[ARRL-OK] Fw: The ARES E-Letter for June 18, 2014

[Mark Conklin via ARRL-OK]

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Subject: The ARES E-Letter for June 18, 2014
 


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June 18, 2014Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
ARES E-Letter Archive
ARES Home
ARRL Home Page 
In This Issue:
 
	* ARRL Named NOAA Weather-Ready Nation
Ambassador™ 
	* A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Boulder
County, Colorado ARES Supports Bolder Boulder 10K
	* Reports: Hospital ICS Protocol Released with Job
Sheet for Amateur Radio
	* CERT Volunteers: Download Disaster
Reporter
	* TEMA AuxComm Spring Exercise in the History
Books
	* Reports: National Hurricane Center Director
Commends WX4NHC Ops, Test
	* Memorial Day Medical Emergency Supported by
Massachusetts Amateurs
	* K1CE For a Final: Communications in Neighborhood
Preparedness
ARRL Named NOAA
Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador™ 
The ARRL has
been accepted as a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador. The
Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador initiative is an effort to formally recognize NOAA
partners who are improving the nation's readiness against extreme weather,
water, and climate events. As a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador, the ARRL
is committing to work with NOAA and other Ambassadors to
strengthen national resilience against extreme weather. Local ARES groups can
register and participate as well.
The NOAA
Weather-Ready Nation website can be found here. More information can be found at
this site: Be a Force of Nature
Follow the program on Twitter @NWS. - Thanks, Mike Corey, KI1U, ARRL Emergency Preparedness
Manager
________
The
Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, Emergency Management (OCEM) has been awarded a grant
of nearly $3700 from Operation Round Up and the ECE Foundation that will
allow the agency to purchase an Amateur Radio-based location-tracking system
for SKYWARN storm
spotters. ARRL Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator Mark Conklin, N7XYO,
and several area radio amateurs helped county emergency managers in
planning the project. More info here. -- ARRL
Top
A Picture is
Worth a Thousand Words: Boulder County, Colorado ARES Supports Bolder
Boulder 10K
On Memorial Day, Monday, May 26,
more than 52,000 runners and an additional 60,000 spectators gathered for
the annual Bolder Boulder 10K race on the streets of Boulder,
Colorado. This 10K race, the largest of its kind, is open to anyone who registered
and is run in waves beginning with the first wave of wheelchair
contestants starting off at 6:55 AM followed by waves of "Citizen" runners. There are
90 waves in all with the Elite 10K runners, many of whom are from around
the world, finally taking to the course around 11:15 AM. This meant that the
Boulder County, Colorado ARES (BCARES) ATV team had to be in place before
6:30 AM and for many, the morning started at "Oh Dark Thirty" in order to
pick up the large amount of equipment needed and to reach their ATV vantage
points before the crowds showed up.
All BCARES
operators were on site and on the air transmitting seven separate ATV pictures to
the Incident Command Post before the first wave of contestants ever
approached the starting line. Supporting the Bolder Boulder and their served
agencies -- the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, the Boulder City Police
Department and the Colorado University Police Department -- were 14 Amateur
Radio operators from BCARES. Unlike most running and bicycle race events,
the primary mission for BCARES was not to support aid stations or SAG wagons
and/or supplement race course communications, but to provide Amateur TV,
or ATV as is commonly known, to the Incident Command Post. This medium
provided these agencies with unprecedented situational awareness from the
starting line in downtown Boulder to the finish line at the Colorado University
Stadium.
BCARES personnel relied on their vast
experience, ATV skills and state of the art ATV equipment obtained over the years
from responding to emergencies like the devastating 2010 Four-Mile Canyon fire and the 2013 Colorado floods that hit Boulder County. ATV has been one of the primary tools in the
toolbox employed by BCARES for over 20 years. They are recognized as being the
"Go To" ATV experts within the State of Colorado and routinely offer their
personnel, services and equipment to the rest of the Colorado ARES groups
around the state as needed.
The members of BCARES, which
represents Boulder and Broomfield counties as Region 1, District 3 of
Colorado ARES, used a combination of ATV, UHF, microwave frequencies and social
networking technologies to share their live ATV pictures between sites over
great distances during the Bolder Boulder. Coordination of the
Jack Hess, K3UGR, ATV cameraman (photo courtesy WM0G) 
ATV camera operators and communications to
the ICP was effected through a combination of VHF simplex and repeater
frequencies. Four cameras were on the air using traditional 70cm ATV
transmitters and camcorders. These cameras are backpack mounted and allow the
operators to roam freely and be
in any place that they may be
needed. An additional two cameras were employed on 1.2 GHz from the start
line with their pictures being relayed to the ICP via a 5.8 GHz microwave
link to a repeater located south of Boulder and relayed to the ICP. Rounding
out the cache of ATV cameras was a seventh PTZ remote-controlled camera that
was hard-wired to the video distribution box at the ICP. All of the seven
pictures were simultaneously being recorded via SD memory sticks on the
cameras and/or on solid state DVRs within the video distribution boxes. The
combination of all seven camera pictures was distributed to the various
agencies at the ICP via various flat screen monitors. Additionally, a video link
was uploaded via uStream that was shared on the Internet with our State ARES Management Team
and offered to the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Director and ARES managers
at ARRL HQ to view as well. The live uStream video streaming link was also
embedded into the BCARES web page for the rest of our BCARES personnel to
monitor from their homes.
After the event was over,
there were a few medical emergencies noticed in the stands where people had
gathered, most likely from heat exhaustion. Remote BCARES ATV operators were
able to find the incidents quickly and get their cameras on them. The
incident management team at the ICP was able to view the response by their EMS
teams on their monitors and follow them through to the eventual evacuation
of the patients. These videos will also serve as great training aids for
future EMS teams. - Thanks, Jack Ciaccia, WMØG, ARRL Colorado
Section Manager
Top
Reports: Hospital ICS
Protocol Released with Job Sheet for Amateur Radio
The
fifth addition of the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) 2014 was just published. This document sets forth protocols for incident command
responses to disasters associated with hospitals -- internally or
within the community. Click here to view the document.
New for 2014
is a specific Job Action Sheet for the Emergency Amateur Radio
Operator. The Job Action Sheet is based on the one implemented by the Western
Washington Medical Services Team about a decade ago and updated by the Kaiser Permanente Amateur
Radio Network (KPARN). This document has now been formatted to meet HICS
criteria and will serve as an excellent starting point for any Amateur Radio
group supporting a hospital. Download it here.
Lisa Schoenthal, Chief,
Disaster Medical Services Division, California Emergency Medical Services
Authority, announced the public release of the Fifth Edition of the HICS, and said
this conclusion of the multi-year revision process is the culmination of
extensive national stakeholder input. The California EMSA thanked all
participants in this endeavor that "exemplifies unprecedented collaboration among
both public and private healthcare and emergency management partners from
communities across the local, regional, state, and national levels. This
HICS, Fifth Edition is offered to assist hospitals and the healthcare
community nationwide with their emergency management goals." -- reported by
Duane Mariotti, WB9RER, Westminster, California
[editor's note: The Kaiser Permanente Amateur Radio Network has an excellent web
site www.kparn.org with hospital communications information. Mariotti reports "In my
presentations (some are posted on the web site) I stress that hospital communications
are not shelter or EOC or like any other communications -- hospitals
already have patients that they are responsible for taking care of when the
crisis starts. When they need a patient relocated, literally someone's life is
at stake as a result of this communications activity. Even the basics of
what information is required are unique. Hospital buildings do not move and
the information that local government, health departments, etc, all want is
the same so you can publish forms for use by all as part of planning." The
webmaster also tracks Amateur Radio organizations that are devoted
exclusively to supporting hospital communications.]
Top
CERT
Volunteers: Download Disaster Reporter
A message from FEMA: A picture
is worth a thousand words. As we kick off the 2014 Hurricane Season, help
us highlight the CERT [Community Emergency Response Team] program and
demonstrate your capacity as citizens and trained volunteers to provide accurate,
on-the-ground situational awareness and augment the capabilities of
professional responders during disasters.
As a CERT
volunteer, you play an integral role in disaster reporting in your community.
Administrator Fugate is calling upon CERT volunteers throughout the country,
including you, to download the FEMA mobile app, which includes Disaster Reporter.
Why should you use Disaster Reporter? Here are our top four reasons:
1. It provides FEMA responders, local emergency managers,
CERT volunteers, and the public with greater visibility into disaster
situations across the United States. This can help expedite emergency response
efforts.
2. It provides a reliable source for viewing
disaster events around the country.
3. It's a great free
resource to download straight to your mobile phone.
4.
Your support efforts in an impacted area will be displayed publicly on an online
map.
Learn more about Disaster Reporter at http://www.fema.gov/disaster-reporter and http://www.fema.gov/disaster-reporter-terms-conditions. To download the FEMA app, please visit http://www.fema.gov/smartphone-app.
In addition to the Disaster
Reporter tool, the FEMA App also has preparedness tips, an interactive
emergency kit checklist, recovery safety tips, open Red Cross Shelters, open
FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers, and FEMA blog posts. The app is available
for Android, Apple, and Blackberry. Don't
forget to check the latest CERT newsletter for other great resources and
stories. The latest edition is available at http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-team-national-newsletter.
Top 
TEMA AuxComm Spring Exercise in the History
Books
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency
(TEMA) held its annual AuxComm Spring exercise May 1-4, 2014 at the
Tennessee Fire and Code Enforcements Academy in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. The
scenario for the exercise was that a major cyber-attack had been launched against
the US taking down the Internet and critical infrastructure and resulting
in civil disturbance and casualties. Because the Internet was unavailable,
all message traffic had to be passed by radio-only Winlink messages. [Winlink 2000 is a global system for sending and
receiving e-mail formatted messages over radio, independent of the Internet, which
makes it attractive to entities needing to send messages when disasters
occur and the Internet is consequently down. Amateur Radio and MARS are
heavily invested in this system.]
There were four primary
objectives of the exercise: (1) Training on the use of the Winlink system in
general and specifically on the use of radio-only message transmission.
Training also was provided on the Incident Command System (ICS) and HF field
antennas; (2) test and assessment of the Winlink radio-only message
transmission capability and capacity when stressed with an intense traffic load; (3)
test long-haul relaying of messages from distant states (including
Washington and Hawaii) via HF radio relay; and (4) test interoperability between SHARES, military
units, civilian agencies, NGOs and individual participants.
Approximately 90 attended the exercise. There were 15 Winlink
stations on-site in operation simultaneously including stations in a dozen
command/communication vehicles. Many agencies participated on-site including TEMA,
the Tennessee Department of Health, the National and State Guard, CUSEC, American Red
Cross, Arnold Air Force, FedEx, Bridgestone Emergency Response Team, and
multiple county EMAs. In addition to on-site participants, many agencies and
individuals exchanged Winlink messages within the exercise from off-site
locations.
All objectives for the exercise were met and
exceeded. Training was provided both on-site and in Jackson, Tennessee. More than
880 radio-only messages were reported to have been sent/received by
on-site stations. In addition, more than 400 messages were reported for the
conventional (Internet-linked) Winlink system. All received messages were
reported with 100% accuracy. Long-haul message relaying worked well with messages
originating as far away as Washington and Hawaii.
An
additional burden was placed on the radio-only Winlink system by a major
Winlink radio-only exercise being carried out concurrently in Texas. The HF
footprint of the two tests had overlapped.
Automatic
Relaying of Packet Messages via HF
A system was set up in
the Williamson County EMA trailer to act as a combined packet and HF RMS
(Regional Message Server). Messages were sent to this RMS via packet
connections from local client stations, and the RMS automatically forwarded the
messages via HF to other RMS. This demonstrated that a packet/HF RMS located in
a position with good coverage can provide wide-area (nationwide) relaying
of packet messages via HF.
Interoperability Results
On the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) network, multiple
messages were exchanged between the Tennessee National and State Guard,
various civilian government agencies, NGOs and individual MARS members. On the
SHARES network, interoperability was demonstrated between multiple
agencies. Since the MARS and SHARES networks use different RMSs and radio
frequencies, messages were not directly transferred between MARS and SHARES
stations; MARS/SHARES interoperability was achieved by having a joint
communications center at the exercise. SHARES/MARS linking on Winlink could be
accomplished easily if policy so dictates. - Steve Waterman, K4CJX, Winlink
Development Team
Top
Reports: National Hurricane Center Director
Commends WX4NHC Ops, Test
The National Hurricane Center's Amateur Radio station WX4NHC operators conducted their annual on-the-air station test on
May 31, 2014. This is the 34th year of volunteer public service by the
WX4NHC group at the NHC. WX4NHC conducts this event each year in preparation for
hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th. 
The station and operators were tested on many frequencies and
modes, including HF, VHF, UHF, HF WinLink, VHF/HF APRS, EchoLink/IRLP/All-Star,
email and an on-line reporting form. All radio equipment and antennas
performed well producing the most contacts made during this event in memory.
Other equipment tests and operator training were conducted on new modes, and
software was tweaked.
The WX4NHC test also provided good
experience for Amateur Radio operators worldwide, but especially
significant for those in hurricane prone areas, testing their stations' ability to
contact WX4NHC should they need to during a hurricane. The test also
provided a good opportunity for NWS office staff to become aware of the unique
capabilities of Amateur Radio during severe weather and disaster
communications when conventional communication modes fail. 
For the
first time, D-STAR/D-RATS reports were received at WX4NHC, which had been proposed during the National
Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Florida this year by John Davis, WB4QDX, who
organized and coordinated this effort. Although WX4NHC does not currently
have a D-STAR radio at the station, 51 Surface Weather Reports via the
D-RATS platform were received at WX4NHC. Operators are excited about the
potential that D-STAR/D-RATS modes can produce hurricane surface reports in a
similar format that is used at WX4NHC. These reports may some day fill in an
important gap in surface data during a hurricane that could not be received
on other modes. 
WX4NHC made a total of 308 contacts in
9 hours of operations. The contacts ranged from local VHF/UHF stations in
south Florida and the Florida Keys to international stations as far away as
Guam. Contacts and surface reports were received from 25 US States, and
countries, including Bermuda, Canada, Cuba, Curacao, Guam, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. 
Contacts were also made with the National Weather Centers in
Norman, Oklahoma; Broward and Marion counties, Florida EOCs; and the
Guantanamo Military Base in Cuba.
Operators were pleased to
communicate with Jean-Robert Gaillard, HH2JR, president of the Radio Club of
Haiti, as well as Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH (FCC retired) who have both
supported the efforts of WX4NHC for many years. Contact was also made with
Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, FEMA Administrator, on EchoLink; thanks were expressed
to him for his strong support of the Amateur Radio volunteers. 
WX4NHC operators are also thankful for all SKYWARN volunteers
nationwide for their continued efforts to help the NWS and NHC, and for the
ARRL's help in publicizing this event as they have done for many years.
Special thanks went to Mike Corey, KI1U, ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager. - Julio Ripoll, WD4R, WX4NHC Amateur Radio Assistant Coordinator www.wx4nhc.orgcelebrating 34 years at the National Hurricane Center
The Director of the National Hurricane Center commended the WX4NHC
effort: "Thank you for conducting the test to make sure you're all ready for
the season, and I appreciate everything you and the community do for us." -- Dr. Rick Knabb, Director, National Hurricane Center
Top
Memorial Day Medical Emergency Supported by Massachusetts
Amateurs
Amateurs in the Plymouth, Massachusetts area
assisted with a medical emergency over the Memorial Day weekend. Ron Smith,
N1PXX, radioed over the 146.685 MHz repeater that he needed help; Smith
had pulled over on the side of the highway after he experienced a medical
issue. Kevin O'Donnell, K1KOD, responded. Obtaining Smith's cell phone number,
O'Donnell used both the radio and the cell phone to keep in contact with
Smith while he called 911 and gave Smith's location to the State Police. He
informed Smith of when the police and an ambulance were en route. However,
initially the police drove by Smith's vehicle without stopping. David Ring,
N1EA, also assisting, placed additional calls to the police, and emergency
services located Smith and transported him to South Shore Hospital. The
word is N1PXX is on the road to recovery. -- KB1EVY, ARRL Eastern
Massachusetts Section News
Top
K1CE For a Final: Communications
in Neighborhood Preparedness
Let's take a moment
to look at how the radio amateur down the street can help support his or her
neighborhood to meet its preparedness goals. A radio amateur is ideal to
call a meeting of his neighbors because of his expertise and experience with
communications, the first prerequisite for any successful resident
endeavor. Flyers announcing a planning meeting and agenda can be dropped in
mailboxes, followed up with telephone calls. A community center or even a
neighbor's home can serve as the venue for the meeting. The initial meeting is an
ice breaker for neighbors to get to know one another in the context of
possibly relying on each other in a disaster response scenario. To start off
the meeting, a review of the types of hazards that face the neighborhood and
history of events in the past can set the tone and instill the gravity of
the mission with attendees.
A roundtable discussion can
be held with introductions of individual neighbors, noting their personal
and professional experience, and interest in fulfilling preparedness
functions. Initial assignments can be made, and then changed or modified in future
meetings as necessary.
The radio amateur is the
obvious choice to lead the communications function, and accordingly able to
overcome the effects of isolation of the neighborhood in a post-disaster
environment. Amateur Radio is the most versatile radio communication service
available to the average citizen and neighborhood. The radio amateur is the most
experienced in radio communications principles and practical
applications.
The ARRL's Mike Corey, KI1U, says "there has been a
lot of research on the issue of a lack of trust between the issuers of
warnings and the public that receives them. Amateurs are a good way to bridge the
trust issue as we can put warnings in terms that our neighbors can
understand."
Communications functions also involve the
immediate safety of life and property in the aftermath of a disaster, getting the
neighbors to communicate with one another to activate the neighborhood plan
and establish reliable communications with the outside world to convey
situation reports, critical needs and delivery of critical supplies.
Health and welfare messages on behalf of neighborhood members
can be transmitted to the outside world (which might be only a few blocks
away) to concerned friends and family members. There is no underestimating the
need for radio communications, not only for critical needs, but indeed for
the morale of the potentially psychologically stressed, devastated
neighborhood families.
The radio amateur could also maintain
portable electrical generators and docking stations for rechargeable
batteries, perhaps in his garage, for neighborhood use as required when normal
power is out. Hams are experts in the use of alternative power sources.
Many radio amateurs are trained in search and rescue (SAR)
techniques and protocols, and Amateur Radio has a longstanding history of
serving searchers/rescuers with radio communications. SAR has been linked with
Amateur Radio for decades. There are numerous environments for SAR, and
one size does not fit all. The person in charge of this neighborhood function
should be aware of, and trained specifically for, the kind of SAR
environment he/she will face: urban SAR, for example. Communications for this
function is critical, when neighbors are missing and potentially injured. 
The neighborhood team concept can potentially save the lives
and properties of some of the most important people you hold dear besides
your family and friends - your neighbors. Amateur Radio is a critical
component of the team's assets.-- K1CE
Next Month's
ARRL Centennial Convention, Banquet and Public Service Forums -- See You
There!
As noted in a previous issue, I am excited about
attending next month's ARRL Centennial Convention, which will feature a
banquet with keynote speaker FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate, KK4INZ. The
banquet will be held on Friday night, July 18 in Hartford, Connecticut. The
event is among the highlights of the ARRL Centennial ConventionJuly 17-19 at the
Connecticut Convention Center. Prior to becoming FEMA Administrator, Fugate served
as Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Fugate has been
an Amateur Radio licensee since 2012.
On Thursday, you
can attend the Public Service Communications Academy, conducted by
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U.Speakers
represent several of our national partners; Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Department of Homeland Security Office of Emergency Communications,
National VOAD, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, American Red
Cross, and Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Confirmed
Speakers:
Ted Okada, K4HNL, Chief Technology Officer -
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Ralph Haller,
N4RH, Chairman - National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC)
Keith Robertory, KG4UIR, National Disaster Services
Technical Manager -American Red Cross (ARC)
James McGowan, Senior Director Strategic Initiatives - National Volunteer
Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD)
Sid Caesar,
NH7C,Chief - Division of Emergency Management,Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other public
service-related forums and presenters include: International Disaster
Response: Lessons Learned (Jay Wilson, W0AIR); National Hurricane Center
WX4NHC Amateur Radio (Julio Ripoll, WD4R); Best Practices of the
National Weather Service's SKYWARN Program (Robert Macedo, KD1CY); Boston
Marathon Communications - Before, During and After (Robert Macedo,
KD1CY); Public Service Communications-Maintaining Readiness When Nothing Bad
Is Happening (Ross Merlin, WA2WDT); Broadband Mesh Networking and
Amateur Radio (Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT); DHS-OEC - Training Resources
Available for the Amateur Radio Operator (Dept. of Homeland Security -
OEC Staff); and more!
I hope to see many readers of
the ARES E-Letter there, for what is sure to be one of the seminal
events in the history of Amateur Radio, and especially ARRL! -- K1CE
Top
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