[COham] Fw: [Ares-races] Ham radio and emergencies

[coham@mailman.qth.net]

http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7421547&BRD=2288&PAG=461&
dept_id=475621&rfi=6 


Agencies rely on civilian radio operators in crises

<http://www.mywesttexas.com/images/spacer.gif> Staff Report , � The 
Associated Press 03/19/2003

With the possibility of additional terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, 
emergency management coordinators and government agency personnel say 
amateur radio operators remain a vital part of the nation's homeland 
security network.

It's a familiar role for the operators, known as "hams," who have 
established backup radio communications during 9/11, severe weather and 
other emergencies.

Most recently, ham radio operators helped in the search for debris from 
the doomed space shuttle Columbia last month after it disintegrated over 
North Texas last month.

"On the surface, they may not seem important, but in my business, 
they're critical," Pat McMacken, Irving's emergency management 
coordinator, told The Dallas Morning News in Wednesday's editions. "I'd 
never go into an emergency without them. You never know what's going to 
happen."

Hams helped emergency officials in New York City after the Sept. 11, 
2001, terrorist attacks. As in other crises, the volunteers traveled to 
the scene, set up equipment and worked as couriers for rescue agencies, 
taking and transmitting messages. They are on agencies' lists for 
callout if terrorists decide to attack during American military forces' 
activities in the Middle East.

Disasters can strike in remote areas where electrical power is 
unavailable or unreliable. During crises, telephone lines quickly become 
jammed and computers crash. Hams serve as backups for emergency agencies 
when other communication lines fail. City officials and rescuers rely on 
hams because radio equipment is expensive and requires expertise to
operate.

Hams, who must pass exams to become certified and operate on specific 
frequencies, keep track of communications technology that has not been 
outmoded by cellular phones and the Internet. Cities are encouraged by 
the federal government to use ham radio operators for support, said Don 
Jacks, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

Texas' Division of Emergency Management endorses hams as an official 
resource during emergencies. They are critical during a disaster because 
they're mobile, said Bill Gross, Dallas' coordinator of emergency 
preparedness.

"It's a good tool to have when all else fails," Gross said.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council is recommending that hospitals 
train employees to become hams. They would then help hospitals contact 
medical vendors to order supplies and communicate with other hospitals 
to determine patient flow, said Paulette Standefer, the council's 
executive vice president.

She said some hospitals are buying radio equipment and towers.

Scattered across rural East Texas, shuttle debris has been difficult to 
locate and hams have helped speed the recovery process, said Nacogdoches 
County Sheriff Thomas Kerss.

"They became a vital link in our operation," he said. "Without the ham 
radio operators, we simply would not have had communication capabilities 
in certain areas."

Charles Hargrove, New York City's district emergency coordinator for the 
American Radio Relay League, oversaw 275 hams who staffed shelters at 
city schools after the World Trade Center attack. Hams communicated with 
the Red Cross to request food, personnel, nurses and baby supplies.

"When (the twin towers) came down, the guts of the communications 
infrastructure of New York City was wiped out," he said. "It took 
something like this to prove that if you rely on an infrastructure that 
you have no way of controlling, then you're hostage."

About 835,000 hams live in the United States, the ARRL says. But the 
group's president, Jim Haynie, says hams need to attract young people 
into their hobby.
Rena Dulworth, 20, got hooked as a 12-year-old. The Irving resident 
tracks stormy weather and talks to hams from Europe.

"If I can go out and help the community by doing something I like, 
that's great," she said.

Information from: The Dallas Morning News


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