VA first to issue first responder credentials for field response | 03.15.2007 | 06:41:24 | Views: 5509 | ID: March 15 07: First responders in Virginia will be the first in the nation to be issued credentials for the field, a news release announced. More than 1,400 First Responder Authentication Credentials (FRAC) will be sent out through a joint venture sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security in the National Capital Region, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The first county in Virginia to be issued the credentials will be Arlington, home to the Pentagon and the site of part of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. "As part of the First Responder Partnership Initiative ... now being piloted in the National Capital Region," the announced read, the credentials issued "aims to equip state and local first responders with a new federally approved smart card." Officials said they hoped that by issuing these credentials, which contain personal and professional information about the carrier, emergency management directors in the field will have increased situational awareness about manpower and available, or otherwise unavailable resources. The cards will also help directors to communicate with each other about who is doing what and where. Impetus for the credentials system came from a promulgation by DHS through the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) "which states that wide variations in the quality and security in forms of identification used to gain access to secure facilities need to be eliminated."
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