[KYHAM] ARES & Local Response

[Ron Dodson]

I'll say a little now (to not stifle input from others), but will save
most comments for maybe a few days down the road. 

You ask a question which I am sure more than one of us has asked
themselves at some time in the ham life.  The point of home and family
first is a valid one.  This is why I preach so hard on having home and
family prepared well before any disaster.  Any one of us, myself
included, is worthless if all we will do is sit and worry about home in
a disaster.  You ARE better off waiting for others to come in if that is
going to be a roadblock for you!

The problem with waiting for others is that people can be dead before
they can get here. As an EMA Director, I tell my local families AND
responders, "All we have is us! If the stuff comes down tonight,
tomorrow or next week, we can only depend on ourselves." You need look
no farther than your TV to see what I mean. They knew days ahead each
time that this series of disasters was coming.  They even staged
equipment AND SUPPLIES! and look how long it took to get the response
from outside rolling in. 

Thanks for asking an excellent question. This is what KyHam was meant
for. Let's see what some others say, I may re-address this over the
weekend.

73, 
Ron, KA4MAP


-----Original Message-----
From: kyham-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:kyham-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jeff Martin
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 1:57 PM
To: kyham at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [KYHAM] ARES & Local Response

I read with interest the QST 3-part series of the Williamson County
Tennessee implementation of Winlink 2000 and other technologies in
support
of the local Emergency Management.  What a nice system; very elaborate
using
several different technologies and a lot of folks put in a lot of long
hours
to get it going.  But I wonder what the motivation was?

 

I recently spent almost two weeks assisting at the Gulf Coast in support
of
the Katrina relief effort; I worked with the Red Cross at several
shelters
dispatched through Montgomery AL.  The area I worked in had no
communications, all cells phones and land lines were inoperable.
Anything
that had an elaborate infrastructure was dead.  Most of the local Hams
were
not assisting with EM Comms, outsiders were.  The local Hams were taking
care of their families, etc.  This was my first time involved in
something
like this and I learned a lot but there has been something bothering me
I
wanted to get this groups thoughts on:

 

Should we not expect that in a Disaster  the local Hams will
"Stand-Down"
taking caring of their own personal needs and the needs of their
families?
For the most part this was the case at the Gulf.  Amateur's from outside
the
area came in, bringing with them portable equipment, and set up the
communications for the Red Cross to include a team from Colorado who set
up
a portable repeater.  Thus one may conclude that in non-disaster times
local
ARES groups should train locally but train to mobilize somewhere else
preparing to encounter no operational repeaters and no operational
commercial systems, etc.  I am confident is saying that if the
Williamson
system had been installed at the Gulf, it would have been rendered, for
the
most part, inoperative, mainly because of the repeaters and towers.
None of
the Ham repeaters were working until several days later because of bent
antennas and water damage.

 

So the question is, why such an elaborate system when it is most likely,
at
the time of greatest need, not going to be operational?  None of the
other
commercial systems at the Gulf were.  Are not the outsiders going to
come in
and provide communications while the locals are taking care of their
families?  When the outsiders come in, if part of the elaborate system
is
still working, will they have the digital equipment necessary to
communicate?

 

I believe what Williamson County has done is a great achievement for Ham
Radio (you have to start somewhere), I'm just not sure of its
practicality
in an actual emergency.  Am I wrong?

 

Jeff Martin, WB4JM

Bowling Green

 

 

 


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