What’s one of the most important things in disaster recovery? The natural response is to say to help – as much as possible and wherever needed. However, first responders – groups like fire fighters, police officers, medical personnel and the national guard, have recently struggled with responder tracking during major disasters like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. Government officials struggle to locate, organize and effectively battle the crisis to which they are responding. First responders, who may quickly move from place to place and agency to agency in order to maximize efficiency and help, need to work and communicate quickly and focus as much as possible on the task at hand instead of the infrastructure of support.

That’s why several companies have contributed to a new US government program – providing smart, interoperable ID cards for first responders at a drastically reduced price. By having these cards, first responders will be able to track their work efficiently with the least amount of effort . Simply by scanning their ID card on a reader at an emergency – a hands free move that takes an instant – crisis workers can maximize their efficiency and help to quell national emergencies much more efficiently.