Years ago, (OK, many years ago) when on Sundays we stayed in church clothes all day, our family would often go for a ride to a relative's house. Most of the time, it was after Sunday lunch, so it was strictly a time for adults to visit and kids to play with cousins. Somewhere along the decades that changed. At some point, unexpected company began to feel a bit like an interruption, especially when husbands and wives both worked and only had weekends for chores, errands and activities with the kids. Today, it's become almost unheard of to just drop in unannounced and visit for several hours.

That's what it felt like when we received the press release from the U.S. Fire Administration telling first responders NOT to just show up in the aftermath of Isabel when she blew into the East Coast last week. Even I felt it was a bit abrasive to tell folks to stay home -- and I had no reason or intention of going out East.

But many well-meaning, good-hearted volunteers were throwing their gear in the truck and taking off to help.

Don't take it personally, but don't volunteer or turn out this time, the USFA said.

Whew. What are we turning into in this country?

Well, this also happens to be 21st-century common sense. As many incident commanders in previous disasters have learned firsthand, managing unexpected legions of firefighters -- who must be organized, directed, sheltered and fed -- can become a huge undertaking in itself. Plus, as we learned in New York City after Sept. 11, sorting out the real firefighters from people posing as firefighters to get inside the perimeter is not only difficult, but a tremendous liability.

The need to establish a national fire service identification system, similar to the red-card system used in wildland fire, is long overdue. You register to drive a car; you register to vote; it's time to become a card-carrying member of the nation's fire service.

It's time to work within your department, county and state to develop a call structure in case of a major disaster. Where does this begin? County and state mutual aid agreements need to be in place in the event of a major disaster. Pre-planning and "what ifs" need to be worked through before a catastrophe.

I remember hearing U.S. Fire Administrator David Paulison, who was chief of the Metro-Dade Fire Department when Hurricane Andrew hit the Miami area, talk about the additional complications his department faced just to provide basics for the influx of volunteers in that disaster. Fortunately, the fire service has come to recognize that natural disasters like tornados and earthquakes, as well as manmade disasters like terrorist attacks, can occur just about anywhere in the country.

The adrenalin rush to stop, drop and take off to neighboring states to help in disasters will always be there, but we need more preplanning and self-discipline -- and a national system of identity cards -- to effectively use the help where help is needed.