[OkHam] Fw: [EM] amateur radio and emergency management

Tue, 15 Jul 2003 17:46:11 -0500

Please contact him directly with your comments regarding his questions. 
As you are tempted to hit reply, remember that he won't see your comments
because he's not on any of our lists.

I'll be sending my "version of the truth" to him as well.               
:)

Let me know how more I can help.

Lloyd Colston             Mayes County Emergency Management
Pryor, OK USA           http://www.geocities.com/mccem
        Homeland Security begins at HOME.

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jim Griffin" <[email protected]>

Hey you all. I tried sending this out once upon a time and 
experienced some technical difficulties so apologies for any 
redundancies.  I'm trying to get an idea of how amateur radio is 
incorporated into emergency management (i.e. how would an emergency 
manager unfamiliar with ham radio go about working it in to a local 
emergency management agency).  Here are some questions I have.  If 
you could answer some (or all if you have time) and enlighten us on 
how this is done, I'd appreciate it.

General
1.        Does a best practices compilation exist?
2.        What types of problems have arisen between amateur radio 
operators and the agencies they serve?
3.        How have amateur radio operators allayed any fear or mistrust 
on the part of first responders or emergency managers?  What approach 
has been successful? Which has not?
4.        Do amateur radio operators object to being referred to 
as "hams" by others?
5.        Does the amateur radio operator's affiliation (e.g., RACES, 
ARES) have an impact on the quality of emergency communications? 
Other than RACES and ARES, what other amateur radio organizations, 
does your agency use any other organizations?
6.        Could a ham's status as an "outsider" be regarded as
an 
advantage of amateur radio in emergency management (i.e. hams are 
less likely to be caught up in turf wars or have an
"institutional 
mentality" within a specific agency)?
7.        Besides the EOC, emergency shelters, and hospitals, to where 
do hams deploy when they are activated?  If hams cannot get there on 
their own, do plans call for other agencies to transport them?
8.        In what situations would the presence of a ham obstruct 
emergency efforts or jeopardize responders?

Planning
1.        How are amateur radio operators included in the emergency 
planning process?
2.        What is necessary to sustain amateur radio in an emergency 
management agency?
3.        Is there a formula or a set of guidelines that may suggest 
how many amateur radio operators are necessary for a given 
jurisdiction?  What other factors (e.g., urban vs. suburban, terrain, 
etc.) should be considered?
4.        Would a background check alleviate any fears responders may 
have about amateur radio operators being privy to certain 
information? How often are ham's backgrounds checked?
5.        What type of political challenges might be encountered when 
using amateur radio?

Training
1.        Has there been an effort to cross-train EOC personnel or 
first responders in amateur radio?
2.        With regard to testing and drills, how long do they normally 
take? What is an acceptable timeframe?  How will responses vary? How 
much do they vary by agency?

Equipment
1.        What types of resources do amateur radio operators need?  
2.        Do emergency management agencies allocate funds for ham 
equipment or is it understood that amateur radio operators must bear 
the entire cost?
3.        FEMA had funding programs to assist in the purchase of 
amateur radio equipment in the early 1990s.  Are there such programs 
today?
4.        What is required in a go-kit?

Procedural
1.        Why do SETs only take place between 9/1 and 11/30?  Are they 
coordinated with other emergency exercises or are they usually
"stand 
alone" exercises?
2.        What is a "temporary state of emergency" the FCC may
declare 
and what impact does this have on amateur radio?
3.        After the local amateur radio officer is notified by the 
emergency manager that the EOC has been activated, how are other hams 
notified? By phone? Radio? Emergency Broadcast System? Is there a 
call list?
4.        Which hams go where? How is this determined? By license 
class? By experience?
5.        How are amateur radio operators outside the area contacted 
and deployed?
6.        How are the locations of all ham operators involved in a 
response accounted for?  Map in the EOC?  Have GIS and GPS ever been 
used?  What are the advantages/disadvantages of such an approach?
7.        Upon what criteria is an exercise deemed a success?
8.        What types of implementation challenges may be encountered 
when using amateur radio? How may they be resolved? Any conflicts 
between competing government agencies?
9.        How is amateur radio's involvement codified? MOUs, amendments 
to communications annexes, etc.

Unintended Consequences
1.        Are there Workman's Compensation issues when including hams?
2.        Have there been problems with hams taking their equipment 
home at the end of a shift when it is still needed in the EOC?

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