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Fri 05 May 2004New system will overhaul New York's rescue responseWired on Friday: Last week, New Yorkers relived the horror of September 11th, 2001 when the independent federal commission investigating the terrorist attacks came to the city to question current and former leaders of the Fire Department (FDNY), Police Department (NYPD) and Port Authority Police Department. Over two days of hearings, the city's inadequate communications system and agencies' poor planning came to light, writes Carol PowerCalls to the 911 emergency response system which were recorded and which members of the commission listened to in private showed that callers within the two twin towers, who had no access to the public address system which had been destroyed, were told by the 911 operators and FDNY dispatchers to whom the 911 calls were transferred, to stay in their offices even after the two planes had struck the buildings. One problem seemed to be that the fire and police departments had no way of communicating updated evacuation procedures to the 911 operators who were receiving the calls for help. According to preliminary findings by the independent commission, the 911 system remained plagued by the operators' lack of awareness of what was occurring and by the sheer volume of emergency calls.