First Responders Warned Feds on Training

First Responders Warned Feds on Training
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1101248&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
Congressional Investigators Say First Responders Warned That Training Was Aimed at Terrorism
By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON Sep 6, 2005 — The Bush administration was warned by congressional investigators this summer that some first responders were concerned that their training and equipment was tilting too much toward combatting terrorism rather than natural disasters.

It's too early to tell whether the shift affected the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina. But it led some emergency personnel to raise red flags.

The emphasis changed once the Federal Emergency Management Agency lost its independence and joined the 22-agency Homeland Security Department in March 2003.

The mammoth department was created in 2002 as a response to the lack of coordination prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and its emphasis clearly is terrorism. Officials developed an "all hazards" policy that used the same training exercises and equipment to prepare for two distinct types of disasters: a terrorist attack and an event of nature.

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all incompetent dudes.....