Who am I to comment on the Hurricane Katrina disaster response?

Everybody is entitled to an opinion, but sometimes it helps if you know at least a little about the subject.

I have trained in CPR and First Aid with the Red Cross, was a PA Dept. of Health certified First Responder and completed EMT training. I never took the EMT written test because at that time I decided to quit the local volunteer Basic EMS squad after driving two to four shifts a week for over two years. So, I have seen a lot of sick, injured and dead people. And, in EMS we worked closely with the fire service.

I was elected to two six-year terms as a constable in PA and completed training in firearms, unarmed combat, less than lethal weapons, mechanics of arrest and related subjects. For over ten years, this was my full-time job – a mix of process service, prisoner transport and tracking fugitives. This job meant spending a lot of time with state and municipal police, sheriff’s deputies and correctional officers.

At one time I held both awareness and operations certification for hazardous materials incidents, the latter required familiarity with the incident command system. I was also coordinator for my township’s emergency management agency for several years and have recently been appointed an assistant coordinator for a new multi-jurisdictional emergency management agency. As a local EMA coordinator, I attended many county-level meetings where we learned how the various local, county, state and federal EMAs relate to each other and the Red Cross in the event of an emergency whether that be a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or hazardous materials incident.