reply to Ron's question to kd4efm ///// Re: [FLARES] ARRL BOD Report on ARES

Thu, 14 Aug 2003 01:30:23 -0400

Dear Ron,
We had somebody (Ben Holycross) ask the question to the higher ups,
"What do Amateur Radio Operators do to help the county out????
 He is still waiting for that reply to the question he asked sometime =
last year..........

I guess you can say someone (Ben Holycross) had the guts to exploit us =
into their everyday
life as truly needed help just from listening to other EMCOMM personnel =
grab about how good
it is to have Hams on their sides when *&^% hits the fan.

I guess he has heard to much about SRQ County and ORG County Calif. that =
he wants to be
BETTER THEN THEM! ( side note: Ben wants everyone to look at what we can =
do, what we have, and what
the hams here have done to make it happen...... are you jealous yet =
gang??? )

back to you

Evans F. Mitchell
KD4EFM / AFA2TH
Polk County EC
Polk ARES Group
Polk County Florida

----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Ron Wetjen" <[email protected]>
To: "Florida ARES" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 15:03
Subject: Re: [FLARES] ARRL BOD Report on ARES

> Just a few more comments on the current discussion.
>=20
> Keith Kotch wrote:
>=20
> > Earlier this year we proved to be a valuable resource to the
> > Sanford-Orlando Airport during their tri-annual FAA review.  But =
again,
> > it was utilizing our Amateur Radio skills and equipment.
> >=20
> > It did allow us to bring to the table a resource they had not had =
before
> > and impressed both the airport fire department and the FAA observer =
and
> > the local hospitals.
>=20
> And that's one of the important things ... exposure!  If you can show=20
> folks what you can do and do it in a professional manner, they will =
take=20
> notice.  The next time something comes up, someone will remember your=20
> efforts and ask you to help again ... and will eventually ask you to=20
> help more often and assume more responsibility.
>=20
> When Sarasota now plans a drill, they don't even ask us to participate =

> anymore - they already include Amateur Radio operators as a vital part =

> of their planning and expect us to be there ... either to act as=20
> "communicators" using our equipment, setting up equipment to support=20
> their communications, or sometimes both - depending on what's required =

> and what the county wants to "test".
>=20
>  > I can't say enough how blessed we are in Seminole County with our
>  > acceptance in the Counties Emergency Management Department and Dept =
of
>  > Public Safety and the response and respect we get from our other =
city
>  > government agencies.  It's just that we've settled into that
>  > comfortable "married life" situation.
>  >
>  > I guess there's a lot to be said for having a good working
>  > relationship already and that we're not having to fight battles in
>  > order to exist.
>=20
> And that's one of the toughest things to do ... get your foot in the=20
> door.  There's not a "one size fit's all" type of solution to this=20
> problem.  Some counties are more responsive than others.  It just =
takes=20
> work and patience ... and a chance to "show our stuff"!
>=20
> Evans Mitchell wrote:
>=20
>  > Overall I have to say that Polk County has made a right hand turn
>  > towards the HAMS in Polk and has said, see all this stuff you can
>  > use?? Come help us and we can help you....
>=20
> And that's what happened here in Sarasota.  My "boss" at the county =
used=20
> to ask me, "What can you do for us?".  All we needed was an =
opportunity=20
> to show them what we could do, and once we did that ... things took =
off!
>=20
> Evans, what happened in Polk County to make them sit up and finally =
take=20
> notice of the Amateurs?
>=20
> Finally, Keith wrote:
>=20
>  > Our "jealousy" can lead to some healthy "competition" among all our
>  > ARES groups to spur us on towards improvements and growth.
>  >
>  > I wish we had more stories like yours and Ron's posted here to
>  > help each of us learn more about growing our EMCOMM service and
>  > brainstorming ideas.
>=20
> That was my intention of starting this list ... to discuss what each =
of=20
> us are doing and to share ideas with each other in order to help make=20
> each of our EMCOMM groups stronger and more important.
>=20
> While it may seem like some groups may be bragging or "tooting our own =

> horns" ... maybe we are!  So what?  We're using it to show what's=20
> possible with some hard work and dedication and to give others a =
gentle=20
> kick in the pants to wake up and do the same!
>=20
> As I said earlier, there is no "one size fit's all" type of solution.=20
> One of my other "projects", is to finally sit down and write an =
article=20
> or put together a Web page of ideas folks can use to get their EMCOMM=20
> programs up to the level of Seminole, Sarasota, Polk, and the few=20
> others, that have a great working relationship with their EM folks.=20
> With that in mind, I'd like to hear from those folks who have an =
active=20
> EMCOMM program and a good working relationship with the EM folks to=20
> collect some information to be included in this project.
>=20
> Thanks, Ron  WD4AHZ
>=20
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> FLARES mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/flares
>=20

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