[CoARES-D10] (no subject)

[R. Long]

TO: All D-10 Members and interested parties,

I wanted to say thank you to those who supported the recent snow event and
to those who offered but were not needed. We logged over 94.75 man hours and
logged some 385+ miles in support of Weld Office of Emergency Management and
American Red Cross. 6 Local ARES members participated with an additional 4
who volunteered and were on standby modes. We appreciate the response off
those who were able to help or were willing and in the standby mode.

I would also like to say I appreciated those who responded on email, who
were out of the area, for letting us know. I recognize that this event came
at a bad time of year for many. With out of town guests, travels and other
commitments that hindered response, we still managed to get the basic needs
met.

The nature of this event made me recognize that we have a lack of knowledge
of who has 4WD capability. I am requesting that people respond to this email
to advise us of the following:.
#1 Who has four wheel drive?  
#1A- Of those who do, who is willing to respond during snow emergencies? 
#2 Who in the group have special needs people that they are responsible for
or to, that would be UNAVAILABLE during snow emergencies? 
#4 Who, if transportation is available (via 4wd) would be able and willing
to be assigned in a snow event, such as we have just had?

IN addition, I would suggest to those to do respond, plan to respond, that
you have the following:
#1 Sleeping bag or equivalent.
#2 Cold Weather Gear, winter coat, gloves, stocking hat or equivalent,
adequate snow boots or shoes and spares in case what you are wearing becomes
soaked.
#3 If responding in your own vehicle, chains and winter emergency pack
(blankets, food, water flashlight, spare batteries).
#4 Optional means of erecting antennas, from what you might be accustomed to
using in the summer.
#5 Sufficient feed line, to be able to get antennas fed from longer
distances away.
#6 Bungee cords or long tie straps.
#7 Duct Tape for sealing off entry doors or windows, where we bring feed
lines thru. TO prevent loss of heat or the introduction of snow in to
assigned areas.

I hope we always learn from the experiences that we have in these events.
Then from what we learn, make adaptations or revisions so we don't repeat
them the next time. D-10 does not have a large history of being requested to
respond in snow emergencies. Hence we have lessons to learn. We will be
looking at other ARES groups who have had more experience with
responses/deployments to draw from their policies. We hope to implement Snow
Response Policies and Procedures as we develop the D-10 Communications Plan.

Something we did this time for a variety of reasons was to utilize Simplex
to cover the emergency. Current coverage to Keenesburg is limited repeater
wise, because of topography and distance. For those who don't know its
located out on the southeast corner of Weld County on HWY 76. Fringe to any
repeater we currently have under agreement available to us. Simplex with a
mountain top station, while manpower intensive for the relay station/(in
this case) Net Control worked. Another alternative I see with this is the
potential for another repeater in a site that is less RF unfriendly than
currently exists, or for the deployment of a simplex repeater. Certainly
while slower, simplex repeaters do afford the coverage without the manpower
intensiveness, or the degradation of going thru duplexers or desense from
other nearby transmitters, if deployed in RF Friendly locations. Other
suggestions are certainly welcome, as would be additional participation by
district members.

Thanks for your cooperation and help for those who were able and willing
this time. To all I caution us to stand ready, as these winter events seem
to be becoming more frequent, especially this year. Thanks in advance for
the responses to this email and the questions we have asked for responses
regarding.


We wish each one of you a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year! 


PLEASE return responses to this posting to,  coares_d10 at yahoo.com

Thanks and 73,

Randy, W0AVV