[Mb-civic] A Fix for First Responders - McCain, Lieberman, Harman & Weldon - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

A Fix for First Responders

By John McCain, Joseph Lieberman, Jane Harman and Curt Weldon
Monday, September 19, 2005; Page A17

It was four years ago this month that our brave police officers, 
firefighters and other emergency response personnel raced into the 
smoldering buildings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to try 
to save the lives of thousands. Unfortunately, their efforts were 
hindered by a communications system that failed to allow these first 
responders to communicate with each other, something known as 
"interoperability." In some cases, not only could the first responders 
who entered the twin towers not communicate with each other, they were 
also unable to reach their base commanders in the lobby or at 
headquarters because the radio communications could not travel great 
distances or penetrate the thick steel walls and concrete floors.

The Sept. 11 commission found: "Command and control decisions were 
affected by the lack of knowledge of what was happening 30, 60, 90, and 
100 floors above. According to one of the [fire] chiefs in the lobby, 
'One of the most critical things in a major operation like this is to 
have information. We didn't have a lot of information coming in. We 
didn't receive any reports of what was seen from the . . . helicopters. 
It was impossible to know how much damage was done on the upper floors, 
whether the stairwells were intact or not.' . . . 'People watching on TV 
certainly had more knowledge of what was happening a hundred floors 
above us than we did in the lobby.' "

In the past few weeks, we have seen an even more devastating breakdown 
in emergency communications, as phone lines, cell towers and electrical 
systems were wracked by Hurricane Katrina, making it nearly impossible 
at times for many first responders and government officials on the Gulf 
Coast to talk to each other. Many emergency officials had to resort to 
runners to communicate with first responders in the field.

With all the technology innovations of recent years, how is it that 
first responders, those we depend on when disaster strikes, are still 
unable to adequately communicate with each other during an emergency, 
while we are able to watch the crisis unfold on our television sets? 
It's because public officials have yet to get serious about developing 
and funding a safety communications system for all local, state and 
federal first responders. This reality became all too clear during the 
bungled response to Katrina.

The federal government needs to develop a comprehensive, interoperable 
emergency communications plan and set equipment standards, fund the 
purchase of emergency and interoperable communications equipment, and 
provide additional radio spectrum that will allow first responders to 
communicate over long distances using the same radio frequencies and 
equipment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/18/AR2005091801256.html
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