Are US First Responders Prepared?

First responders throughout the country are poised to be the first line of defense in the event of any terrorist attack. But one expert is warning that the abilities of first responders in our country vary greatly depending on where they’re located.

In an opinion piece on the MichNews.com website, Jim Kouri, CPP and fifth-vice president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, says there are many areas throughout the country that “have little or no capability to respond to terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction.” What’s worse, he says, is that “Even the best prepared states and localities do not possess adequate resources to respond to the full range of terrorist threats we face.”

Kouri says more than half of the nation’s firefighters protect small communities with less than 5,000 people, and often lack the resources to adequately protect those areas. He cites a recent study by the National Association of Counties that found fewer than 10 percent of counties are prepared to respond to a bioterrorism attack.

The best way to get everyone prepared, Kouri says, is to develop “mutual aid agreements” that would allow communities outside major metropolitan areas to share resources. “First responders from smaller communities need assistance in organizing and developing the unified command and control procedures and protocols necessary for operationally sound mutual aid,” he says. “These agreements will enable neighboring jurisdictions to share specialized resources, rather than duplicate them in every jurisdiction.”

To read the full article, click here: www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_9058.shtml