FDNY Learning From 9/11 Response

— -- FDNY Learning From 9/11 Response

N E W Y O R K, Aug. 19 — Police and fire officials pledged today toimprove command procedures and communications as they released tworeports examining emergency response in the wake of the World TradeCenter attack.

The two reports were prepared by high-ranking departmentofficials and management consultant McKinsey & Co., who togetherconducted dozens of interviews and reviewed hundreds of pages ofcomputer records and hours of radio transmissions.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we are doing today what theheroes of 9-11 would have wanted us to do," Mayor MichaelBloomberg said. "It is in that spirit that we present thesereports."

Both Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Fire CommissionerNicholas Scoppetta promised to improve they way they deployofficers and firefighters in disasters.

"We've revised our mobilization procedures, controlling thenumber of personnel who respond at any one time to an event," saidKelly.

Dozens of firefighters directed to go to staging points onstreets surrounding the twin towers on Sept. 11 instead wentstraight into the buildings, officials have said. Kelly said toomany police officers also went directly to the scene.

A total of 343 firefighters and 23 NYPD officers died that day.

City officials also discussed improving the fire department'sradio system and linking it to police communications.

The roughly 100-page fire department document also recommendsthat the department bolster its single hazardous materials unitwith new staff and equipment, allowing the FDNY to better respondto potential chemical, biological or radiological attacks.

It says the FDNY and neighboring fire departments should developmutual-aid procedures for assisting each other during massiveemergencies.

Similarly, procedures should be developed under which the firedepartment, police department and agencies as diverse as the CIAand Coast Guard could better coordinate the dissemination ofinformation.

The FDNY document praises what it calls firefighters' historicevacuation of an estimated 25,000 people from the twin towers. Itemphasizes that it would have been nearly impossible for any firedepartment to prepare for an event of such unprecedented scale.

"The goal was to learn from the events of 9-11 so that the citycan learn from the experiences of that day — from what worked andwhat didn't so that we can be better prepared for any futurelarge-scale emergency," Bloomberg said.

Beyond the sheer loss of life, the fire department wasdevastated by the deaths of some of its most senior commanders,including Chief of Department Peter Ganci. A number of commanderswere in the lobbies of the towers and others were stationedelsewhere in the trade center complex.

One of the FDNY's most senior officers should overseelarge-scale emergencies from the department's Brooklyn operationscenter instead of the scene itself, the report said.

— The Associated Press

Baggage Screening Deadline Hard to Meet

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 19 — Managers at some major airports believe bigtravel problems could lie ahead come the Dec. 31 deadline to begininspecting every piece of checked luggage for explosives. They alsoare raising questions about whether the bomb-screening equipment issophisticated enough and in adequate supply.