Feds to restrict volunteers at disasters

[TZ]

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070901/ap_on_re_us/disaster_ids

Wow. And we all know that the Feds and FEMA are soooo quick to respond to disasters!
:sarcasm:

And I do realize that its possible that people who are untrained can get in the way, but its also much easier to control information on how much you are effing up a disaster zone this way isn't it. I guess we can look forward to hearing more about how someone is doing a "heck-of-a-job" and less about the actual situation!:grr:

[NC_Nurse]

1. What they need is a system for organizing volunteers.

If they had someone in the dept. whose job it was to organize volunteers based on their skills and resources, they could avoid
pandemonium and let people help. As it is, they can't even get THEIR OWN people organized. It's really pathetic.
I haven't heard anything about them improving the system either.

Gotta spend all our time and energy fixing Iraq, I guess. :-(
You broke it, you bought it.

[sam sarrha]

3. volunteers work for free and make th Contractors look bad who make 6 figure$ doing th same thing and

do absolutely NOTHING but steal tax payers money

[nosmokes]

2. This is all about transparency and information control. An ID isn't going to

change the situation on the ground of people showing up and getting in the way or making a major difference in the comfort and possible survival of victims and others affected.

[Nite Owl]

4. It was pretty organized after 9-11

My son and a few of his friends went to the city to volunteer. They had quite a set up to screen people according to their needs. There were specific forms to fill out and they had ads on the radio for the kind of volunteer that was needed. He wasn't called back but his friend who was a medic was.

[Joanne98]

5. Who's going to replace them? Nazi's?

[siri2k]

6. OMG!! That's so they can hire the terrorists at Blackwater USA!

And also control the dissemination of information/facts during the next Bush terror attack.