Not many people can say that a mouse got them a discount on a hotel room. Very few people have joined a police raid on a quail-fighting ring. Hardly anyone has managed to gas himself with chloroform while driving a van ...and survived. Having worked as an RSPCA inspector since the early 1970s, Steve Greenhalgh (it's pronounced Greenhalsh but he's come to accept that Greenhall, Greenharg and Greenhouse will do at a push) has been through all of the above as well as exposing cats that impersonate each other, splinting magpies' broken legs and wrestling swans in the high street traffic. He has even ventured out on to a fast-flowing river in a boat with only one oar to save a cat while Rolf Harris provided a running commentary for Animal Hospital. Not all of Steve's experiences as an inspector have been a bundle of laughs, but sharing some of his adventures from the past four decades helps us to see the vital work undertaken by the RSPCA and the huge impact that they have on the lives of ordinary people. Just don't ask him to deal with an angry four-foot snake in a flimsy budgie cage ever again . .

The Integrated Deepwater Systems (IDS) program, or Deepwater program for short, is a $24-billion, 25-year project to replace and modernise the Coast Guard's ageing fleet of deepwater-capable ships and aircraft. It is the largest and most complex acquisition effort in Coast Guard history, encompassing 91 new cutters, 124 new small surface craft, and 244 new or converted aeroplanes, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Deepwater program has received a total of about $4.4 billion through FY2007, including about $1.14 billion in FY2007. For FY2008, the Coast Guard requested $836.9 million in new appropriations and the rescission of $48.8 million in prior-year appropriations for the program, for a net total request of $788.1 million. This new book presents an in-depth analysis of the program and its significance.

Emergency Action for Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, Second Edition is intended for the first responder to the scene of the release of a chemical or biological warfare agent. Formatted similarly to the Department of Transportation's Emergency Response Guidebook and designed as a companion to the author's Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, this book is divided into concise chapters that focus on the first few hours after the incident. Each chapter, or class index, is designed to give responders vital information on a specific group of agents. This is done rather than focusing on detailed information for individual agents because the specific agent(s) may not be identified until well into the response, long after many critical decisions have been made. Adding more than 100 additional pages of material, the second edition contains a wider library of agent classes that covers more hazardous materials. It also includes updated appendices that cover dissemination, the effects of weather and terrain, isolation, protective shelters, and manual decontamination. The book also provides a chemical/biological terrorism emergency response checklist. Addressing the immediate needs of first responders as they arrive at the scene of a chemical or biological warfare agent release, this book serves as a guide that gives critical information for key initial reactions without having to read through long explanations. It is an essential quick reference for first responders facing the release of chemical or biological warfare agents.

For over 180 years images of strong, selfless males have populated the reports and literature of the lifeboat service. What has not been so well documented or recognised are the roles that, right from the very beginning, women have played in working to save lives at sea. The stereotypical image is of women waiting in the lifeboat house for their men to return - brewing tea and giving encouragement and solace to each other. Look more deeply and it becomes clear that women have always been at the heart of the RNLI operation, undertaking a wide range of tasks which draw upon their distinctive skills and talents. From Victorian times right through to the twenty-first century, women have always been 'strong to save'. The RNLI is alive with outstanding women working alongside equally outstanding men, ensuring that as many people as possible who find themselves in trouble, either on or by the sea, live rather than drown. In Hidden Depths: Women of the RNLI, we begin to understand what magnificent feats of strength and teamwork these courageous and dedicated women have performed and still do.