[ARRL-OK] Fw: The ARES Letter for February 15, 2023

[Mark Conklin]

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "ARRL Web site"  Cc:  Sent: Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 4:53 Subject: The ARES Letter for February 15, 2023  
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February 15,2023Editor: Rick Palm,K1CEARES Letter ArchiveARESHomeARRL HomePage  |
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   - ARES   ® Briefs, Links
   - Tennessee County's "Hurricane William" ARRL/ARESSET
   - Amateur Radio at the 2023 Loppet WinterFestival
   - Get the CISA Auxiliary Communications FieldOperations Guide (AUXFOG)
   - All Aboard the CERT Train
   - ARES   ® Resources
   - ARRL Resources
ARES® Briefs, Links
On the evening of Monday,February 6, 2023, there was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that mainly affectedTurkey and Syria as well as other neighboring countries with almost 35,000dead (at press time) and more than 16,000 injured, with likely many more.According to information received from the emergency coordinators of the IARURegion 1 countries and, especially from Greg Mossop, G0DUB, the emergencycommunications coordinator for this region, communications in Turkey havebeen mainly on VHF, but transmissions in Turkish have also been heard on28.540 MHz, although they can also use 3.777 MHz and 7.092 MHz. For thisreason, we ask our colleagues in IARU Region 2 (the Americas) to protect thosefrequencies and assess the evolving situation for opportunities to serve therelief effort.

As for Syria, it has been reported thatapparently there are not many radio amateurs there, so we do not know ifthere is any frequency in use in that country. Aziz Sasa, TA1E, Turkishemergency communications coordinator, suggested that any help from othercountries should be coordinated through the Turkish embassy in each country.Humanitarian aid groups from several European countries are currently movinginto the affected regions.

We appreciate the concern ofcolleagues from IARU Region 2 member societies regarding this earthquake. Weoffer our condolences to all the people and colleagues in the countriesaffected by this terrible disaster. - Statement by Carlos Alberto Santamaría Gonzalez, CO2JC, Emergency Coordinator, IARU Region 2
Tennessee County's"Hurricane William" ARRL/ARES SET
The Williamson County, Tennessee ARESSimulated Emergency Test (SET) was designed as a county-wide emergencycommunications exercise to test our organization's ability to providecommunications for our primary served agency, the Williamson County EmergencyManagement Agency (WCEMA), as well as the National Weather Service (NWS).

The exercise scenario entailed a slow-moving, heavyrainmaking "Hurricane William," which had been downgraded to a tropical storm.Carrying substantial moisture up from the Gulf of Mexico, William causedsignificant flooding in Williamson County requiring evacuations and the opening ofmultiple shelters. To add an extra level of complexity to the exercise,the event simulated a county-wide Public Safety radio system outage.

Exercise play began on Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 0800CDT, ended at 1100 CDT, and concluded with a hotwash (after-action discussionand evaluation) at the WCEMA EOC from 1145 to 1215. ARES and SKYWARN playoccurred throughout the 3-hour exercise period.

Theexercise was formally closed at 1215 following the completion of the hotwash.

The exercise was led by the WCARES EmergencyCoordinator, Jeff Standifer, WB5WAJ.

During the SET, eight WCARESmobile radio operators connected the Williamson County ECOMM 911 dispatchcenter to 10 Emergency Response partners from multiple municipal agencies,including Law Enforcement, Fire & Rescue, and EMS.

Threesimulated shelters were activated in response to the simulated floodevent. Seven radio operators established stand-alone radio operations at thethree sites using their own power and radio equipment to provide statusreports back to Net Control and the Williamson County Emergency ManagementAgency.

The Net Control Team included an additional sevenoperators utilizing multiple modes, including our WCARES 5-linked repeatersystem and backup repeater, DMR, and Winlink.

Communication was managed between the three shelters, the 10 emergency responsepartners, and other participating WCARES members who provided requestedinformation regarding shelter status, weather, and flood conditions as well as thestatus of public utilities. Vital information was obtained from field sourcesand relayed to the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency and theNational Weather Service.

 

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Net Control operations at the Williamson CountyPublic Safety Center, AuxComm Room. L to r, Scott Grey, KD4VVC; PhilSherrod, W4PHS; Marty Vanek, KN4MNA; Trey Spain, KI4ZIN; Will Daughtrey, KO4DNR;and Net Manager Laura Marler, N4CLO. [Photo courtesy Cliff Batson,N4CCB]
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We quickly re-learned theimportance of the consistent use of tactical call signs. Net Controldepended on tactical call signs to help them quickly identify and manage heavytraffic from multiple mobile operators and shelters. We also confirmed that ahandheld is insufficient for use as a backup or secondary radio. When theprimary radio is engaged in Winlink traffic, an additional mobile radio isneeded for voice communication. In spite of our linked repeater system,terrain in certain locations within the county negates the use of low-poweredhandheld radios.

The 2022 SET successfully demonstratedthat WCARES has the skills, depth, and commitment to serve our community byproviding communication support for activated emergency shelters andcontinuity of communication in the event of a catastrophic Public Safety radiosystem outage. -- Jeff Schwartz, KC1DWP, Emergency Coordinator, Williamson County,Tennessee [Schwartz served as Chair of the WCARES Exercise Committee thatdesigned the 2022 SET exercise. He is an active member of the Net Controlteam. -- Ed.]
Amateur Radio at the 2023 Loppet Winter Festival
With around 3,000 participants, the Minneapolis City of Lakes Loppet WinterFestival (City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival - The Loppet Foundation) is aweekend of mostly Nordic urban ski and fat tire bike races. Two of theevents are fairly long, up to 31 km, with four aid stations. I was asked for2023 to pull together a team to provide medical communications. The injuryrate is low (not much heatstroke), but the race course winds through woodedparks, and sections are not accessible by road, so snowmobile transport isrequired. We are out in temperatures down to -4 F for 6 hours each day. I satdown with our boss, Dr. Bixby, and asked who was staffing the aidstations. He said, "You are." Several of us have been trying to close the gap onfirst aid training, but this was new.

In fact, there wasa large and highly qualified medical team assigned but they were on patrolin hilly and crash-prone areas. Aid stations were more transport hubs nearroads. The injuries we see are often from a tumble, and worsen with a"fast," i.e., icy, course. I staffed up with half hams, and half US Coast GuardAuxiliary volunteers. The Auxiliary members are good as Strike Teams --they do not require extensive supervision and are experts in Incident Command.We are participant facing - more like operations, less like logistics.

A mashup of communications systems were used. We broughtDMR radios, the event used borrowed hospital P25 radios, and we all usedWhatsApp for live messaging. The event was packed for 2023, and theparking lots were full. I decided not to bring our mobile tower trailerrepeaters to save room, and used existing borrowed DMR machines.

 

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Peter Corbett, KD8GBL, issuinglast-minute directions and loaner ski poles to Tim Neu, N0TJN. [Photo courtesyErik Westgard, NY9D]
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Thefirst day we had a lot of problems with a busy DMR time slot on the repeater,even using a local talk group. For several hours, unrelated out-of-area(internet) traffic was using the system and we could not get in. We tried adifferent repeater, (which was not in one of the radio model code plugs forthe area) and had similar issues. One thought was to use the Statewidetalkgroup, but that seemed ill advised for 2 days. The analog FM machine Isigned out as backup was not in the DMR code plug in several of our radios.

The result was better on another machine the second day.The repeater owner suggested unplugging the internet cable from therepeater, which helped. My boss in ARES, SEC Benton Jackson, K0BHJ, says "allemergencies are local" - so the value at an event of a repeater acting as a widearea Internet hotspot seems limited.

We tested DMRsimplex, which is another possibility. We found some newer code plugs, whichwere missing on our portable repeater, based on an earlier fixed systemwhich was just taken out of service.

Peter Corbett, KD8GBL,brought up our Trivnetdb database in Azure. This was loaded with the eventparticipant names and bib numbers. These could then be queried and updated basedon the situation. And we had our chat feature and even capacity graphs. OurMedical Director was impressed. The idea is fast, crisp incident response,without delayed or garbled medical messages.

We reallydid a good job: at one incident, our aid station rep ran an injured skiersituation on the P25 radio very professionally. I like the role as EventLead, as I can reach into the organization leadership team without causingwaves.

My phone rang. It was the Race Director, saying,"Where are you? I'm in a snow tractor. Prepare to hop in -- the main soundsystem has failed and we are reading out finish results." As we are in thebackup communications space, when we were in charge of the PA systems, webought a spare PA mixer we found on eBay, and it saved the day. Also notablewas the part at the Leads Meeting when applause broke out when it wasannounced ham radio was, again, all in to help. -- Erik Westgard, NY9D,ASEC-T Minnesota Section
Get the CISA Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide(AUXFOG)
Interoperability: "The ability ofemergency responders to communicate among jurisdictions, disciplines, frequencybands, and levels of government as needed and as authorized. Systemoperability is required for system interoperability."

Volunteer organizations such as community emergency response teams and auxiliarycommunications volunteers (e.g., amateur radio operators) play key rolesin emergency communications and preparedness. Volunteer emergencycommunications operators and groups using amateur radio have been providing backupcommunications to event planners, public safety officials, and emergencymanagers at all levels of government for nearly 100 years. Often, amateur radioservices have been used when other forms of communications have failed orhave been disrupted. Today, nearly all the states and territories haveincorporated some level of participation by amateur radio auxiliarycommunication operators into their Tactical Interoperable CommunicationsPlans and Statewide Communication InteroperabilityPlans; this allows them to quickly integrate the operators intoresponse efforts, which can strengthen communications and operations duringincidents of any scale. You can download the Auxiliary Communications FieldOperations Guide (AUXFOG) and other valuable FOGs on the Cybersecurityand Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) website publications/resourcespage. You can also download an electronic copy from the Apple and GoogleApp stores.
All Aboard theCERT Train
The Community Emergency Response Team(CERT) concept is a major, growing concern in the quickly evolving arena ofemergency management on a micro versus macro scale, and deserves the fullattention of ARES -- and indeed any radio amateur -- as a top priority for thecoming year.

CERT is the wave of the future -- theimmediate future -- as limited resources for disaster response at all levelsof government (local, state, and federal) are bumping up against theever-increasing needs of the populace due to the elevating incidence and ferocityof natural and manmade disasters. The CERT concept is part of the answer tothis dilemma: residents on a street or in an apartment complex willnetwork and be trained to take care of themselves in the first criticalpost-disaster hours and possibly days when no outside help is available. Think ofthe CERT program as a kind of block party, only instead of socializing overhot dogs and hamburgers, neighbors get together to train and plan to lookafter each other when dealing with the effects of a disaster. When you reallythink about this concept, it has implications that are of a serious,life-and-death nature.

The CERT program is a FEMA program,part of its Citizen Corps and Ready campaigns, but had its origins inforward-thinking fire and EMS units in southern California decades ago. Neighborsare trained in conducting an initial assessment of their own homes andsurvival kits. They learn to reduce the immediate dangers presented by adisaster by turning off utilities, suppressing small fires, evacuating the area,and helping others. They learn to treat people in the immediate area. Theylearn to implement their own Incident Command System -- they establish acommand post, staging area, and medical triage and treatment areas. Theylearn to collect damage information and develop a plan of operation based onlife-saving priorities and available resources. And they learn to establishand maintain communications with responders and the outside world.

The radio amateur, especially an ARES-registered operator, isthe ideal candidate for forming and leading a neighborhood CommunityEmergency Response Team. A critical part of the CERT's planning and operationsis radio communications, and we as radio amateurs have the experience andcredibility for this emergency support function out of the gate. Become aCERT leader! Every journey of recruiting a dozen homes on a street for a CERTbegins with the first, perhaps your next door neighbor. Talk to him or her"over the fence" and start planning and drafting your team. Read and usethe FEMA publication CERT User Guide. There are manyresources to help you! You can start with FEMA'sIndependent Study Course on CERT. A reader recently called my attentionto a new library of disaster-related training with numerous videos,including several on Neighborhood Preparedness and Response. I haven't had achance to review the materials yet, but I will. The library can beaccessed at the Just In Time Disaster Training website.

FEMAhas a number of resources available to the CERT members and leader. Youcan get the CERT National Newsletter as well as Search CERT programs by location.

You can register anew CERT program with FEMA online. This page is for registering CERTprograms only, however, not to register individuals or individual teamssponsored by a local CERT program. To be an official CERT program, theprogram must be operated by a local emergency response organization such as yourlocal Fire Department or Office of Emergency Management and endorsed by thelocal Citizen Corps Council, if your community has one. The programcoordinators must conduct the CERT Basic Training Course and hold a CERT exerciseat least once a year. There must be a point of contact to be posted withother program information on the national CERT website.

Search to find a CERT program in your locale to help you set up andestablish your neighborhood CERT. The CERT concept can also be extended toworkplaces -- the same ideals apply!

Conclusion: You are OnYour Own! "Winging It is Not an Emergency Plan"

Thegovernment's promotional language often reads like this: "When a disaster oroverwhelming event occurs and responders are not immediately available, CERTscan assist..." Let's examine what they're really saying in plain terms:When your house and family are in immediate danger in the first minutes andhours after a disaster, you are on your own. There will likely be no EMS,fire, police or any other agency responders to save you and your family andneighbors. Your survival is up to you alone, based on your preparations andthe help from your immediate neighbors on your street. Your chances will begreatly enhanced with an organized neighborhood response -- the kind ofresponse that is at the heart of the CERT concept. Make it your New Year'sresolution to form your own neighborhood CERT! -- Rick Palm, K1CE
ARES®Resources   
   - Download the ARES Manual [PDF]
   - ARES Field Resources Manual[PDF]
   - ARESStandardized Training Plan Task Book [Fillable PDF]
   - ARES Standardized TrainingPlan Task Book [Word]
   - ARES Plan
   - ARES Group Registration
   - Emergency Communications Training 

The AmateurRadio Emergency Service® (ARES) consists of licensed amateurswho have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment, withtheir local ARES leadership, for communications duty in the public servicewhen disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership inARRL or any other local or national organization is eligible to apply formembership in ARES. Training may be required or desired to participate fullyin ARES. Please inquire at the local level for specific information.Because ARES is an amateur radio program, only licensed radio amateurs areeligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment isdesirable, but is not a requirement for membership.

How to GetInvolved in ARES: Fill out the ARES Registration form andsubmit it to your local Emergency Coordinator.
ARRL Resources
Join or Renew Today! EligibleUS-based members can elect to receive QST or On the Air magazine in print whenthey join ARRL or when they renew their membership. All members can accessdigital editions of all four ARRL magazines: QST, On the Air,QEX, and NCJ.

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