Sirens sounded, warning the residents of Utica, Ill., that a tornado was approaching. As they had many times before, 30 residents of the rural western Illinois community gathered in the Milestone, a sturdy, 100-year-old tavern in the city's downtown center. But, this time, the building would not hold.

The tremendous force of the tornado threw a vehicle into the first floor, which collapsed into the basement, trapping all who had sought refuge. On that evening in April 2004, the local first responders knew they needed help. They turned to MABAS, the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System.

Within an hour, search and rescue crews from around the state began working through the night, digging through the rubble rock by rock. A dozen victims were rescued, and eight bodies were recovered within hours. Even veteran first responders from major cities were impressed with the cooperative rescue efforts. “They had never seen a response like this before,” recounts Jay Reardon, MABAS' first chief executive officer. “It was immediate, great and effective.”

While MABAS has been engaged in mutual support during disasters for 40 years, it is not alone in its ability to send aid to critical situations. In Illinois, for example, the state's own emergency management system can send additional resources, from law enforcement to public works, to a disaster. In the direst of situations, Illinois can request help from states around the nation, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a congressionally ratified program to organize interstate cooperation. EMAC is under the jurisdiction of the Lexington, Ky.-based National Emergency Management Association and funded by Federal Emergency Management Agency grants. “All the systems link together nicely,” Reardon says. “There are no excuses anymore. We have to get the job done. Everyone has to pull the rope together. The rules of the past no longer apply.”

Katrina pushes management

Ever since the nation watched the federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the focus on emergency management has intensified at every government level. While not criticizing the local governments in Louisiana, officials elsewhere point to their own longstanding planning to meet disasters and their cooperation agreements to get the right resources quickly to the scene. In fact, they cite the massive response of other states to the Gulf Coast in the immediate aftermath as an example of the network's success.

Yet, at every layer of the system, leaders point to the complexity of the management issues and the planning that must take place before an incident. More and more, the cooperation is drawing from a broader range of resources, calling on law enforcement, public works, water and wastewater, and even animal rescue professionals, in addition to the expected fire and rescue.

Before the responders can be employed at the scene, countless details must be handled: What happens if someone is hurt? What happens if equipment is damaged? Who will handle the command and coordination? How much will the providers be reimbursed?

Without proper planning, the additional support can hinder more than help. Firefighters could go to the wrong places, people who need to sleep could not have facilities to accommodate them, and police officers out of their jurisdiction could not have arrest powers.

Leaders of the mutual aid programs say it is critical to resolve those issues before the crisis so responders can focus on saving property and lives. “Troops win battles. Logistics win wars,” says Jerry Rhodes, chief of the Cunningham Fire Protection District, outside Denver Colo., and chair of the Emergency Management Committee of the Fairfax, Va.-based International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC).

Rhodes and others point to the first moments of a crisis as the key to securing the right assistance. It's essential to identify how many and what kind of personnel are needed, what equipment will be required and for how long. Then, the mutual aid systems must determine what resources are available to help. And, management of the assistance on the scene is essential. “If we don't have it right,” Reardon says, “we can cause a nightmare on the incident scene.”