ID card system advised for volunteers

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 ID 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 also came up with their own makeshift identification cards.

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

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. A prototype of the new first responder identification card is already being issued to fire and police personnel in the Washington, D.C., area.

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

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

“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,’ ” said deputy assistant U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson. “The final coup de grace was the World Trade Center. Hundreds came that were never asked. 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.

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

For reasons ranging from general safety to protection from lawsuits, construction and demolition companies want to see a disaster ID card program succeed.