First responders seen still at risk from devices that can’t talk to each other. First responders remain at risk because their communications equipment too often cannot talk to other devices, a deadly problem for firefighters and police during the September 11 terror attacks, witnesses told Congress May 27. Consumer electronics continue to have higher interoperability standards. Mobile radios still sometimes don’t communicate with other devices, even those made by the same manufacturers, a director at the Homeland Security Department, told the House science committee’s technology panel, He and a program manager at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, issued an “extremely urgent” call for action. They recommended test standards to ensure interoperability across vendors, townships and agencies.