"I have participated in several county wide mock disasters and the biggest issue is communications. Each department is on a different radio channel and they do not have the ability to communicate outside of their own department."

This was one of the major problems on 9-11. It's been a problem for a long time, but nothing has changed. Bureaucratic ego gets in the way of most good ideas, & that has simply got to stop. And it's going to have to be people like us to force them, because they simply are too egotistical to do it themselves.

"I look at CERTs as a “force multiplier” as ... no technical/fire/rescue team will have the necessary resources to be fully self sufficient in a major event." & "Analysis of recently made statements by officials proves that they will spend the first 72 hours reorganizing their own institutions... [leaving] members of the effected community... almost un-assisted for the first 3-4 days after a major disaster." & "In big events or even in local ones 85% of the casualties are rescued by individuals. 15% is left to the teams. The more the man on the street knows or is able, the better it is."

All three of these comments indicate the value of having the highest number of people with even the most rudimentary of training. I would venture to guess that a lot of people would die in those 72 hours while the bureaucatic wheels are slowly revving up, people who wouldn't die if someone near them knew something. Even hypothermia kills, but it's something that is easily prevented or treated.

The three major prospective disasters in my area are flooding, earthquake & volcano eruption. Any of these would preclude getting anywhere fast, as even just volcano ash clogs auto air filters so badly that one needs to stop every two miles and clean it out. And those same problems will prevent anyone coming IN to help, except possibly by air.... eventually.

So, it's going to be the local neighborhood residents as first responders, no question. And if there are say, six people in the neighborhood with CERT training, at least they can TELL other people what needs to be done on a rudimentary basis. Even at the WTC, a lot of people didn't leave until they were told to, and since the 911 dispatchers were left totally in the dark about what was going on, many of them gave the advice to stay. It was frequently INDIVIDUALS who told the indecisive to get out.

Like it or not, people are just going to have to start depending on themselves, instead of leaving their lives in the hands of bureaucrats who were voted into office due to their good looks.

Sue