The ARES E-Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
August 17, 2011
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
____________
In This Issue:
IN THIS ISSUE
- ECAC Studying ARES/NTS Issues
- EC-001 Updates
- ARRL Partners' Roundup
- Letters
- Basic Training: ICS
- Hurricane Season Heats Up: Review ARES Disaster Principles
- EmComm East: September 25, Rochester, New York
- K1CE For a Final
_____________
ARES® Briefs
July 26 -- New Mexico Hams Provide Communications Support During
Wildfires
The Hope for the Warriors Foundation Run for the Warriors is a 10k, 5k
and 1 mile run taking place in Lindenhurst, New York, November 13. John
Melfi, W2HCB , EC/RO of Babylon, New York
and President of the Great South Bay ARC is seeking communicators to
work the event. "We have had operators from Staten Island, Manhattan
and as far east as the twin forks on eastern Long Island," said Melfi.
"For the past two years we have had 65 operators and would like to see
an increase this year. This organization helps Veterans and their
families with medical and housing needs." To volunteer, please see the
Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club Web site.
Follow ARRL EMCOMM on Twitter here
.
The 2012 edition of EMCOMMWEST will be
held the first weekend in May, 2012. Starting on Friday, May 4, and
running through Sunday, May 6, EMCOMMWEST will again be hosted in Reno,
Nevada at the Grand Sierra Resort.
The ARRL Minnesota Section has an excellent ARES Web site. Check it out
here .
==> ECAC STUDYING ARES/NTS ISSUES
A committee of the ARRL Board of Directors has tasked the League's
Emergency Communications Advisory Committee (ECAC) with studying and
making recommendations for possible changes in the structural and
functional relationships between the venerable National Traffic System
and ARES. Specifically, the charge to the committee states: "The
Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the National Traffic System exist
as the ARRL's implementation of the basic principle stated in 97.1(a),
'Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the
public as a voluntary non-commercial communication service,
particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.' The
Emergency Communications Advisory Committee is hereby tasked by the
Programs and Services Committee to recommend improvements to ARES and
NTS so that the amateur service can better serve the public in
providing emergency communications. Specific topics should include, but
not be limited to, the following: (1) ARES and NTS objectives and
organizational structures; (2) integration between ARES and NTS; (3)
Training, certification, and credentialing; and (4) relationships with
served agencies. Progress reports should be submitted to the PSC every
90 days and the final report should be submitted by June 1, 2012."
In discussions with ECAC Chairman Dale Williams, WA8EFK, his feeling is
that the study is an opportunity to take a fresh look at the overall
organizational structure and look for improvements in several areas,
including how we are perceived by served agencies: local EMA versus
FEMA at the national level, and the programs' roles in
multi-jurisdictional incidents. Williams says the committee should
study questions such as how well we fit our goals with their needs; how
they view our ability to fill their needs; and how promptly we are able
to respond.
On the messaging side of the equation, questions the committee will
consider are how well we handle messages including tactical versus
strategic messaging, and speed versus accuracy. What is our error rate?
Is the standard NTS message format sufficient for contemporary needs?
Williams said that there is a feeling that the "last mile relationship
between traffic handlers and ARES members seems to be broken. Neither
feels an affinity towards the other. NTSers in general don't join ARES
and vice-versa, yet both groups have claims on abilities to handle
traffic in an emergency. Fixing this may also be a goal of the
committee."
The committee met in teleconference on August 3 to consider and edit
drafts of surveys planned for release to gain field input on these
questions of ARES and NTS, and possible integration. The surveys should
be sent to the field soon. The committee meets again on September 7.
Readers are invited to contact their ECAC representatives to provide
their own input on these questions: Chairman Dale Williams, WA8EFK
(Great Lakes); Jim Cross, WI3N
(Atlantic); Bill Niemuth, KB9ENO
(Central); Jim Zahradnicek, KD0S
(Dakota); Jim Coleman, AI5B (Delta); Jim Mezey,
W2KFV (Hudson); Reynolds Davis, K0GND
(Midwest); Dave Colter, WA1ZCN
(New England); Gordon Grove, WA7LNC
(Northwestern); James Latham, AF6AQ
(Pacific); Charlie Miller, AE4UX
(Roanoke); Jeff Ryan, K0RM (Rocky
Mountain); Rick Palm, K1CE (Southeastern); Grant Hays,
WB6OTS (Southwestern); Glen Reid, K5FX
(West Gulf), and Doug Mercer, VO1DTM
(Radio Amateurs of Canada). The Board liaison is
Mickey Cox, K5MC, and the ARRL HQ liaison is Emergency Preparedness
Manager Mike Corey, W5MPC.
==> EC-001 UPDATES
Field Classes and Exams for Introduction to Emergency Communication
Ready to Launch
The infrastructure to re-launch field instruction in ARRL's Emergency
Communications training program is now in place.
The printed course transcript is now available in the ARRL store:
www.arrl.org/shop/The-ARRL-Introduction-to-Emergency-Communication-Course/
Field exams for the new course have been developed and are available
from the ARRL Continuing Education Program office. You can review
requirements for registering as a Field Examiner and find the
information you'll need to perform those responsibilities, including
instructions for ordering exams, at:
www.arrl.org/emergency-communications-field-examiners
You can find authorized ARRL Field Instructors and Field Examiners by
conducting a search of our database at: www.arrl.org/find-a-fi
and www.arrl.org/find-a-fe
.
We've also just launched a new searchable database for Field
Instructors and Field Examiners to register their classes and/or exam
sessions on our website www.arrl.org/find-an-emcomm-class-exam
.
EC-001 Field Instructors Needed
Field Instructors are volunteers who commit their time and expertise to
offer classroom instruction of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Course. Volunteer instructors may now conduct classroom
instruction covering the material in the new Introduction to Emergency
Communication course.
Field Instructors must be registered with the ARRL Continuing Education
Program and must meet certain requirements:
- Completion of EC-001 (old or new version)
- Completion of FEMA IS-100, 200, 700 and 800
- Must be 18 years of age with Technician or higher license
- ARRL member
- Recommendation of Section Manager
If you are interested in serving as an ARRL Field Instructor for EC-001
you may submit an application here
.
==> ARRL PARTNERS' ROUNDUP
American Red Cross - Here is an excellent
heat wave safety check list
.
Summer heat is at record highs in many parts of the country. Be safe
out there.
Federal Emergency Management Agency - September
is a time to remember, and a time to prepare. Here is information on
the National Preparedness Month
, of which ARRL is a
coalition member. ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager, Allen Pitts,
W1AGP, offers the following advice on National Preparedness Month.
There are only 3 weeks left before September, (yikes!) so time to sign
up is short. In the past years, clubs and ARES groups have been among
the very top activities for National Preparedness Month and listed on
their national government website - and it got noticed! It doesn't
require you to do much more than what your groups is probably doing
already, so there's no reason not to sign in. Besides that, you can get
good materials for newsletters and promotional media for free from
them.
Once you sign up, look around their website - there are places you can
post pictures and stories on their national website too.
It's a no-brainer for PIOs and national exposure.
APCO International's 77th Conference and Expo
ARRL Staff members Mike Corey, W5MPC, and
Ken Bailey, K1FUG, attended the Association of Public Safety
communications Officials International (APCO) Conference held in
Philadelphia August 7 - 10, 2011.
During this four day event attendees could sit in on numerous
presentations on topics such as interoperability, the FCC's
narrowbandings mandate that impacts Public Service Communications, P25
modes of operations, ICS structures, and a host of other public safety
communications concerns. Opportunities abounded to learn new skills,
explore new products and services and connect with public safety
officials and hams alike.
The Salvation Army -
published photos from the recent, worst local flood in history (Minot,
North Dakota) here . They
show the extreme devastation and caseworkers preparing for long-term
assistance.
REACT International has its Board meeting
on August 14. The REACTer is the official
publication of the organization, which has the following objectives:
(1) To assist in any emergency by supplying volunteer radio
communications in cooperation with authorities and other volunteer
organizations; (2) To practice and encourage operating excellence
through professional communication techniques; (3) To maintain
equipment at peak efficiency and operate in accordance with all
government regulations; and (4) To advise the public of correct
effective use of the emergency frequencies, such as Citizens Band (CB)
channel 9, General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) frequency 462.675 MHz,
and Cellular 9-1-1.
National Weather Service SKYWARN® --
Complete information on this critical volunteer spotter program in
which radio amateurs play a major part can be found here
. The ARRL recently updated its
memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the NWS. See the new document
here .
National Public Safety Telecommuncations Council
-- NPSTC's quarterly newsletter is online and
available for viewing
.
==> LETTERS
Force Multiplier, Not Last-Ditch Fall Back
In re last month's Op-Ed piece, one of the first questions I was asked
a number of years ago in Tempe, Arizona, is why [public safety
communications systems are] going to fail. My answer was I didn't know
they would fail, but I was pretty sure that in a major disaster, they
would become channel limited and their trunked systems would be
operating at capacity. Amateur Radio adds capacity when needed. As the
author noted, it's not free, but it's close.
Walt Schucknecht, N7IZM has another way to illustrate it: he puts us in
the role of the "color commentator." Sure, you could listen to the ball
game without Mark Grace telling you what the players are going through,
but Mark adds a richness to the presentation because he's been in the
batter's box. Presenting Amateur Radio in the same way sets achievable
expectations and if your served agencies have issues, your team is
positioned to quickly and quietly step in. Later boasting about how you
saved the day, however, is probably not a smart way to win
relationships and be invited back at a later date. Keeping a low
profile, and being able to deliver a meaningful response when requested
will keep you in demand.
In my opinion, which is likely not shared by everyone, the days of a
Katrina-like total system failure are largely behind us. The big boys
had their butts handed to them, and have since spent a lot of effort,
time and money to dissect the underlying problems and strengthen them
appropriately. A case in point was when well over 500,000 citizens were
evacuated during the California Wildfires in San Diego. The system was
strained, but it didn't collapse.
Where these systems frankly don't play well is with the more local
issues, like coordinating the evacuation of a nursing home or smaller
neighborhoods. This is being a force multiplier as the author points
out. What I mean is, do you want to tie up a bunch of firemen or sworn
officers, or does it make sense to use volunteers to go house to house
thus multiplying the effect of those few professionals? Having a wide
area communications system in place that we can bring to the party
makes us only that much more valuable.
I really believe that Al hit the nail right on the head.-- Rick Aldom,
W7STS, Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, Arizona
Just wanted to comment that I am in 100% agreement with the op-ed piece
in the last issue: It's time we started touting our capabilities as a
"force multiplier," but to be able to do that, we need truly trained
operators, and that means training in radio basics. Those of us on the
sharp end of the rope serving our cert teams, etc. and people in our
neighborhoods and workplaces need competent people to man net control
and to actually handle our traffic. That's the part NTS is supposed to
play: training, as well as long haul messaging capability. We're
rapidly losing this capability. Operators aren't used to thinking
beyond infrastructure, such as repeaters, etc. That's where we fall
down -- our operators don't have the access to the training they need
to acquire the skills they must have. -- Richard Webb, NF5B, Chairman,
NTS Central Area Staff
Re: The Dan Woll/Barneveld Tornado Story
Wow! You are quite right. Woll's story
is gripping, compelling. It should be compulsory reading for every
Amateur Radio operator who thinks that he/she is ready to handle emcomm
duties. No amount of net affiliation, parades, bicycle rallies or
general drill duty can train a volunteer for what to expect in the way
of the charged atmosphere of a real disaster. Unfortunately, just
getting people to read Woll's account doesn't mean that it will be
understood or taken to heart.
I'm certainly not advocating that we all become licensed amateur
psychiatrists, in addition to radio operators. But I think, in addition
to an equipment check and a basic personal appearance scrutiny, there
should also be some compulsory, basic sensitivity training provided for
anyone volunteering for duty in a disaster area. - Dick Montgomery,
N3DV , Bedminster, New Jersey
==> BASIC TRAINING: ICS
The government's Incident Command System (ICS) was developed in the
1970s following a series of fires in California's urban interface.
Property damage ran into the millions, and many people died or were
injured. The personnel assigned to determine the causes of these
outcomes studied the case histories and discovered that response
problems could rarely be attributed to lack of resources or failure of
tactics. Surprisingly, studies found that response problems were far
more likely to result from inadequate management than from any other
single reason.
The Incident Command System was developed as a standardized management
tool for meeting the demands of small or large emergency or
non-emergency situations. The ICS represents "best practices" and has
become the standard for emergency management across the country. It may
be used for planned events, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism.
It is a key feature of the National Incident Management System
(NIMS).
The ICS is a management system designed to enable effective and
efficient domestic incident management by integrating a combination of
facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications
operating within a common organizational structure. ICS is used by all
levels of government--Federal, State, local, and tribal--as well as by
many private-sector and nongovernmental organizations. ICS is also
applicable across disciplines. It is normally structured to facilitate
activities in five major functional areas: command, operations,
planning, logistics, and finance and administration. More in the next
issue. - FEMA
==> HURRICANE SEASON HEATS UP: REVIEW ARES DISASTER PRINCIPLES
1. Keep the QRM level down. In a disaster, many of the most crucial
stations will be weak in signal strength. It is essential that all
other stations remain silent unless they are called upon. If you're not
sure you should transmit -- don't. Our amateur bands are very
congested. If you want to help, study the situation by listening. Don't
transmit unless you are sure you can help by doing so. Don't ever break
into a disaster net just to inform the control station you are there if
needed.
2. Monitor established disaster frequencies. Many localities and some
geographical areas have established disaster frequencies where someone
is always (or nearly always) monitoring for possible calls. When you
are not otherwise engaged, it is helpful simply to sit and listen on
such frequencies, some of which are used for general rag-chewing as
well as disaster preparedness drilling.
3. Avoid spreading rumors. During and after a disaster situation,
especially on the phone bands, you may hear almost anything.
Unfortunately, much misinformation is transmitted. Rumors are started
by expansion, deletion, amplification or modification of words,
exaggeration or interpretation. All addressed transmissions should be
officially authenticated as to their source. These transmissions should
be repeated word for word, if at all, and only when specifically
authorized. In a disaster emergency situation, with everyone's nerves
on edge, it is little short of criminal to make a statement on the air
without foundation in authenticated fact.
4. Authenticate all messages. Every message which purports to be of an
official nature should be written and signed. Whenever possible,
amateurs should avoid initiating disaster or emergency traffic
themselves. We do the communicating; the agency officials we serve
supply the content of the communications.
5. Strive for efficiency. Whatever happens in an emergency, you will
find hysteria and some amateurs who are activated by the thought that
they must be "sleepless heroes." Instead of operating your own station
full time at the expense of your health and efficiency, it is much
better to serve a shift at one of the best-located and best-equipped
stations. This station will be suitable for the work at hand, and
manned by relief shifts of the best-qualified operators. This reduces
interference and secures well-operated stations.
6. Select the mode and band to suit the need. It is a characteristic of
all amateurs to believe that their favorite mode and band is superior
to all others. For certain specific purposes and distances, this may be
true. However, the merits of a particular band or mode in a
communications emergency should be evaluated impartially with a view to
the appropriate use of bands and modes. There is, of course, no
alternative to using what happens to be available, but there are ways
to optimize available communications.
==> EMCOMM EAST: SEPTEMBER 25, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
The fourth annual EmComm East emergency communications conference is
set for September 25, 2011, at the St. John Fisher College, Rochester,
New York. EmComm East is an ARRL-sanctioned Amateur Radio emergency
communications conference where Amateur Radio operators involved in
emcomm can attend training sessions on technical topics, learn from
served agencies, and interact with other emcomm operators from all over
the area.
Featured speaker this year is Mike Corey, W5MPC. Corey is the Emergency
Preparedness Manager for the ARRL. His major responsibilities include
interfacing with ARRL's national partners, emergency communications
training, support and guidance for the ARRL field organization on
emergency communications issues, organization of the ARRL HQ Emergency
Response Team, MOU compliance, and addressing the development and
implementation of an organizational disaster response plan complete
with supporting procedures and training.Register on-line at: EmComm
East . The $30 registration fee includes
continental breakfast and lunch. See you in September! -- EmComm East,
September 25, 2011, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, St. John Fisher College,
Rochester, New York
==> K1CE FOR A FINAL
This is my last chance to communicate with readers before the upcoming
tenth anniversary of 9/11 next month. I know I mentioned this in
another issue earlier this year, but if you missed it, here is another
chance to read a first-person report by 9/11
first responder and radio amateur Bob Hejl, W2IK, that I found to be
raw and powerful. Hejl was among the first to be on the scene on 9/11.
The author is suffering from PTSD as a result of his experience. For
me, it is a good way to remember and memorialize those courageous
responders who helped others in one of world history's most horrific
events. -- Rick, K1CE , Flagler County,
Florida
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==============================
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---
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