[Infowarrior] - Feds to Restrict Volunteers at Disasters

[Richard Forno]

Feds to Restrict Volunteers at Disasters

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Disaster-IDs.html

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 1, 2007

Filed at 7:56 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Retiree Gene O'Brien hurried to the World Trade Center site
after Sept. 11, 2001, as a volunteer helping to shuttle supplies to police
and fire workers. Some days, his only ID to get into the disaster site was a
tattoo on his forearm.

''A couple times I showed them my Marine tattoo, and they said go ahead,''
recalled O'Brien, adding that he and other volunteers also came up with
their own makeshift identification cards.

''We didn't forge anything, we just made them up with our own pictures and
at one point we copied a UPC code off a Pepsi can and they were as good as
gold,'' said the Scarsdale resident.

It might not be so easy the next time disaster strikes.

In an effort to provide better control and coordination, the federal
government is launching an ambitious ID program for rescue workers to keep
everyday people from swarming to a disaster scene. A prototype of the new
first responder identification card is already being issued to fire and
police personnel in the Washington, D.C., area.

Proponents say the system will get professionals on scene quicker and keep
untrained volunteers from making tough work more difficult.

But they also know it is a touchy subject, particularly for those devoted to
helping in moments of crisis.

''Wow, how in the world do we say this without love and respect in our
hearts?'' said deputy assistant U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson.

''Everybody wants to come to the fight, so to speak, and no one wants to
step back and say 'No, I can't do this.' The final coup de grace was the
World Trade Center. Hundreds came that were never asked,'' Dickinson said.
''Good intentions, good hearts, and it was extremely difficult for the fire
department and the other departments to deal with them.''

The Federal Emergency Management Agency came up with the idea after the
World Trade Center attack and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when countless
Americans rushed to help -- unasked, undirected, and sometimes unwanted.

Many of those volunteers angrily dispute the notion they were a burden. They
insist that in many instances they were able to deliver respirators, hard
hats, and protective boots to workers when no one else seemed able.

Ground zero volunteer Rhonda Shearer and her daughter launched a fast-moving
supply system that bypassed regular channels, often infuriating city
officials.

Even as she delivered box trucks packed with supplies over months of
recovery work, she increasingly ended up in a cat-and-mouse game with New
York City's police and emergency management agency.

Shearer, 53, said the experience convinced her that agencies are
ill-equipped to handle major disasters -- but don't want outsiders pointing
out their failings.

Similar frustrations arose after Katrina, when people were shocked that the
government struggled to take basic supplies such as water to the worst
areas.

''They're more worried about keeping volunteers out than doing an analysis
of what really went wrong,'' Shearer said. ''Independent citizens need to be
involved, where we have no ax to grind or cross to bear. But we will tell
the truth, and we will tell what we see and bear witness to the
incompetence.''

Dickinson, the federal fire official, said the government is not trying to
discourage volunteers, but he thinks there should come a time, within a few
days of a disaster, when civilians step back and let the professionals take
control.

Supporters say the ID cards could be checked at a disaster area with a
card-reader device and used to verify a person's unique skills. For example,
if police officers have been trained to handle hazardous materials,
officials at the scene could deploy them to an area where their skills would
be best put to use.

For reasons ranging from general safety to protection from lawsuits,
construction and demolition companies want to see a disaster ID card program
succeed.

Mike Taylor, executive director of the National Demolition Association, said
his industry is talking with aides to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger about
putting it in place in his state.

''If California goes ahead and does that, it will flow across the country.
This is a really smart idea by someone in the Bush administration to be able
to control access to the site and frankly, make sure there are no untrained
people,'' Taylor said. ''If somebody goes running down to the site, you have
to stop and ask them, wait, are they certified to do this work?''