Place Amateur Radio stations in all hospitals, police stations and fire departments, and emergency shelters. Katrina should have taught the value of Amateur Radio. President Bush needed to get a message to Mayor Nagin in New Orleans. Amateur Radio was the only means of communications to get the message through.
Everyone in the Preparedness field talks about doing this and doing that to be prepared, but no one pays a bit of attention to communications. It's like stepping on toes. "This is my territory, stay away!" "Oh, they're just EMS wannabes!", "Nah, we don't need them." Many Amateur Radio operators are former police and firemen. I've heard many comments that operators just want to be able to run red lights and speed. Not true. We obey all traffic laws going to and from an assignment.
Amateur Radio has been saving lives and aiding federal, state and local governments for almost 100 years.
Yes, I'm an Amateur Radio operator! I serve as a team leader in our county's RACES (now ACS) program at a local hospital.
Talk with the people at the National Registry for Certified EmComm Volunteers. Perhaps begin an affiliation with them. Perfect for setting up a national clearinghouse for EmComm operators.
Comments (17)
Well said!
More can be communicated by a group of experienced Amateur Radio operators who are disciplined and trained, than 500 people trying to talk at the same time over cellphones.
Simply put...It is tried and tested, and it works.
Good points. Some states truly value amateurs especially, I'm told, Florida where huricanes frequently disrupt normal communications. Fewer, though, seem to have programs to encourage their participation in emergency response or exercises.
In Broward County Florida the school shelters have Amateur Radio Antennas already in place. I was sent there just after Hurricane Wilma went through.
I train with our local ARES county representative and at our local level. Because of our Amateur Radio Operators dedication to Emergency Communications and our county, our Emergency Operations Center has a main room dedicated to Amateur Radio usage during activations. Our county Emergency Management Team works directly with them and they are given full reign and are relied upon heavily in our ICS plans.
Please keep in mind that amateur involvement doesn't have to be replacing regular emergency communications. Amateur radio can be very useful in relieving pressure on the main systems by handling non-emergency traffic, keeping necessary (but not life-critical)information flowing without cluttering other systems during an emergency. We often think of situations where the main means of communications are lost, and certainly that has happened and hams have been able to step in, but our (yes, I am a ham) involvement can be useful in other, less stressful, situations as well.
Mike
Franklin County (MO) Amateur Radio Emergency Service Emergency Coordinator
In most hopsitals ham radio is addressed in the Emergency Operations Plan. Under the Health Resources and Services Adminsitartion (HRSA, part of DHHS)) all hospitals must implement the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS). HRSA also requires that the hospital EOP demonstrates integration with first responders via trained individuals in FEMA NIMS 100, 200 and 700 awareness courses. Ham operators should complete these courses to understand the hospital's place in the NIMS ICS.
In Oregon, almost all hospitals, county Emengency Operations Center (EOC/ECC) and many city governmetns are equiped with Amateur stations. The real need is for radio operators who are trained in emergency communications and are available to operate the stations. We also need to train the EOC staff on the capabilty and limitations of our emcom operations. As an ARES member and a hospital adminstrator directing the facility's Emergency Management Program, I have experienced the best and worst of such collaboration. We must also remember that the advantage of Amateur Radio lies in the it's absence of infrastructure. A operator, a radio, a power supply and an antenna. The reason other communication systems fail is the complex infrastructure developed to support public service, etc., communication networks. Amateur radio is 100% intraoperative- we can use the same frequencies, the same modes, etc. To maintain our efficacy as emergency communicators we must continue to focus on training and the stand alone station (which can use digital modes).
Let's not forget that one of the first reports from the region hit by the 2004 Indonesian earthquake & tsunami was also from a ham. Additionally, after the 2001 Seattle earthquake, amateur radio was critical in coordinating response between Canadian & U.S. Coast Guard vessel traffic systems after their primary coordination circuits were knocked out.
I just presented a program for the Health and Human Services Conference this year on this same subject at the invitation of KDEM. I must state for the record that in my state there has been way too much emphasis on the infastructure dependent systems such as the 800 MHz "INTEROPERABILITY" system [which really isn't], the use of Blackberries, cell phones, etc. and simply betting the farm on the twisted pair. It turns out that at virtually every disaster, flood, tornado, wind storm, ice storm, etc., it turns out that these overly expensive systems fail outright while the amateur radio systems [in the hands of trained and disciplined operators] works everytime...as advertised. Thankfully I work with an Emergency Manager who recognises the need for and value of amateur radio. As a CERT Trainer I require all students to take the Technician level ham class which we provide and offer them the General upgrade....as a result our operational CERT team is fully amateur radio qualified as well as being trained above the normal CERT program requirements. We also train our CERT personnel to be able to work seamlessly with our RACES teams, fire departments, law enforcement and EMS sections as well.
As the amateur radio lead for NYC during 9/11, our involvement was limited by what NYC OEM wanted us to do. The ICS/NIMS training after 9/11 has evolved into a useful series. All hams involved in EmComm services (even local independent groups) will garner a benefit from these courses. Combined with local public service/charity events and training drills, they can put into practice what they learned while being in a non-stressful situation as opposed to just jumping into the deep end of the pool when an emergency arises. That is what helped our members to be ready when 9/11 and the 2003 Northeast Blackout hit. Ten years of public service events in the 1990's was not a waste of time. I can be contacted at n2nov@nyc-arecs.org
I agree with n2nov. I worked with him in NYC after 9/11. Public service taught me a lot of skills I needed in NYC.
One of the Hams passing messages was from right here in Nixa,Mo. n0sap Dave He relayed a message from Pres.Bush to the Mayor of New Orleans during the intitial stages of Katrina. All other methods were failing at that time and again Ham Radio worked when other means didn't. The message was sent in Emergency Message Format and was done very quickly. The message was recieved in short order. And directives accomplished. Altho I understand the need for trained operators ( Which in all my posts I stress the need for training)and agree with that aspect wholly. I fail to see the resentment of few towards Amateur Radio. And the posts of a few to degrade it or make Amateur Radio Operators to be incompetent. There are bad characters in all fields. But all shouldn't be judged by the few exceptions. Anything that actually has a proven record of working shouldn't meet with such negativity. As stated above almost all the operators have alot of training and are professional in there operations. Another note in the Haiti Earthquake one of the only means of communications was with ham operators. Countless other disasters as mentioned above demonstrate the need for Amateur Radio
I would like to suggest that we form an amateur radio working group to discuss amateur radio related topics with out impdeing on the other topics/ issues
This could be valuable if we could eliminate all the self serving groups, any vendor, ARRL, W5YI, etc. from the mix because for most of the problems we need to solve there will always be the MONEY issue and these types of folks are always more interested in getting their hands on the bucks and the control that ensures than in solving our problems. I have been involved with way too many of these situations not to know this to be true. I am not downing those who are memebers of the ARRL,W5YI, etc., I belong to ARRL and have for many, many years...most of the memebers are great and caring people, but the corporate "they" are more interested in the bucks than serving the needs of the nation. That might explain why during Greensburg we couldn't get the famed GOKITS shipped to the area; and that isn't the only situation I could name.
I agree a section dedicated to this topic seems to be appropriate. I agree also with the vendor suggestion too. Good Ideas men. And after all this is about volunteering and helping people and developing new ideas to benefit emergencies and not making money. I'm all for the group.
Ham Radio works.....
June 17th 2010 5:07pm(cst) an EF-4 tornado rips thru town.
5:10pm people are slowly making their way out to access the damages.They are trying to call loved ones, no landline phone, the antenna for Verizon is destroyed, other systems are overloaded.
Emergency personal are being mobilized. How ever they are having dificult times comunicating, do to a damaged tower at dispatch.
Yet thru it all, one persons call is heard some 200 miles away at the NWS and by others. It's a ham radio operator.
The following week after the tornado ham's are called in to assist in communications, along side emergency personal from all over the state. Todd County, had brought in their trailor and EM (who is also a ham).
He sends one guy out with a crew from the DNR, some 15 miles away. Countless times the DNR guys with radios that cost 5 times what this hams radio does asks him to relay a message back to EOC, cause they can't reach them with their equipment.
Lesson learned.... Ham radio plays an important role in emergency communications. Just ask the Wadena County EM.
RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE
Careful attention needs to be given to this aspect of interoperable communications systems.
90 percent of all high-risk urban areas designated within the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) should be able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications3 within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies. 75 percent of non-UASI jurisdictions should be able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies. By 2013, 75 percent of all jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within three hours, in the event of a significant incident as outlined in national planning scenarios. Communications operability is a critical building block for interoperability; emergency response officials must first establish reliable communications within their own agency before they can interoperate with neighboring jurisdictions and other agencies.
Amateur Radio stations should be in all hospitals, police stations and fire departments, and emergency shelters. While DHS acknowledges that the Nation does not have unlimited resources to address deficiencies in emergency communications, some might question whether the AMATEUR RADIO community may be capable of demonstrating the ability to satisfy these goals today. Chances are a combination Of MARS, ARRL/ARES, RACES, SATERN, and the National Communications System Shared Resources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES) could validate this in a National Level Exercise.