[Paham] ENHANCED PUBLIC SAFETY ROLE

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ARRL HQ MEETING EXPLORES ENHANCED PUBLIC SAFETY ROLE FOR AMATEUR RADIO

Exploring an enhanced post-9/11 public safety and homeland security role
for Amateur Radio was the focus of a National Public Safety
Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) Amateur Radio Working Group meeting
June 25. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, hosted the daylong session at
ARRL Headquarters which included participation by several ARRL staff
members.

"It's our goal to increase the credibility of the Amateur Radio Service,
especially after 9/11," Haynie said. "We know we have a great service that
we can offer, and the resources are at no cost to the taxpayer, and it
just makes good sense to us to use the Amateur Radio operators of America
to help with homeland security and defense."

ARRL Field and Educational Services Manager Rosalie White, K1STO, briefed
the gathering on ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Communications on-line
training course series <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html>. Copies of
the Level I emergency communications course were distributed to meeting
participants for their suggestions and comments.

Chairing the session was Gene McGahey, AL7GQ, who is deputy manager of
Communications Technology Technical Assistance for the National Law
Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center. NPSTC
<http://www.npstc.org/>--pronounced "nipstick"--is a coalition of
organizations involved in public safety communications. ARRL is a NPSTC
participant. This week's meeting was a followup to a brainstorming session
last February in Washington, DC, in which ARRL took part.

McGahey said discussion this week included the public safety aspects of
the proposed secondary domestic amateur allocation at 5 MHz; the relevance
of accreditation and training programs and their role in validating
Amateur Radio's participation in public safety communications support; the
potential of 4.9 GHz to relieve public safety pressure from 2.4 GHz; and
proposed research involving Amateur Radio's public safety role. Two
surveys are under consideration for sometime within the next 12 months.
One would determine Amateur Radio's specific emergency resources and
capabilities. A second would assess the utilization and need for Amateur
Radio resources by public safety officials.

Haynie said after the meeting that he's optimistic about Amateur Radio's
greater involvement in public safety and homeland security communications.
"It's a whole new mindset since September 11," he said, "and we now need
to pay attention to how all Americans--whether they're in public safety or
Amateur Radio--can cooperate to make this a safer nation."