[ARRL-OK] Fw: The ARES E-Letter for May 21, 2014

[Mark Conklin via ARRL-OK]

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Subject: The ARES E-Letter for May 21, 2014
  


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May 21, 2014Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
ARES E-Letter Archive
ARES Home
ARRL Home Page  
In This Issue:
 
	* News Briefs 
	* National Hurricane Center's WX4NHC Annual Station
Test: May 31 
	* National Hurricane Preparedness Week is
Coming 
	* Amateur Radio Operators Train National Guardsmen on
HF Communications 
	* Pikes Peak (CO) ARES Supports Falcon 50
Marathon 
	* Letters: New Focus on the "Served
Community" 
	* Arizona Off Road Mountain Bike Event Turns to
Emergency 
	* Letters: COMT Class Held in Oklahoma 
	* Lake County (Florida) ARES Provides Radio
Communications for the March of Dimes "March For Babies"  
	* Letters: Hospital Communications 
	* K1CE For a Final: Hospital Communications, Part
2 
News Briefs
ARES® at Tsunami Awareness
Fair
On April 19, 2014, the Hilo (Hawaii) Civil Defense held
its first annual Tsunami Awareness Fair. East Hawaii District
Emergency Coordinator Kimberly Fendt, WH6KIM, and East Hawaii Planning
Assistance Emergency Coordinator Sean Fendt, KH6SF, represented ARES at the event.
The pair spent the day showcasing their "off-the-grid" emergency response
radio setup that included an inverted-V VHF antenna thrown over a tree, and a
mag-mount 2m/70cm antenna mounted on a tower that was constructed from
items around the house: a used satellite dish, a camera stand and a leg that
had broken off of a canopy. The Fendts set up on all bands and modes
including packet and ran their operation off of one deep cycle battery. They spoke
to the public about the accessibility of Amateur Radio for the whole
family and how it could aid in case of disaster.
According
to NOAA, a tsunami is a series of ocean waves generated by sudden
displacements in the sea floor, landslides, or volcanic activity. In the deep ocean,
the tsunami wave may only be a few inches high. The tsunami wave may come
gently ashore or may increase in height to become a fast moving wall of
turbulent water several meters high. Although a tsunami cannot be prevented,
the impact of a tsunami can be mitigated through community preparedness,
timely warnings, and effective response. In The US, NOAA has primary
responsibility for providing tsunami warnings to the Nation, and a leadership role in
tsunami observations and research.
Click here for a NOAA presentation on the extent of the tsunami threat to
the east coast of the continent.
Hurricane Watch Net
Seeks Net Control Operators
May 1, 2014 -- The Hurricane Watch Net is looking
for additional net control operators. Hurricane Season in the Atlantic
region begins June 1 and ends November 30, and in the eastern Pacific from May
15 until November 30. The Hurricane Watch Net typically activates on
14.325 MHz when an Atlantic Basin hurricane is within 300 miles of landfall, or
at the request of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. HWN Manager Bobby
Graves, KB5HAV, reports the net now is getting everything in place for its
50th straight season, and that includes signing on some new net control
stations and net members. More here.
SKYWARN, ARES Active for Severe Weather
On April 28,
tornadoes hit Mississippi and Alabama. Eight died in Mississippi, while two died
in Alabama, and another two fatalities occurred in Tennessee, near the
Alabama line. Other states have also been impacted this season. ARES and
SKYWARN reporting can be found here.
Top
National Hurricane Center's WX4NHC Annual Station Test: May 31
The operators of WX4NHC, the amateur station at the National
Hurricane Center will be active for their annual station test on Saturday,
May 31, 2014 from 9AM-6 PM EDT (1300Z-2200Z). The group is commencing its
34th year of service to the center.
The purpose of the
event is to test station equipment, antennas and computers prior to this
year's hurricane season, which starts June 1. This event provides good
practice for radio amateurs world-wide as well as NWS staff to become familiar
with protocols and procedures for communications available during times of
severe weather.
The WX4NHC leadership will also be
performing operator training. Operators will be making brief contacts on many
frequencies and modes, exchanging signal reports and basic weather data
("sunny," or "rain," etc.) with any station in any location. WX4NHC will be
on-the-air on HF, VHF, UHF, 2 and 30 meter APRS and Winlink. Operators will
focus on the recognized Hurricane Watch Net frequency 14.325 MHz and announce
other frequencies when QSYing. Amateurs may be able to find the NHC station
on HF by using one of the DX spotting networks. The NHC operators will also
be on the VoIP
Hurricane Net from 4PM-6PM EDT (2000-2200Z) (IRLP node 9219/EchoLink WX-TALK
Conference node 7203). Local southern Florida area VHF and UHF repeaters
will be worked as well. QSL cards are available via WD4R. (Please send your
card with a S.A.S.E.) Please do not send QSLs directly to the Hurricane
Center address, as they will get delayed. Due to security measures, no visitors
will be allowed entry to NHC without prior clearance from the NHC PIO and
security officials.
Only WX4NHC operators on the
pre-approved operating schedule will be allowed entry. For more information about WX4NHC, please
visit the group's website. -- Julio Ripoll, WD4R, WX4NHC Amateur Radio
Assistant Coordinator
Top
National Hurricane
Preparedness Week is Coming
With less than one
month until the start of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season on June 1, now is
the time to prepare. To kick-start the preparedness effort, the National
Hurricane Center, FEMA and other organizations, have come together to
promote the National Hurricane
Preparedness Week May 25-31. 
Each day of National
Hurricane Preparedness Week there is a different educational theme:
· May 25 - Hurricane
Basics
· May 26 - Storm Surge
· May 27 - Wind
· May 28 - Inland
Flooding
· May 29 - Forecast Process
· May 30 - Get a Plan
· May 31 - After the
Storm
If you're using social media during
National Hurricane Preparedness Week to share tips and activities, please use
#HurricanePrep! You can also follow @Citizen_Corps and @PrepareAthon for more
hurricane information during this week.
FEMA urges
Americans to take the time now to prepare their families and businesses for
hurricanes and tropical storms before a disaster strikes. Get started preparing now by learning the hurricane risks in your area
and downloading the How to Prepare for a Hurricane Guide. -- FEMA
Top
Amateur Radio Operators Train National Guardsmen on HF
Communications
Eight Prattville (Alabama) Army
National Guard members from the 231st Military Police Battalion armory
traveled to Fort McClellan (Anniston, Alabama) for specialized training in
[Amateur Radio] earlier this month. The military is trying to bring back the use
of HF communications in the service rather than having sole dependence on
satellite communication.
With today's email and
cellphone communication, radios now are used primarily during natural disasters and
emergency situations such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy
when high cellphone use can overload the satellite system. Special radio
frequencies can [be used to] communicate with emergency management agencies
during such times.
Joel Black, a member the Region 4 Army
Military Auxiliary Radio Service, or Army MARS, said [HF] radio is much
more efficient than satellite communications. "Today's military has started
to depend more on satellite communication. However, HF communications is a
more rapidly deployable communication system," Black explained. "You can set
up an antenna, tune into the right frequency and start talking within
minutes. It takes much longer to set up a satellite system."
Trying to set up a satellite communication unit in the field can be
cumbersome for military members, Black said. Oftentimes, two men are needed to
set up a 20-foot or 8-foot satellite dish, transponder and other equipment.
The whole process can take up to two hours.
Three ham radio operators
at McClellan taught the soldiers from Prattville how easy it could be.
The licensed Army MARS trainers shared their expertise in
proper use and selection of radio frequencies, how radio waves work,
communications technology, safety and techniques of antenna installation.
Those in charge of the three-day course included Alabama Army
MARS State Director Wade Brock, Alabama Army MARS Training Officer John
Briscoe and Georgia Army MARS State Director Jerry Lofstead.
Army MARS, which began in 1925, is a Defense Department organization of
Amateur Radio operators that train on a daily basis for providing incident
communication for both military and government agencies.
Ham radio operators are most associated for their contributions as part
of the U.S. Army Signal Corps sending messages between troops during the
Korean and Vietnam Wars with HF radio-telephone. -- Rebecca Burylo,
McClatchy News on May 12, 2014, ©2014 the Montgomery Advertiser
(Montgomery, Ala.) You may use or reference this story with attribution
and a link to
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Ham-Radio-Operators-Train-National-Guardsmen.html
[Thanks to Mike Harla, N2MHO, EC,
Cumberland County, New Jersey, for forwarding this story - ed.]
Top
Pikes Peak (CO) ARES Supports Falcon 50 Marathon
On Saturday, May 3, more than 300 runners gathered for the annual Falcon 50 race on the US Air Force Academy campus in Colorado
Springs, Colorado. The race, open to any valid military ID card holders
including retirees and cadets, featured not only a standard 26.2 mile marathon in
the challenging terrain and elevation of the USAFA that is nestled up
against the Rocky Mountains, but also a 50-mile ultra-marathon and a rare
military heavy marathon where the participants run in uniform, boots, and carry a
35 pound pack. 
Supporting the runners were 20 operators from the
Pikes Peak Amateur Radio Emergency Service (Pikes Peak ARES). Co-manning the
several USAFA cadet run aid stations along the route and a few acting as
roaming "floaters," these operators coordinated with the race director and El
Paso County Search and Rescue to track runners, arrange for supplies,
provide weather reports, arrange for transportation, and dispatch aid.
Relying on the same skill set used for responding to emergencies
like the devastating 2012 Waldo Canyon fire, 2013 Black Forest fire, and
2013 Colorado flooding, the members of Pikes Peak ARES, which represents El
Paso and Teller counties as Region 2 District 2 of Colorado ARES, used a
combination of digital and voice radio systems to relay information between
sites. Set-up in vehicles and tents, the operators were on the air first
thing in the morning, powering their radios from batteries and solar panels.
When the first runners came through, the radios started to come alive with
reports of bib numbers as the lead runners set an impressive pace. Then the
runners began coming through in waves and as aid stations ran low on
supplies, calls went out to request more drink mix and food. As the race went on,
some of the calls changed to reports of people who were dropping out due
to injury or exhaustion, but working closely with the cadets, the ARES
members were able to track and report everyone.
When the sun
began to set behind the wall of mountains, concerns of who was left on the
course and where they were became paramount
Mike Procter, KB0IAP, works with an unidentified cadet at Aid Station 5
to track and report bib numbers of Falcon 50 participants. Photo courtesy
of Bill Hecker, KC0ET.    
and
the radio operators were able to pass corrections to the race director and
his sweep team. Dan Martin, KD0SMP, the Pikes Peak ARES mission
coordinator, stated that "the race director and his cadet organizers were getting
conflicting reports from everyone else, but it was quickly ascertained that
they could rely on our information for the clearest and most accurate picture
of where runners were."
For many of the Academy cadets
running the aid stations, this was their first exposure to ham radio and
several were very interested in the ability to e-mail over the radio and the
capabilities of Amateur Radio. During lulls, a couple of the operators were
able to set up HF antennas and make a few longer distance contacts to show
some cadets the versatility of Amateur Radio.
Pikes
Peak ARES will support several more events this year, as well as remain
on-call for emergencies, and looks forward to supporting next year's Falcon 50.
-- John Bloodgood, KD0SFY, Public Information Officer, Region 2 District
2, Colorado ARES
Top
Letters: New Focus on the
"Served Community"
I appreciate the focus you have
been bringing in recent QST articles. I was active in leadership in
Palm Beach County (Florida) ARES during our calamitous 2004-2005 hurricane
seasons when we activated for four different storms. Based on that
experience, we encountered challenges under the then-current ARES model, which
focused on served agencies. Staffing was a major issue for us. Based on this
experience, I came to the conclusion, further reinforced in the years that
followed, that the ham community needed to turn its focus toward their own
individual neighborhoods and communities.
Now, I am more
convinced than ever that the future utility of Amateur Radio in public
service lies in the individual ham's immediate community - the "served community"
as opposed to the traditional served agency model. The public still has
little recourse when cell phones stop working. A ham can organize a
communications system in his neighborhood, make it known that his is the door to
knock on to get a message out, and when an incident happens, he can do what he
is most likely to do anyway: hunker down with his family and protect them
and his property, instead of being asked to make accommodations to leave
all that is precious to him behind to drive through potentially hazardous
conditions to a distant service point like an EOC or shelter to serve somebody
else's needs.
Of course, there will always be a
need/opportunity for well-equipped, well-trained, well-organized self-sufficient
teams of communicators to travel to areas affected by worst-case scenarios,
and that should be part of planning efforts, but they should come from
operators with personal situations that have been unaffected by the disaster
effects. Asking a ham to leave his family and property who are clearly out
of harm's way to go help others is much more reasonable and rational than
asking him while he and his family are personally affected by the incident.
-- John Sheats, WD4V, Loxahatchee, Florida
Top
Arizona Off Road Mountain Bike Event Turns to Emergency
The Yavapai Amateur Radio Club provided communications for
the 2014 Whiskey Off-Road Mountain Bike Event in late April, in
Prescott, Arizona and surrounding mountains. 2,000 amateur and professional
mountain bike riders participated in this three day event. Saturday's 50
mile race quickly became an actual emergency about an hour after it began when
temperatures dropped with a mixture of rain, high wind, sleet, and snow.
When the weather worsened, some of the riders dropped
out of the race at the second checkpoint and returned to Prescott via a
connecting road. Other riders continued on the race course until reaching the
fourth checkpoint, where approximately fifty riders dropped out of the race
due to the worsening weather. A number of these riders developed
hypothermia.
Event communications operators quickly went into
evacuation mode and all checkpoints were contacted by net control to determine
the number of riders needing transportation back to Prescott. Net control
worked with race, search and rescue, and other emergency personnel to
coordinate transportation to evacuate these riders. Personal vehicles and a bus
were used in the evacuation. While awaiting evacuation transportation to
arrive, Amateur Radio operators and other race personnel manning the
checkpoints gathered some of the riders suffering the most in their vehicles to warm
up. The race continued and event communications were used to locate some
missing riders.
Once things settled down, the net went
back into getting race updates from the checkpoints and everyone was brought
in safely, albeit a bit cold. The abandoned bikes were all picked up and
returned to the event center. Despite the difficult conditions, well over
300 riders completed the entire 50 mile race course.
The
weather front broke later in the morning and the second race was started
around noon. The race officials did shorten this ride from the planned 25
miles to a 15 mile event and it finished with no major incidents.
During this event, Amateur Radio communications enabled a quick
response by race officials, which kept a bad situation from getting worse.
This response contributed to the overall success of this three day event. -- Lloyd Halgunseth, WA6ZZJ, District Emergency Coordinator, Yavapai County,
Arizona
Top
Letters: COMT Class Held in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma received a grant from the
Department of Homeland Security, Office of Emergency Communications
(DHS-OEC) to hold a Communications Technician (COMT) class recently for various
public safety agency employees. The COMT class instructs students on how to
set up total communications at any type of disaster/incident (hurricane,
tornado, floods, WMD events, etc.) to include radio (VHF, UHF, 700-800 MHz
trunking and Amateur Radio), computers, routers, telephones, gateways
(cross-patches), satellite and the use of ICS forms. The week long course concludes
with a final exercise. FEMA describes the course as follows: The
All-Hazards Communications Technician (COMT) course trains emergency responders on
practices and procedures common to radio communication technicians during
all-hazards operations. It helps communications technicians work within the
Incident Command System (ICS) organizational structure. The COMT course is
intended for federal, state, local, and tribal emergency response
professionals and coordination/support personnel with communications backgrounds. The
COMT course is available through the 2012 OEC
Technical Assistance Catalog(PDF, 84 pages - 2.61 MB)
Following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Oklahoma, as well as the other
states, received grant money to purchase all types of equipment to ensure
interoperability of voice and data to support communications across county,
state, tribal and regional boundaries in response to the above-mentioned
types of events. In addition, funds for training were set aside to bring
multiple agencies together and teach employees how to best utilize the
equipment for events and exercises. There have been many COMT classes taught across
the United States over the last few years. 
While on
assignment for this specific course, I had the opportunity to arrange a tour
of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma with the help of Lans
Rothfusz, Deputy Director, National Severe Storms Laboratory at the
facility. The SPC building is the largest of any NWS office, having five floors
with 244,000 square feet and includes a well-equipped Amateur Radio station.
Oklahoma had five significant tornadoes in 2013, including 2 EF5's.
I have been instructing both COMT and Auxiliary
Communications (AUXCOMM) courses, a class for hams, also scheduled by the state's
State-Wide Interoperability Coordinators (SWIC), for the last three years. I am
also the District Emergency Coordinator for Metro Atlanta ARES, serving 14
counties. -- Jim Millsap, WB4NWS, Instructor/Technical Specialist, The
Lafayette Group, Supporting the Office of Emergency Communications/ICTAP of
the US Department of Homeland Security
Top
Lake
County (Florida) ARES Provides Radio Communications for the March of Dimes
"March For Babies" 
The Lake County, Florida ARES
provided radio communication in support of the March of Dimes Walkathon in
Tavares, Florida on Saturday May 10, 2014. Fifteen volunteer ham radio
operators donated their time, vehicles and equipment for the event. The Lake County
ARES communications trailer was set up in Wooton Park in Tavares on the
shore of Lake Dora on a beautiful sunny morning adjacent to the event
start/finish line. The walkathon course was approximately five miles long and had
250 participants.
Six rest stops were provided along
the route sponsored by local businesses from the Tavares area such as banks,
medical services and service clubs. An Amateur Radio operator was stationed
at each rest area with a hand held radio, which enabled each spot to be in
contact with the net control station N4FLA in the communications trailer.
The ARES personnel also provided three vehicles with mobile radios to make
sure the walkers were safe along the route and to transport anybody who
could not finish on their own back to the event headquarters tent. These
vehicles were also dispatched by net control to deliver ice and water to rest
stops that requested them.
Lake County ARES was able to
test a new Digital Mobile Radio system (DMR) for this event for the first
time. Lake County Emergency Management loaned the ARES operators Motorola XPR
7550 hand held radios to stay in contact with the net control station,
which was using a Motorola XPR 5550 base station. This successful test added
to the many communications systems the ARES group can call upon in the event
of an emergency situation.
This is an annual event in
Tavares that helps raise money for medical research and programs that help
babies begin healthy lives. The Lake County ARES always steps up to provide
radio communications for the March of Dimes Walkathon and it provides an
excellent opportunity for its members to train for the possibility of having
to use this equipment during a disaster situation. More about ARES in Lake
County, Florida, can be found here. -- Ted Leubbers, K1AYZ, Tavares, Florida, PIO
Top
Letters: Hospital Communications
You
laid a very well thought out platform for the high degree of necessity for
hospital communications in the April newsletter. I am eagerly awaiting the
next issue. I have been a surgeon for 30 years, 20 of those years as Chief
of Surgery at the Fargo (North Dakota) VA. I have moved to Chief of
Education for the hospital. Simulation has become very important in surgical
education and is now being adopted in other specialties. Your point on "read
backs" for closed loop communication is well taken. Aviation has used read
backs at least since the late 1970's when I began pilot training. Using read
back protocols in a critical environment such as hospitals and other
situations is an essential aspect now being emphasized in surgical simulation
scenarios. Thanks for placing this technique in a prominent position for all ham
radio operators to consider. -- Mark O. Jensen, KK0V, MD, FACS, VA
Medical Center/University of North Dakota, Department of Surgery
Top
K1CE For a Final: Hospital Communications, Part 2
Hospitals drill regularly to plan and prepare for mass
casualty incidents and communications outages, and in 2010, a petition for
rulemaking filed with the FCC by the American Hospital Association resulted in
the Commission making an exception to the prohibition on communications in
which the operator has a pecuniary interest (including communications on
behalf an employer), so that an operator who is also a hospital employee could
participate in his/her hospital's emergency/disaster drill up to a total
time of one hour per week (and except that no more than twice in any calendar
year, they may be conducted for a period not to exceed 72 hours). As a
staff Registered Nurse (RN), this ruling allows me to participate as an
Amateur Radio communicator for my hospital's drills and exercises without
worrying about breaking the FCC's Part 97 rules.
Hospital
employees/Amateur Radio operators such as myself are likely to remain at work
24/7 for the duration of a major disaster; for example, hurricanes are
issues for us here on the Atlantic coast of the Florida peninsula. If one were
to hit the Daytona area, I would be required to stay at the hospital, riding
out the storm and its aftermath meeting the medical needs of critically
ill patients. With my expertise and experience of the hospital's
communication systems, I would likely be called upon as a radio amateur to provide both
internal and external emergency safety of life back-up communications as
administrators deem required. My go-kit is organized in small Pelican cases
clipped to the back wall of the cab of my pickup truck, which would remain
parked in a protected hospital parking garage, readily available, for the
duration of the acute and recovery phases of the incident. My pick-up truck
would be parked on the highest (but safe) level of the garage for maximal
line-of-sight coverage to area FM and D-STAR repeaters, and of course,
simplex coverage if repeaters are down.
HIPAA Privacy
Concerns
The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections
for individually identifiable health information held by covered entities
and their business associates and gives patients an array of rights with
respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so
that it permits the disclosure of health information needed for patient
care and other important purposes. (www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/)
Hospital staffs are exceptionally sensitive to patient privacy
issues under the above rule, not only on legal grounds, but morally and
ethically as well. Hospitals continually train and sensitize doctors, nurses,
and other staff for the critical need to protect patient's medical records.
Termination and lawsuits are the consequences of careless handling of
patient information and breaches of confidentiality. ARES operators in a health
care center environment are advised to take such sensitivity training as
well and coordinate issues with administrators.
__________
And finally, a follow-up note on last month's item on
the Bishop (California) Amateur Radio Club's participation in the
California statewide exercise: Dr. Rick Johnson, the public health officer for Mono
and Inyo counties, was quoted in a media report as saying "the Amateur
Radio operators are even more important now, as the Town of Mammoth Lakes
reels from losing almost all of the employees that have institutional knowledge
of how to respond to an emergency." Other town emergency functions are
short-staffed, "so ham radio operators are a big asset. We hope they will be
an even greater part of this in the future." Dr. Mike Karch, a Mammoth
Hospital orthopedic surgeon just back from a medical mission to the Philippines
after Typhoon Haiyan was quoted: "Ham radio technology can fill a gap like
nothing else can in a true emergency. Over and over again, we find the lack
of communication to be as dangerous, or more, than the things we think of
as dangerous, such as falling buildings or disease."
Top
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