Bill Ingram for United States President

Federal Response to National Disasters

FEDERAL CERTIFICATION

There should be a Federal Certification for Law Enforcement Officers, Fire Fighters, EMTs/First Responders, and the sub-training; Incident Command, HAZMAT Technician, Extrication, and Search & Rescue.

Our Fire Department is serviced by three different ambulance services depending on which area of our Fire District you are in.  We have EMTs that work for one of the ambulance services.  The other two services hire only full time EMTs.  If our Fire Department responds to calls in certain parts of our area, our EMTs can only use their First Responder skills; even thorough, they have all their EMT equipment with them. 

With a Federal Certification, EMTs would be able to assist people to the full ability of their training no matter where they are.  Federal Certification would also allow emergency personnel to work in different parts of the country without having to go through retraining.

FEMA RESERVE

We need national response teams made up of paid professionals to be ready to respond to national emergencies.  My recommendation is a FEMA Reserve, modeled after the Army/Air Force/etc. Reserve, where trained professionals could work for this organization (either full-time or part-time), respond to national emergencies, and be compensated for it. 

This would also be a good organization for people who want to serve their country, but may not be physically qualified for military service or don’t want to deal with guns.  The main part or the "reserve" would be mainly emergency response officials from local agencies.  

HIGHLY QUALIFIED FEMA OFICERS

Those who have gone through the FEMA Reserve program would be Federally Certified as emergency management directors, fire fighters and/or law enforcement officers, and EMTs plus all the sub-training mentioned above.  Those that work in the local community in one of these positions would be given a FEMA emergency vehicle for use in their community.  This would probably be a 4x4 SUV.  This benefits the officer, the community, and the national response program.

Organizational Structure

The structure would be basically the same as the military.  You go to basic training and as you accomplish certain steps, you get promoted, E1, E2, E3, etc.  When you acquire a certain level of emergency response and leadership training, you become an officer.  The pay scale and benefits would be the same as the military; however, there would be an addition “positional” pay for the actual position you work during the incident.

Getting the Program started

To get this program started quickly, highly qualified individuals that have all or most all the training already would go through an orientation program for each module to eliminate any local agency inconsistencies.  They would then be trained in any missing modules.

Federal Incident Command Coordinating Centers

These centers would be in constant communication with FEMA Officers during the emergency.

Bases  

I recommend a main FEMA training/supply base in the center of the country and then regional and local ones.  We have a lot of closed military bases that could be reactivated for this.

The PRESS

News crews are the most under used and mismanaged group in an emergency situation.  During a news report on the bridge collapse in Minnesota, I heard one reporter talking about watching a fireman trying to rescue someone from the river.  He said he had been trying to ask the fireman what he was doing, but was told he was to busy to talk to him.  He then said they (his crew) had been "removed" from the area.  That doesn't surprise me.  I heard a similar report from a reporter covering a roof collapse of a grocery store near Houston where at least one person was already dead and rescue crews were attempting to rescue others.  We've also all heard the reporter that puts a microphone in someone's face who has just lost their home and/or family members to the disaster and says, "Tell us how you feel, America wants to know." 

What we do greatly need are news crews to go through the FEMA Reserve program, not primarily to act as emergency responders, but to go head of them and provide live size-up reports.  They could also provide live progress reports and general emergency communications.  If the news crews are trained in the emergency operations, they can report on them as they see them, and not have to bother rescuers for sound bites. 

I've seen a lot of excellent news reporting coming out a war zones by reporters working within the military units and from weather crews working hurricanes, tornados, and other nasty weather.  This type of professional journalism needs to be expanded into emergency management.

FEMA TV/Radio.com

FEMA should run a communication network which would include:

·        Several TV channels both regular and satellite.

·        Radio stations

·        Internet sites, etc.

In each type, an individual channel would be devoted to:

·       Live updates from the scene(s) from local press.  Local stations with FEMA Reserve news crews that would have access to the scene.  They would provide live uplinks to the FEMA channels.

·        Units responding.  This channel would be maintained by the Federal Incident Command Coordinating Centers.  This would provide Incident Commands an updated list on the status of responding units and it would also put out information to the responding units or those who want to respond.

·        An overview of what is happening and what people should do.

·        There could be list for people in the disaster area to place their names so loved ones would know their status.

·        A FEMA education channel

There would also be a disaster movie channel.

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