[KYHAM] ARES & Local Response

[Scott Thile (K4SET)]

Jeff,

With all do respect, I think you should reserve your critical comments to
something you have more fully explored. And in my opinion, yes, you are
wrong.

We need to be as well prepared locally to provide back up communications as
we can be. Think how long it was before you and other dedicated hams were
able to get to the effected areas to start to help! How many lives could
have been saved if better back up EMcomms were available inside the areas
hardest hit. Its certainly great to have jump teams available to help out in
areas where the local efforts are overwhelmed or destroyed, but one effort
does not compromise the other. Both are important, and in many cases the
equipment and skills can serve double duty for each.

The Williamson county system is top notch and state of the art. It is built
on multiple redundant systems some of which WILL survive in any given
incident. They are not dependant on one another, or local conventional comm
systems. The equipment is all located in hardened sites, and in many cases
staffed by ARES personnel who are also working full time in communications
in the very offices where the equipment resides. In short, they are better
prepared than any group I've ever seen or imagined. This was simply not the
case in the Gulf.

Jeff, I'm surprised you would question their motivation. The motivation was
to have the best and most viable system in place and staffed by very capable
people, some of whom WILL be there in most any scenario likely to hit that
area. On top of the local effort, many of the Williamson County ARES
operators are fully prepared to be deployed to other areas with excellent
mobile jump team capability. 

As I mention to you privately, you have an open invitation if you really
want to see what's going on in Williamson County. I took advantage of this a
couple of months ago, and I could not have been more impressed or
encouraged. I only hope we can do as well in KY, and aspire to do so in the
coming months.

Anyone interested in EMcomm work would be well served to look at the
Williamson County, TN operation as an excellent state of the art example of
working with served agencies to maximize readiness, build relationships, and
secure funding for the cost of the best equipment. The result is a wonderful
system and trained personnel capable of handling most any disaster scenario.

73 and 75, Scott, K4SET
KY ARES, ASEC of Digital Communications

> -----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 12:57 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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