December ends the year with enough deserved holidays for just about everyone to enjoy. The past 12 months have been long and tough for many. With the Indonesian tsunami; hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma; and the earthquakes in Pakistan and India, emergency responders around the world were pushed beyond their limits.

During Katrina, we watched the news as the military arrived in New Orleans. As the convoy of military vehicles drove around the convention center, my first response was relief. But after the networks kept playing the same clip over and over again, I had a dire feeling in the pit of my stomach. Was this a promo clip for the military with the GIs arriving to save the city?

The presence of the tall, confident Lt. Gen. Russel Honore striding down the streets with media in tow, gave a definite sense of order and control — not unlike if the famous Gen. Norman Schwartzkoff had arrived.

Honore, however, gave me a flashback to the presentation last year at a leadership summit by Gen. Ed Eberhart, commander from NORAD and NORTHCOM. Eberhart's job is to oversee domestic military support to civilian authority and, as he described, the military is “proactive in homeland security.” Eberhart told the attendees that the military was always there to back up the fire service. “When it gets out of hand, then you call on us. We need to be called in sooner,” he cautioned the chiefs.

I don't believe the fire service needs the military to take over disaster management or incident command in the event of a major disaster. Across the country, a number of states have developed and refined excellent programs for large-scale response. Give chiefs a chance — and the funds — to create and implement the National Incident Management System nationwide.

I recently interviewed Chief Kim Zagaris of California's Office of Emergency Services — Fire & Rescue Branch for Wildfire magazine. We discussed California's preparedness programs and the statewide incident command system that's currently the model for the Incident Command System. Zagaris explained how ICS was developed: “We did it because if you kill enough people and have enough property destruction, both the public and the legislators demand better efficiency and effectiveness in how we do business.”

Wouldn't you think Sept. 11 would have spurred every state to do just that? Will Katrina, Rita and Wilma?

Among states responding to Hurricane Katrina, Illinois sent three rotations of personnel and equipment over a six-week period. According to Northbrook Fire Chief Jay Reardon, who also serves as president of the state's Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, almost 1,000 personnel from Illinois responded to New Orleans and eight surrounding parishes. As head of the MABAS Mobility Control Center in Illinois for the response, Reardon said they followed NIMS and used a lot of military concepts. “We learned a lot about people and leadership — the good and bad of both.”

Rather than have the Department of Homeland Security consider moving disaster response under the military, why not give NIMS a chance to work and back it with funding?

In this issue we have an article about NIMS by Marko Bourne, the former executive officer of the U.S. Fire Administration, deputy director of the DHS Preparedness Division and the first director of the NIMS Integration Center. This article is a must-read (and re-read). There's a strong message in here for every fire chief.

Are we on the precipice of yet another disaster with a pandemic bird flu? The warning in this month's EMS Viewpoints puts responsibility and planning squarely on the shoulders of fire and EMS chiefs to prepare first responders.

The past year was series of serious tests for our emergency services. How prepared are you and your department for the next one?

Have a wonderful, safe holiday!