Local officials bemoan process for 'first responder' aid

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, federal lawmakers pledged to get money to firefighters, policemen and other "first responders" to emergencies for improved communications, equipment and technology, among other things.

Now almost three years later, officials at the local level say they are frustrated by the level of aid and, in many cases, unprepared to respond to certain emergencies. Existing technology often could help firefighters and police, but officials do not have the funds to buy it, cannot get approval at the state level to buy it or simply do not know that it exists.

A report published by the House Homeland Security Committee showed that first responders have not yet received most of the $6.3 billion in federal aid designated for terrorism preparedness. About $5.2 billion in grant money remains in the administrative pipeline, according to the report.

That is no surprise to Gary, Ind., Deputy Police Chief Police Jeff Kumorek. "The obtaining of technology through the homeland security funding has been a very slow process," he said. "The money is awarded to the state, who then sends it to the county [emergency management agency]. Applications are submitted back up this same channel to obtain the equipment."

According to the report, that situation is not unique. The multi-layered system is slow and wrought with mistakes.

First responders in Gary, for example, have yet to receive suits for protection from hazardous materials. "The state purchased them on their own with the wrong masks," Kumorek said.

"Another problem is that we have tried to buy ... approved equipment off the equipment list that has been rejected by the state," he added.

In a survey of U.S. mayors about homeland security, the local leaders criticized the first-responder aid system. Officials in 52 percent of the cities surveyed have not received funding for first responders and to protect critical infrastructure through their states, nor have city leaders been told they will receive funds, the survey found.

"Cities remain on the frontline of homeland security but in the back of the line for funding," Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley said in the survey.

Nearly 90 percent of the cities receiving domestic preparedness funds are eligible to spend the money on a reimbursement basis. However, 57 percent said that process makes it difficult to use the funds, and 31 percent said fiscally burdens local jurisdictions.

In Chesapeake, Va., a suburban community in the shadow of the Norfolk Naval Base, federal grants have enabled the department to buy equipment it could not have afforded otherwise. The city now has a trailer to decontaminate large numbers of victims of a chemical or biological attack. And all first-responder units have radiation-detection equipment, said Mike Hoag, battalion chief of the Chesapeake Fire Department.

However, the need for additional money does not end when the equipment arrives, Hoag said. "The equipment received from the feds needs to be maintained and repaired," he said. "This becomes the responsibility of the department."