[KYHAM] “TRAUMA ALERT” The Case for Training and Exercising

[Ron Dodson]

I received this today from a colleague, David W. Thorne, K6SOJ
the SEC for Sacramento Valley in California.  I felt this to be a
great analogy to the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and it's
relationship to served agencies. If this doesn't sell the skeptic
on the need for training and pre-disaster working together in
exercirses, nothing ever will.  I thank David for allowing it's
use.

73, 
Ron, KA4MAP
Ky Section Emergency Coord.

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“TRAUMA ALERT”
by D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ

  Imagine that you and your family are on a motor trip far from
home.
Suddenly, you are involved in a traffic accident.  While you
escape serious
injury, your loved ones are seriously injured.  They receive
emergency
treatment “on scene” by EMT’s and paramedics.  The ambulance
driver asks if
you have a preference as to which hospital you wish to have them
transported.  He states that there are two hospitals available,
each is
about five miles away, but in opposite directions.
  The ambulance driver tells you that when Community Hospital is
notified
that they are about to receive several multiple-trauma patients,
they page
for “any available doctors and nurses” to respond to the
emergency
department.  They believe that since doctors, nurses, and
technicians are
all licensed; having an emergency team that works and trains
together on a
regular basis, really isn’t necessary.
   The driver also mentions that at University Hospital, they
have a
“trauma team” on stand-by that is composed of emergency
physicians, trauma
surgeons, trauma nurses, and technicians that work and train
together on a
regular basis.  They all regularly take up-to-date continuing
education
courses and several have post graduate certification in various
specialties.  They know each other’s abilities, strengths and
weaknesses;
and are familiar with their equipment and know how to use it even
under
adverse conditions.

  Which hospital would YOU choose?

  Now let’s take another scenario and apply it to emergency
communications.
Suppose that you are an emergency manager for a county emergency
service
agency.  A major incident has occurred affecting your entire
region or
state.  Commercial power, telephones and computers are all down. 
The
hospital has a critical patient that urgently needs two units of
B Neg.”
(Whole blood.)  An emergency radio message must be sent to the
blood center
at the state capitol, 300 miles away to request two units of B
Neg. to be
sent by emergency airlift.  The message must be sent “letter
perfect”.
There is NO room for error.  You have two choices:

1. - You call a ham radio friend and ask him for help.  He gets
on the
local repeater and says that all available hams are to report to
the county
EOC.  Within minutes three licensed hams arrive.  When you ask to
send the
emergency traffic, all you get is three blank stares.   One of
them starts
calling for help on the repeater.  Several hams answer and ask
what is
happening.  But none of them know how to format and forward
formal
(message) traffic.

2. - A trained and skilled EMCOMM operator is already at the
EOC.  She
carries a HT, and has a VHF mobile transceiver in the parking
lot.  She
tells you that a local and ARRL Section Net has already been
activated.
The ARES operator quickly formats a formal message and within
minutes
transmits it to a local ARRL Official Emergency Station for
relay.
Within 30 minutes the blood is aboard a State Police helicopter
and it
arrives in about 2 hours.

Which EMCOMM team would YOU choose?

This is the mission of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service
(ARES).