A Failure To Communicate

A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
[SOURCE: Evansville Courier, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] The Department of Homeland Security might just as well have been named the Department of Scary Talk, and this week its secretary, Michael Chertoff, had some for the public. Because of turf wars and inertia, first responders -- police, firefighters, emergency medical services -- are still largely unable to talk to one another and thus coordinate rescue efforts in the event of a large-scale crisis, despite the billions the federal government has spent post-9/11. Homeland Security has spent $2.1 billion to remedy communications deficiencies, without satisfactory results, according to Sec Chertoff. He is backed by a report card of the former 9/11 Commission that found it "scandalous" that big-city first responders "still cannot communicate reliably in a major crisis."
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/editorials/article/0,1626,ECP_768_468565...