Emergency workers need $100 billion over five years, report says

U.S. emergency responders need almost $100 billion over the next five years to adequately prepare for a terrorist attack, according to a report released Sunday by the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Nearly two years after 9/11, the United States is drastically underfunding local emergency responders and remains dangerously unprepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil, particularly one involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-impact conventional weapons," the council said in a statement.

After a nationwide survey, the council's task force concluded that the United States will fall $98.4 billion short on funding for emergency services.

The report says federal, state and local governments will have to triple spending on emergency services to meet the funding shortfall. If budget crises prevent state and local governments from boosting their spending, Washington will have to foot the entire bill. If lawmakers follow the report's recommendations, the federal government would need to increase its emergency services funding from $5.4 billion to more than $25 billion annually.

The report says the most drastic deficit is in the nation's fire services, which are projected to fall $36.8 billion short over the next five years. Most firefighters are now operating without vital equipment, such as radios or breathing apparatus, according to the report.

The task forces identified almost $30 billion in hospital upgrades, including protective equipment, decontamination services, training and improved communications. Public health departments, including the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, need another $6.7 billion, according to the report.

The task force also said $300 million is needed for annual regional exercises to prepare for a terrorist attack. The report called on the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments to develop a plan to meet national preparedness goals by the end of fiscal 2007.

"If we knew that there was going to be a terrorist attack sometime in the next five years but did not know what type of attack it would be, who would carry it out, or where in the United States it would occur, what actions would we take to prepare and how would we allocate our human and financial resources to do so? The American people must assume that this is the situation we currently face," the report says.