August 4, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 24,1423

WASHINGTON, Aug 3: The New York Fire Department’s response to the September 11 attacks was plagued by problems in radio communications, discipline and a lack of coordinated efforts with the police department, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing a draft report by a management consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, the paper said problems with the radio system caused commanders to lose touch with many companies as soon as firefighters moved into the blazing towers.

The lapses in discipline led firefighters to rush to the scene without checking in with commanders at designated staging areas, The Times said.

As a result of the virtual absence of coordination with police, fire commanders had no access to reports from police helicopters that hovered above the buildings, tracking their structural integrity and the progress of fires across the upper floors, according to the report.

“This lack of information hindered their ability to evaluate the overall situation,” The Times quotes the draft report as saying.

The document concluded that some of the department’s senior executives had not received routine training for up to 15 years, and the department’s effort to recall every firefighter to active duty that day was disorganized, according to the daily.

The department’s emergency medical service had serious problems deploying, tracking and controlling its ambulance and trauma personnel, said The Times.—AFP