Fed survey evaluates emergency workers' ability to be in touch

The Denver area ranked in the middle of the pack in a new federal survey of how well emergency agencies are prepared to communicate with one another during a crisis.
The study by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security evaluated 75 U.S. metropolitan areas on a "tactical interoperability" scorecard.

The metro area, which includes emergency services in Denver and in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin and Jefferson counties, received a grade of about 75 percent for the standard operating procedures and use of interagency radio systems.

They got an "intermediate" grade of 50 percent on the issue of governance and how they interact with one another on matters such as decision-making, strategic plans and formal agreements.

That's a better grade than metro areas such as Baton Rouge, La.; Chicago; Cleveland; and American Samoa received.

Those areas had the worst grades in the survey.

But it's far less than what metro areas in Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis-St. Paul; San Diego; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Laramie County, Wyo., received.

George Epp, former Boulder County sheriff who now heads the state Division of Emergency Management, questioned the way the study looked at the governance issue.

"There's a considerable amount of arbitrariness to the grading system," Epp said Tuesday during a break from overseeing efforts to deliver emergency services to areas of southeast Colorado buried under last week's blizzard.

"It didn't take into account some factors that are unique to the region," he added, citing the area's long history of preference for local control.

However, the report gives an opening to state lawmakers who criticized the state Department of Local Affairs for ordering a $130 million radio system without adequately consulting with the cities the system aimed to link.

As recently as April 2006, at least half of the 800 agencies statewide were not linked up to a statewide radio system.

The situation has improved somewhat since then, Epp said.

"There's been a significant amount of progress made, not just in Denver but in Colorado, over the last five years," he said.

A new state law that requires agencies to file "interoperability" plans also will push them to improve, Epp said.

"That's going to be a strong incentive for people to work and plan together," he said.