Montgomery County to get $1.5 million in federal funds
By: Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
July 5, 2009
Montgomery County is getting $1.5 million in federal money to help the county respond to disasters, including $245,000 to train and equip the county’s bomb squad to disarm improvised explosive devises.
County’s emergency response wish list
»45 police car cameras: $4,500 each
» 100 pocket-size radiation detectors: $1,795 each
» 4 medical cots: $2,500 each
In a memo to the County Council detailing how the money would be spent, county officials said the money was needed so the fire department’s bomb squad could “respond to multiple incidents simultaneously to counter the emerging threats” from IEDs.
The county will spend $20,000 on two enclosed trailers that can be used to deploy “countermeasure systems” against car bombs and biological, chemical and nuclear threats. It’s also planning to spend $60,000 to upgrade the bomb squad’s X-ray imaging equipment from film to digital.
The money comes from the federal government’s Urban Area Security Initiative, which funds emergency preparedness efforts in a number of U.S. cities.
Besides the bomb squad funding, Montgomery officials plan to spend the money on cameras for police cars, individual radiation detectors for firefighters, and hazardous materials training.
The county also plans to purchase five “pharmaceutical refrigerators” at a cost of $4,000 each to store swine flu vaccines scheduled to be delivered in October.
The County Council signed off on the spending plan last week. In the past, some have criticized the county’s handling of federal funds for emergency response.
The Bethesda Fire Department recently agreed to pay more than $250,000 to a former deputy fire chief who publicly criticized the county’s ability to respond to an emergency.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, former Deputy Fire Chief Lewis German told media outlets that the 150 biochemical protective suits the county had acquired through $500,000 in federal funds were practically useless. German complained that the suits weren’t widely distributed at county fire stations and hadn’t been tested on a regular basis to make sure they worked properly.
German was fired and sued the department for violating his right to free speech.
