Dispute remains over which NYC agency responsible...

[DeepModem Mom]

for control of any future disaster:

New York Times

Roles in Disaster Cause Rift in City
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
and MICHELLE O'DONNELL

Published: April 3, 2004


More than two and a half years after the World Trade Center attacks exposed weaknesses in New York City's emergency response system, the city still lacks what many experts say is the most basic and essential tool for handling disasters: a formal agreement governing which city agency would lead the response at the scene of any catastrophic accident or terrorist strike.

Indeed, documents and interviews show that the dispute over control of such scenes among the city's main emergency response agencies — the Police and Fire Departments and the Office of Emergency Management — remains profound.

An exchange of letters in January between the Police Department and the O.E.M., in fact, shows that the police insist that they should control virtually every major emergency. The police, saying they alone possess the necessary resources and expertise, cite intelligence that they say makes clear "that Al Qaeda and other related terrorist groups are planning to utilize WMD devices to attack New York City."

Therefore, if a chemical attack occurred in the city's subways tomorrow, rescuers — some of the best-trained and equipped in the nation — would flood the scene and work to save lives. They would be working, however, without an accepted command structure to coordinate the work of more than a dozen city agencies, including not only the Police and Fire Departments, but the Health Department and the Department of Environmental Protection....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/03/nyregion/03COMM.html?hp

[aquart]

1. I'm not even sure that's a good idea.

I think I favor some kind of redundancy, with more than one agency prepared to command.

We had many leaders killed the last time. We almost lost our mayor as well. People forget that Giuliani was trapped by the falling towers. We definitely lost his expensive command center.