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Wednesday, July 10, 2002
FCC Land Mobile Private Grants and Updates online [Source: Freq Of Nature] UPDATE - The FCC releases new and updated radio licensing information daily. These releases are now being imported into a searchable database here at Freq Of Nature and will be archived every month. This is currently a work in progress so look for some exciting new features as the work progresses.
Monday, July 08, 2002
NYC emergency communications shortfalls studied [Source: Wichita Eagle] Officials look for ways to prevent technical problems that occurred on Sept. 11 from happening again. By Jim Dwyer, New York Times NEW YORK - Minutes after the south tower collapsed at the World Trade Center, police helicopters hovered near the remaining tower to check its condition. "About 15 floors down from the top, it looks like it's glowing red," the pilot of one helicopter, Aviation 14, radioed at 10:07 a.m. Eastern time. "It's inevitable." Seconds later, another pilot reported: "I don't think this has too much longer to go. I would evacuate all people within the area of that second building." Those clear warnings, captured on police radio tapes, were transmitted 21 minutes before the building fell, and officials say they were relayed to police officers, most of whom managed to escape. Yet most firefighters never heard those warnings, or earlier orders to get out. Their radio system failed frequently that morning. Even if the radio network had been reliable, it was not linked to the police system. And the police and fire commanders guiding the rescue efforts did not talk to one another during the crisis. Cut off from critical information, at least 121 firefighters, most in striking distance of safety, died when the north tower fell, an analysis by the New York Times has found. Faced with devastating attacks, the city's emergency personnel formed an indelible canvas of sacrifice, man by man and woman by woman. They helped rescue thousands. They saved lives. They risked their own. From the first moments to the last, however, their efforts were plagued by failures of communication, command and control. Now, after months of grief, both the fire and police departments are approaching the end of delicate internal reviews of their responses to the attack. Those reviews have concluded that major changes are needed in how the agencies go about their work and prepare for the next disaster, senior officials say. A six-month examination by the Times found that the rescuers' ability to save themselves and others was hobbled by technical difficulties, a history of feuding and management lapses. Thomas Von Essen, the city's fire commissioner from 1996 through 2001, and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly both said that rigorous scrutiny of their agencies was vital. "We should not second-guess the people at the scene, or the way they handled it that day -- they did a terrific job at the scene, and you will not find better chiefs anywhere in the country than the ones who ran things," Von Essen said. "I think we should second-guess our procedures." Too many firefighters, he said, were sent into the towers, and too many came without being told they were needed. "I've been a firefighter since 1970, and have often stood on floors where we needed 10 people and had 30," Von Essen said. "There's a lack of control that's dangerous on an everyday basis to firefighters." |
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