[EAS] Engineer Emergency Credentials

[Rod Zeigler]

I have dealt with credentialing in the past few years and ran into this 
little bugaboo at the state level.
In many states if you are not part of "The Plan" you cannot get 
credentialed.
Those with state credentials are considered "Assets" to be used by the 
EM in charge of the incident.
So, someone who is not an EM asset is not recognized as being germane to 
the incident.
This is counter to the way broadcast engineers think, and so does not 
make a lot of sense to us.
However to an EM trying to create order out of chaos, and being 
responsible for each asset in that chaos, it does make sense from their POV.
My personal feeling is that since many of us cross state lines, or can 
be called to other states in the line of duty, a federally recognized 
credential makes more sense.
It would keep the local EM from being responsible for the asset yet 
still allow the engineer access to perform their duties.
I would further suggest that NAB would be the organization to oversee this.
While far from perfect, it would be better than what most of us have now.

-- 
R. V. Zeigler, Dir. of Eng.
Nebraska Rural Radio Assn.
KRVN-KTIC-KNEB-KAMI
www.krvn.com