Report: city ambulances now color coded to fool terrorists

News Radio 88 ^ | 6/28/02

[areafiftyone]

(New York-AP) -- Fire department officials have begun labeling New York City's ambulance fleet with a color of the day, to deter terrorists who might try to pack a bogus emergency vehicle with explosives and drive into a restricted area.

The colored placards are placed in windshields. They are a response to a law enforcement alert issued last Friday that suicide bombers might try to use emergency vehicles for attacks.

Only the city's 600 daily ambulance shifts are using the color codes. The 400 daily shifts run by private companies and hospitals are not participating in the program.

Police commissioner Ray Kelly says the program is a step in the right direction, pointing out that a bogus ambulance was involved in the 1993 attempt to kill former President George Bush in Kuwait.

But an attorney for the Uniformed Emergency Medical Technicians-F-D-N-Y says the system is easy to bypass because terrorists could simply look at an ambulance to figure out what the day's color is.

[dawn53]

But an attorney for the Uniformed Emergency Medical Technicians-F-D-N-Y says the system is easy to bypass because terrorists could simply look at an ambulance to figure out what the day's color is.

Duh, if the system had been kept a secret from the press, then maybe the terrorists wouldn't have known about it and been able to duplicate it.

[McGruff]

a bogus ambulance was involved in the 1993 attempt to kill former President George Bush in Kuwait.

Boy I didn't know that. Stay Alert.

[Looking4Truth]

Someone pleeeeeeze tell me that this is an 'Onion' article.