Communication strategy makes La. a model state

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security points to Louisiana as a communications model for the rest of the country, state technology officials say.

The Department of Homeland Security chose Louisiana to show President Bush how we lead the way in communication, said Mark Lewis, president

Louisiana's emphasis on regional communication is a strength, as opposed to each parish or municipality working separately from state government, Lewis said.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed the way Louisiana's emergency preparedness officials communicate, officials said Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of homeland security for the state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness.

The state Office of Emergency Preparedness merged with the state Office of Homeland Security, punctuating the need for all departments and government leaders to be connected.

Through new, advanced communications systems, Louisiana has its Department of Health and Hospitals, National Guard, 911 responders, parish and municipality officials and other emergency preparedness responders connected through the same system, said Col. Robert Fink, a deputy chief information officer for the Louisiana Army National Guard.

The spirit of cooperation among our partners at the state and local level, coupled with those within our nine (parish) regions, enabled an expansion in the movement toward interoperability of communication, and interoperability for equipment and potential deployment, Mayeaux said.

Louisiana uses the same crisis techniques used for oil spills and hurricanes to respond to terrorist threats and events, Mayeaux said. Flood emergencies in one parish mean that parish needs to be in contact with neighboring parishes in order to evacuate residents.

In this region, there are no exceptions to the rule of connected communication, said Terry Ebbert, director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security.

Twenty-eight percent of the nation's crude oil and 25 percent of the nation's natural gas comes from southeastern Louisiana, and the railroads serving the New Orleans area pull more hazardous materials than anywhere else in the nation, Ebbert said.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, owned by the city of New Orleans, is located primarily in Jefferson Parish but has warehouse space in St. Charles Parish. A disaster at the airport would mean agencies from three parishes coming together to respond, in addition to working with Transportation Security Administration officials already handling airport security, Ebbert said.