well-being of disaster victims," said workshop chair and nrel principal engineer John Thornton. As a result of the workshop, Thornton said he would be pilot-testing the use of solar technology on a "controlled burn" with the Boulder Fire Department in the fall.

Plans are under way for the sixth annual Technology Partnership for Emergency Management Workshop. The workshop, hosted by spawar Laboratory, is scheduled for May 21-24, 2001, at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego.