Picture this scene.
A major bridge collapses with dozens of cars and their occupants trapped. A school bus, with about 50 children and adults is sitting next to a truck that has burst into flames. Several people who see the disaster run to the scene but have to wait for trained the rescue and fire personnel to arrive to save the kids.
Or how about this scene.
Flash flooding hits a city. As the water rises, trapping and endangering dozens of people, Joe Smoe who lives down the street and has a boat uses it to save himself but is not allowed to help the others. They have to wait until trained rescue workers can arrive.
Not possible? Could be if the federal government gets it way.
In an effort to provide better control and coordination, the federal government is launching an ambitious ID program for rescue workers to keep everyday people from swarming to a disaster scene.
Proponents say the system will get professionals on scene quicker and keep untrained volunteers from making tough work more difficult.
“Everybody wants to come to the fight, so to speak, and no one wants to step back and say ‘No, I can’t do this.’ The final coup de grace was the World Trade Center. Hundreds came that were never asked,” deputy assistant U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson said. “Good intentions, good hearts, and it was extremely difficult for the fire department and the other departments to deal with them.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency came up with the idea after the World Trade Center attack and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when countless Americans rushed to help – unasked, undirected, and sometimes unwanted.
Yes. FEMA wants to restrict volunteer help during disasters. Kind of ironic isn’t it. One the volunteers thinks so too.
Similar frustrations arose after Katrina, when people were shocked that the government struggled to take basic supplies such as water to the worst areas.
“They’re more worried about keeping volunteers out than doing an analysis of what really went wrong,” said Ground zero volunteer Rhonda Shearer. “Independent citizens need to be involved, where we have no ax to grind or cross to bear. But we will tell the truth, and we will tell what we see and bear witness to the incompetence.”
In many times of distress, it is the untrained volunteer that is first to arrive and first to act and who saves people or makes their lives a bit better while the government lumbers into action. Any idea about controlling volunteers smells like a cover up and lack of accountability.