ID for disaster workers?

NEW YORK -- Retiree Gene O'Brien hurried to the World Trade Center site after Sept. 11, 2001, as a volunteer helping to shuttle supplies to police and fire workers. Some days, his only identification to get into the disaster site was a tattoo on his forearm.

"A couple times I showed them my Marine tattoo, and they said go ahead," recalled O'Brien, adding that he and other volunteers came up with makeshift identification cards."We didn't forge anything, we just made them up with our own pictures, and at one point we copied a UPC code off a Pepsi can and they were as good as gold," said the Scarsdale resident.

It might not be so easy the next time disaster strikes.


A prototype of the new first re- sponder ID card is being issued to fire and police personnel in the Washington, D.C., area.

Proponents say the system will get professionals on scene faster and keep untrained volunteers from making tough work more difficult.

But they know it is a touchy subject, particularly for those devoted to helping in a crisis.

"Wow, how in the world do we say this without love and respect in our hearts?" said Deputy Assistant U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency came up with the idea after the World Trade Center attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when countless people rushed to help -- unasked, undirected, and sometimes unwanted.


Ground zero volunteer Rhonda Shearer and her daughter launched a fast-moving supply system that bypassed regular channels, often infuriating city officials.


Shearer, 53, said the experience convinced her that agencies are ill-equipped to handle major disasters but don't want outsiders pointing out their failings.


Supporters say the ID cards could be checked at a disaster area with a card-reader device and used to verify a person's unique skills. For example, if police officers have been trained to handle hazardous materials, officials at the scene could deploy them where their skills would be used best.


Mike Taylor, executive director of the National Demolition Association, said his industry is talking with aides to Gov. Schwarzenegger about putting it in place in California.