By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – On Wednesday, the East-West Gateway Council voted to pay about $60,000 for special I.D. cards.
Every first responder in the region will get one.
Executive Director Les Sterman says one lesson from September 11th was that a number of off-duty cops and paramedics from different departments showed up to help... but no one knew who they were or whether they were qualified.
He says the new cards will hopefully remove some confusion if there's ever a disaster or terrorist attack in the St. Louis area.
"We will know who they are; we'll know they're qualified; we'll know what their skills are so we'll be able to manage the incident a whole lot better," Sterman said.
Sterman says the cards will be linked to a computer that crews will be able to use to see just who is helping in which places during a disaster.
However, it may take a year to get the entire system running.