A report by a bipartisan group of experts and former federal officials says the United States is drastically underfunding emergency personnel and is ‘‘dangerously ill-prepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil.’’Relying on information from emergency-response groups nationwide, the report cited shortages in protective gear for police and firefighters, archaic communications systems and inadequate capacity in hospitals and public-health labs.It called for spending $98 billion over the next five years — nearly four times as much as the federal government is slated to spend. ‘‘This is a crisis of national proportions,’’ said former Republican Sen. Warren Rudman, a co-author of the report with Richard Clarke, who left the Bush administration as a presidential adviser on computer security.The report listed several major shortcomings: 1) Fire departments widely lack the personnel and equipment. 2) Police lack protective gear to secure a site after an attack with chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear weapons. 3) Public-health labs in most states lack equipment and expertise. 4) Emergency responders often have archaic communications systems. —LAT-WP
