Despite widespread media attention in the wake of the 2005 hurricane season, and growing concern that many states are unprepared for the 2006 season, the FCC's Hurricane Katrina Independent Panel earlier this week indicated that the ability of emergency responders to seamlessly and effectively communicate with each other remains a significant challenge.

In the FRC's new report assessing the status of emergency communications throughout eight southeastern states, we came to a similar conclusion: first responders in the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast and Atlantic regions still do not have the necessary equipment and resources for communications interoperability. Insufficient funding and a lack of coordination at all levels of government plague efforts to establish meaningful communications interoperability.

The FRC identified several key recommendations that could accelerate the process of helping first responders communicate more effectively:

1. The Department of Homeland Security's SAFECOM program must expeditiously complete the "National Interoperability Baseline Survey."

2. The Federal government should collaborate with state and local agencies to coordinate and implement regional emergency communications interoperability.

3. The Federal government, states and localities must do a better job of tracking the disbursement and allocation of grant monies.

4. If the nation is to make serious progress in achieving interoperability, there must be improvements in the ability to coordinate spending and the transparency of federal grants.

5. Finally, there must be both coordination and cooperation between agencies and at various levels of government.

So critical are these five recommendations that Senator Joe Lieberman, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said the following about the report:

"I am grateful to the First Response Coalition for sounding the alarm - again - about insufficient communications capabilities as the 2006 hurricane season approaches. This report should guide the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, and state and local officials in their efforts to achieve interoperable communications so they can better protect the American people during every day emergencies as well as major catastrophes. Stronger national leadership and sufficient, dedicated resources - which I have called for consistently - are necessary to avoid a repeat of the disastrous communications problems that hampered the response to Hurricane Katrina."

The press release and complete report can be found here.