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Bilirakis: Looking Out for Those Who Watch Over Our Safety |
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By GUS M. BILIRAKIS
This
week, I participated in a hearing to examine the health and safety
risks our first responders face as they respond to and assist in the
recovery from catastrophic incidents.
Our nation depends on
these heroes - those who put their lives on the line to save others -
to protect us during times of great crisis and chaos. The question I
think we all must ask ourselves is: who is protecting them?
I
believe that first responder safety is a collective responsibility, and
that our job in Congress should be to provide the necessary resources
to, and demand accountability from, the many federal, state, and local
agencies that receive those funds.
We must guarantee that
first responders at all levels receive the training, equipment, and
guidance they need protect themselves as fully as possible. And we must
ensure that they receive the necessary treatment and monitoring after
response and recovery efforts have ceased.
Our nation's first responders don't fail us. We should not fail them.
We
can and should do better by our first responders, especially those who
courageously participated in the rescue and recovery from the tragic
events of our nation's darkest day.
The health consequences that
have continued to plague response and recovery workers in the years
since 9/11 make it even more critical that we accelerate our safety and
health preparedness efforts to prevent history from repeating itself.
The
efforts to monitor and treat the health effects of those who responded
on 9/11 will help both those who responded to those attacks and those
responding to future disasters.
Since major disasters demand a
multi-agency response, I believe there must be a common understanding
of the needs and roles of the different agencies in safety management
to successfully protect first responders.
I am pleased that
Congress has made past progress in this area and that important steps
have been taken since 9/11 to improve responder safety management.
Although
many plans seem to be in place, it will be critical in preparing for
future disasters to ensure that those plans can be implemented as
effectively as possible.
While the health and safety risks to
emergency responders can never be eliminated, those risks can be
minimized to protect our nation's first responders to the greatest
possible extent.
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