Poor allocation of resources

[x-y-no]

To put it mildly.

They couldn't find some paper-pushers to do this and let the firefighters do what they're best qualified for?

ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"

As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.

Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197

[stormie_skies]

I'm sorry, but that is just plain ridiculous....

[vbhoutex]

This most definitely is a waste of resources in my book. I realize that all sorts are needed for all sorts of jobs, but firefighters should be doing SAR, etc. not paper work.

[JenBayles]

And here I thought my blood was already boiling.... silly me....

[Praxus]

FEMA needs a big shakeup, thats for sure.

[LSU2001]

typical bureaucratic bs. Training to be PR reps it sounds like to me.
TIm

[Stephanie]

FEMA needs a big shakeup, thats for sure.

Yep - however, at least they'll LOOK LIKE they are in control of the situation!

[soonertwister]

This article is totally unfair. The FEMA announcement that they were looking for applicants specifically and clearly stated that these assignments would be entirely non-operational in nature.

If somebody misunderstood them, then they need to take remedial reading courses. Firefighters were sought out because they were already highly-trained public servants fully background-checked, not because of an overwhelming need for assistance. FEMA needed to deploy quickly, which is why that was done.

Please see this pdf file, and then tell me how fair that reporter was.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/katrina.pdf

[chrisnnavarre]

This article is totally unfair. The FEMA announcement that they were looking for applicants specifically and clearly stated that these assignments would be entirely non-operational in nature.

If somebody misunderstood them, then they need to take remedial reading courses. Firefighters were sought out because they were already highly-trained public servants fully background-checked, not because of an overwhelming need for assistance. FEMA needed to deploy quickly, which is why that was done.

Please see this pdf file, and then tell me how fair that reporter was.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/katrina.pdf

I think the question that needs to be asked is, who's bright idea was it to pull away that many fire-fighters from other communities in order to do non-operational PR and Disaster Assistance paper work functions? Can anyone tell me what fire-fighters know about this type of business in general? Nothing really... and who's paying for the Hotel Rooms at the Sheraton Atlanta while they are sitting through Sexual Harrasement Training? Oh I forgot, I AM.

[soonertwister]

I think FEMA's explanation is adequate. They are trying to respond to a disaster of unprecedented scale, and really don't want to temp hire people for a few weeks to support their field operations by disseminating information to the public on how to get assistance from FEMA. I'm sure the need for this service absolutely could not have been covered by available resources.

And besides, it's the individual fire departments that cut loose their employees for this work, knowing that it wasn't operational regarding rescue operations. I don't see what the big deal is. There are huge resources in place now, some 10 days after landfall. But this is a need that is obviously unfulfilled.

FEMA couldn't have hired the people they need from the general public, when they require background checks and the positions are only very short-term temporary. They had to recruit from the public sector, and after appealing to firefighters, they expanded their program to other groups.

[mf_dolphin]

Keep in mind while their primary role was so called PR, they are trained in hazardous materials handling, as a minimum CPR and First AID, and know how to operate in dangerous locations. Not a bad choice considering the conditions IMO

[Stephanie]

I think that they made obvious choices of personnel for the disaster at hand. IMHO, FEMA wasted their talents in the beginning.

[x-y-no]

This article is totally unfair. The FEMA announcement that they were looking for applicants specifically and clearly stated that these assignments would be entirely non-operational in nature.

If somebody misunderstood them, then they need to take remedial reading courses. Firefighters were sought out because they were already highly-trained public servants fully background-checked, not because of an overwhelming need for assistance. FEMA needed to deploy quickly, which is why that was done.

Please see this pdf file, and then tell me how fair that reporter was.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/katrina.pdf

Well, I disagree. I think taking over a thousand expert first responders and sticking them in Atlanta for a full day of useless training, to be followed by who knows how long passing out fliers - all of this in the midst of the biggest disaster in our history - is the height of stupidity. Any unemployed person off the street could do that job. How about hiring a thousand of the evacuees in the Astrodome to do it? They need jobs.

I was being extra mild in composing the title of this thread.

[Anonymous]

The SAR of this incident is over. The initial responders are at home, having been demobilized beginning on Tuesday. The USAR teams and the others are mostly home now. I know, I was demobilized on Wednesday. I got home last night.

They are now in a rebuilding and recovery phase. The only real and continuing hazard is the public health hazard posed by disease caused by unsanitary conditions. This is a problem that is not really dealt with by firefighters.

[x-y-no]

The SAR of this incident is over. The initial responders are at home, having been demobilized beginning on Tuesday. The USAR teams and the others are mostly home now. I know, I was demobilized on Wednesday. I got home last night.

They are now in a rebuilding and recovery phase. The only real and continuing hazard is the public health hazard posed by disease caused by unsanitary conditions. This is a problem that is not really dealt with by firefighters.

I don't see the relevance of these facts to my point.

[Anonymous]

It is relevant to:

This most definitely is a waste of resources in my book. I realize that all sorts are needed for all sorts of jobs, but firefighters should be doing SAR, etc. not paper work.

Truth is, there is very little left to do for trained rescuers. I passed out food and water for the majority of my time there. Construction workers and heavy equipoment operators are needed more than firefighters at this point.

[x-y-no]

It is relevant to:

This most definitely is a waste of resources in my book. I realize that all sorts are needed for all sorts of jobs, but firefighters should be doing SAR, etc. not paper work.

Truth is, there is very little left to do for trained rescuers. I passed out food and water for the majority of my time there. Construction workers and heavy equipoment operators are needed more than firefighters at this point.

I'm sure they have jobs to do back home, or their communities wouldn't employ them.

[Anonymous]

The way it works is this:

When a fire unit is sent to assist the Feds, other firefighters work extra hours to cover their shifts. It is called overtime. It happens in every emergency.

Not every job in a disaster involves swinging from vines and snatching babies out of the mouths of alligators.

[x-y-no]

The way it works is this:

When a fire unit is sent to assist the Feds, other firefighters work extra hours to cover their shifts. It is called overtime. It happens in every emergency.

Not every job in a disaster involves swinging from vines and snatching babies out of the mouths of alligators.

OK ... so a thousand other firefighters had to work overtime (and be paid for it) to cover for the thousand who were flown to Atlanta (at taxpayer expense) where they were put up in the Sheraton so they could receive a full day of sensitivity training before being shipped out to perform the complex job of handing out flyers - a job any health, ambulatory person (like, for instance, some of the the thousands of newly unemployed folks in the Astrodome) could perform.

Obviously, you're just fine with this nonsense, but I still think it's a stupid use of resources. Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

But thanks anyway, for your condescending explanation of "the way it works."

[Anonymous]

I just can't stand all of these people telling me how I and my fellow workers are so incompetant and stupid that we can't do our jobs. We are being told this by people who have no idea of how to do the simplest part of my job.

Everyone appears to be an expert but me. Just remember this:

The press doesn't make money if people don't watch. More people watch if you can make things look worse. I saw a reporter interviewing a man who claimed that no help had come to his area. I thought this was odd, as we were standing nearby giving out food, water, and vaccinations.

You want them to use the people from the astrodome? Which ones? The ones that reportedly are too sick to walk? The murderers? Perhaps the rapists, or the looters..... I know many of them are good people, but how do you tell the difference?

The fire department has a pool of screened, healthy people who already are vaccinated against the disease that is sure to come in the area. You also get the added benefit of having a trained pool af rescuers already in place when things get worse.