The Rand Corp., a non-profit research institution, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health issued a report in June calling for better planning, training, coordination and management procedures to protect emergency responders at the scene of terrorist attacks and disasters.

The IAFC, which was involved in the developing the report, encouraged all chiefs to download or order “Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 3: Safety Management in Disaster and Terrorism Response.”

The study proposes a new approach that would make protecting the health and safety of emergency responders a key priority in coordinating the overall response to terrorist attacks and major disasters, the IAFC said.

Currently, each agency that sends emergency responders to an incident takes responsibility for safeguarding its own workers. Because terrorist attacks and major disasters often draw emergency responders from several departments in nearby communities — with different operating procedures, communications systems and response plans — coordinating efforts to protect workers is difficult, the report says.

The study urges enhanced preparedness planning to ensure that all emergency responders to an event can be protected within the Incident Command System, preventing different departments from wasting valuable time trying to come up with ways to protect workers on a case-by-case basis at each emergency scene.

The report is the third in a series of Rand-NIOSH studies on protecting emergency responders. It can be downloaded online or ordered from at no charge from the Rand Web site at www.rand.org/publications/MG/MG170/.

The first report detailed the findings of a special conference of emergency workers who responded to the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the anthrax incidents that occurred during Autumn 2001. The second documented the needs of emergency responders to improve their safety and protect their health.

Funding for the study was provided by NIOSH, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Department of Health and Human Services.