emergency response efforts. With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would ask that a copy of this article be included in the hearing record. At this time, I wish to introduce two of my colleagues who are involved with our training program. I have asked them to join me this morning so that we may fully respond to any technical questions you may have regarding the training of emergency response personnel. Eric Lamar is a veteran trainer in our hazmat trainer program. Eric is a Fairfax County fire fighter, and a hazardous materials technician. He has attended numerous hazmat training programs, including the programs that have been created under the National Defense Preparedness Plan. Also joining me is Scott Solomon of the IAFF's hazardous materials training department. Scott has been instrumental in developing the curriculum and delivery systems the IAFF uses to train fire fighters. Mr. Chairman, I would be remiss if I did not preface my remarks by first expressing my gratitude to you and your colleagues for the heightened congressional interest in terrorism related training programs for first responders. When the threat of domestic terrorism first seared the public consciousness following the cowardly acts at the World Trade Center and the Murrah Federal Building, the initial response was to pour resources into preventative measures. While it would of course be preferable to prevent all acts of terrorism, it would be foolhardy to assume we can achieve this goal. We therefore have been extremely pleased that in the last few years Congress and the Administration have increasingly turned their attention to emergency response issues. While this attention is an important step in the right direction, much remains to be done. Additional resources are needed, and the allocation of those resources must be refocused to have the greatest impact on domestic preparedness. I would like to divide my remarks into two general areas. First, I wish to offer the fire fighters' perspective on the most effective way to provide terrorism emergency response training. I would hope that these comments will help guide this committee as it reviews existing terrorism programs. Second, I wish to share some specific concerns we have regarding the training carried out under the Defense Department Domestic Preparedness Program, an area which I understand to be of particular interest to this committee. TRAINING FOR TERRORISM EMERGENCY RESPONSE Additional Resources are Needed--The first and most salient point that needs to be stressed regarding training for emergency response to a terrorist act is that there needs to be more of it. Much more. Despite the array of programs that have been developed in recent years, we have only just begun the process of assuring that our nation's emergency response personnel are adequately trained. The IAFF supports the approach taken by the Departments of Justice and Defense targeting the nation's 120 largest jurisdictions, but current resources are inadequate to meet even this reasonable goal. If we want emergency response personnel in these jurisdictions to be able to begin the initial response to a terrorist incident, additional resources will have to be allocated. Terrorism Training Must be an On-Going Activity--The one-shot approach of current federal programs misunderstands the nature of emergency response work. The high rates of injury and early retirement ages in the fire service means that there is a high degree of turnover, and a steady crop of fresh faces that must be trained each year. Moreover, changes in terrorist and emergency response technologies Periodic require constant upgrading of a fire fighter's knowledge. refresher courses for those fire fighters who have received training should be a staple of any terrorism response training program. Terrorism Training Must at the Operations Level--Too often terrorism training for fire fighters is limited to awareness level training. This is completely inadequate for fire fighters who need to be able to both recognize a terrorist incident and begin the initial defensive response to the incident. Fire fighters cannot wait until some specialized counterterrorism team reaches the scene when lives are at stake. without adequate training, the fire department will begin the initial response in an effort to save every life possible. Performing such work without operations level training, however, jeopardizes both the fire fighters and the public they seek to protect. With or Training Funds Need to Be Spent on Training, Not Bureaucracy-Federal programs are often designed to filter down through various governmental bodies and layers of bureaucracy. While there may be justification for this approach in some areas, it does not work for emergency responder training. By the time administrative costs have been removed at various levels, there is little left over for the actual training of fire fighters. In light of the scarce resources devoted to counterterrorism programs, every dollar allocated to emergency responder training must be spent on that training. The IAFF recommends that funding for terrorism emergency response training be provided directly to fire departments or to organizations that provide direct training of fire fighters. Without the We are aware of the concern that sending money directly to fire departments could make the program less accountable. various layers of bureaucracy involved it is more difficult to track exactly where every dollar gets spent. We believe that the accountability of the program can be adequately addressed by requiring fire departments receiving the funds to provide training based on federally approved curricula and teaching models. Once such a requirement is in place, you can rely on the men and women of the IAFF to assure that it is heeded. We have never been shy about letting the federal government know when localities are failing to meet congressional standards, and we are especially committed to ensuring the adequacy of counterterrorism training. Another way to address the accountability issue is to provide the funds to organizations or agencies with a proven record of training emergency responders, and have these entities provide direct training to fire fighters. Monitoring the work of a few such organizations or agencies would be a relatively simple process. Training Must be Locally Based--Our experience in the field of hazardous materials training has shown that the most effective training takes place in the locality where the fire fighters work, using their own equipment, geography and structures as part of the training exercise. Every jurisdiction has its own peculiarities. If fire fighters are trained in their own unique environment, they are more likely to make the correct split-second decision that could mean the difference between limited structural damage and mass casualties. Similarly, training must be hands-on, and utilize situational exercises. No lecture, no slide show, no book can ever be as effective a training exercise as simulating a response in one's own community. Strictly from a pragmatic point of view, it is generally more cost efficient to send trainers into a community than it is to send fire fighters to some remote training facility. Local communities already complain about the cost of training their emergency responders. When transportation and lodging costs are added to limited training budgets, too many jurisdictions simply opt to forego participating in these training programs altogether. Fire Fighters Make the Best Trainers of Fire Fighters--Like all occupations, fire fighters have a unique culture and language. Our shared experiences form a common knowledge bank that those who have never donned the Maltese Cross cannot fully understand. Much of the success of |