New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta have released the studies of the New York Police Department and the Fire Department of New York's responses to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. Management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. conducted the review.

Earlier this year, FDNY and the NYPD enlisted the services of McKinsey on a pro-bono basis to identify both the effective and ineffective aspects of the responses so that the city might be better prepared for large-scale emergencies. The independent, comprehensive reports discuss the bravery and heroism of the men and women of both departments, as well as highlight areas for improvement in responding to large-scale emergencies.

“The findings of the McKinsey report illustrate both the strengths and weaknesses of the New York Police Department and Fire Department in handling large-scale emergencies, and provide significant opportunities for these vitally important agencies to improve their ability to respond to potential crisis situations in the future,” Bloomberg said in a city-issued statement.

In its review of FDNY's response to the attack on the World Trade Center, McKinsey identifies several opportunities for improvement in the emergency response capabilities of the fire department. They are:

• Improving FDNY's internal and operational capabilities in emergency situations by using its operations center to coordinate incident command and control throughout the city;
• Creating specialized incident management teams;
• Instituting effective staging and recall procedures;
• Establishing mutual aid agreements with other agencies;
• Improving and expanding planning procedures;
• Developing scenario-based training;
• Enhancing communications processes and technologies;
• Increasing flexibility of family and member support services; and
• Coordinating FDNY's emergency response plans with those of other agencies at the city, state and federal levels.

“This report by McKinsey & Co. successfully completes the goal we outlined six months ago: to look independently at the fire department's response and operations on Sept. 11, to see what lessons we could learn from what happened, and to come up with recommendations for change — along with a blueprint to implement those changes — that will leave us better prepared if we are ever again confronted with a catastrophic emergency,” Scoppetta said.

FDNY already has put into place measures aimed at achieving many of the goals set forth by the McKinsey report, including expanding and reorganizing the department's top uniformed ranks through the appointment of five staff chiefs as borough commanders.

Since January, the NYPD and FDNY have launched several initiatives and established various policies and procedures to facilitate inter-agency cooperation, coordination and communication during emergency situations. In addition to regular meetings between Scoppetta and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the collaborative measures include:

• Assigning liaisons for placement at the agencies' respective headquarters,
• Establishing an interagency senior executive coordinating committee,
• Placing FDNY chiefs on NYPD helicopters in emergencies, and
• Examining ways in which the NYPD's radio infrastructure might enhance the FDNY's communication system.