[TCARC-NTX] ARES E-Letter

[David Johnson KB5YLG]

The ARES E-Letter
February 15, 2006
=================					   

Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor

===================================
ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial
questions or
comments: <k1ce at arrl.net>
===================================

+ The View from Flagler County

Orlando, Florida, February 11, 2006 - In the past, the
Orlando
Hamcation was a national-scale event; not quite
Dayton, but big. It
still is, judging by Saturday's crowd. The ARES Forum
was "Standing
Room Only." A notable guest was John Fleming, WD4FFX,
of the Florida
Division of Emergency Management staff. Without his
support, it is
likely there would be little or no Amateur Radio
involvement with the
state's EOC and its operations. 

It was Fleming, along with Northern Florida Section
Manager Rudy
Hubbard, WA4PUP, and former SEC George Thurston, W4MLE
(SK), that set
the stage for the modern relationship with the state.
Before
Hurricane Andrew in 1992, relations could be summed up
by the state's
"Don't call us, we'll call you" policy. But after
Andrew, the
Governor and FEMA patently needed new planning.
Thurston called
Hubbard about a meeting to be held at Tallahassee.
FEMA reps, the
Governor's staff, and several amateurs attended,
including Thurston,
Hubbard, and John Hills, KC4N, current State
Government Liaison. 

The Governor replaced the staff at the state EOC with
professionals
from South Carolina, veterans who had managed the
Hurricane Hugo
disaster there in 1989. Hubbard gave the new staffers
a copy of the
Northern Florida ARES Plan. They asked if ARES could
provide the
communication service depicted in the plan. They were
assured ARES
could, and the next meeting with ARES and the SEOC
reflected a new
relationship between the two entities, one that has
worked
exceptionally well since the mid-1990's. Fleming has
been the point
man. 

Fleming lauded amateurs involved in last year's
incredible hurricane
season, passed out State Certificates of Recognition,
a special
achievement award for Hubbard, and emphasized the
importance of the
role of Amateur Radio and ARES at the state EOC. He
noted the state's
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program had resulted in the
large Brevard
County Amateur Radio Emergency Service van parked on
display outside
the building. Fleming emphasized training and
preparation for the
upcoming hurricane season, and informed the group of
two conferences:
the Governor's Hurricane Conference in Ft. Lauderdale
in May, and the
National Hurricane Conference in Orlando in April.
Amateur Radio
sessions will be held at each event.

DEC KO4TT--Steve Richbourg's, professional
presentation of the
Northern Florida ARES Plan was well received. Hubbard
discussed the
state's "tracker" system for matching emergency
communication needs
with assets, and emphasized that his ARES organization
embraces all
modes as tools for communication, including "two
coffee cans and
string, if necessary." The Northern Florida SEC Joe
Bushel, W2DWR,
emotionally expressed his appreciation for hurricane
efforts. I said
that the excellent response of the field organization
was matched by
ARRL HQ staff members who took unprecedented steps to
support its
field's efforts. Alabama Section Manager Greg Sarratt,
W4OZK, spoke
of his appreciation for the ARES effort as well.

"Orlando" was an opportunity to put faces to call
signs, and I was
especially pleased to meet Greg, Hillsborough County
RACES Officer
and EC Gary Sessums, KC5QCN, who was another key
player in the
Katrina response, and Harold Kramer, WJ1B, the
League's Chief
Operating Officer (a former Emergency Coordinator).
Harold is a great
guy and supporter of the ARES program. This ARES
E-Letter was his
idea originally.

The Orlando Hamcation is held in the East Central
District of the
Northern Florida section, and DEC Jay Musikar, AF2C,
was on hand to
welcome attendees to his district. The ARES Forum was
the highlight
of the weekend for me, and I suspect, many others. --
K1CE 

===================
In This Issue:

+ New ARRL Committee to Evaluate National Emergency
Response
+ Red Cross HQ Staff To Meet ARRL HQ Staff in
Newington to Discuss
Katrina Issues
+ Hospital Disaster Support Communications System
(California) News
+ Jackson Hamfest Hosts Katrina Review
+ Government Perspective of Communication Failures Not
to Be Missed
+ NIMS/ICS Training Essential
+ Opinion: ARES Appointment Requirements Should
Include FEMA/ARRL
Courses
+ International Beat: Working Group on Emergency
Communications
(WGEC) Seeks to Enhance Region 2 Support
+ Collaboration, not Control: An "Outsider's"
Perspective on Katrina
Operations
+ In Support of "Plain Language"
+ After Action Review and Reporting Philosophy
+ Delta Recognizes Amateurs
+ ARES Marketplace
+ K1CE For A Final
===================

+ New ARRL Committee to Evaluate National Emergency
Response

At its Annual Meeting in January, the League's Board
of Directors
established the National Emergency Response Planning
Committee. The
rationale was evidence and personal interviews with
staff that such a
committee would be necessary.  "The League's national
emergency
response to large-scale disasters like Katrina
warranted Board-level
understanding and support of such work, and the
creation of this
committee takes care of that," said Dave Patton, NN1N,
Manager, Field
and Educational Services Department, ARRL
Headquarters.

+ Red Cross HQ Staff To Meet ARRL HQ Staff in
Newington to Discuss
Katrina Issues

Members of the American Red Cross HQ staff will meet
later this month
with ARRL HQ staff in Newington to discuss issues that
arose from the
Katrina response. Some of those issues have been
discussed in
previous issues of this newsletter. 

In the past, the American Red Cross staff have always
been
exceptionally receptive to reviewing what went right
and wrong, and
more than cooperative in issuing clarifications and
modifications to
the Statement of Understanding the League has enjoyed
with the
Congresionally-sanctioned organization since 1949.
Many of the Red
Cross staff are radio amateurs themselves. The Red
Cross and the ARRL
continue to enjoy a fine relationship at all levels.
We will report
meeting results in a future issue.

+ Hospital Disaster Support Communications System
(California) News 

HDSCS closed out its 25th year with the North Pole
Network at
Children's Hospital of Orange County, capping its most
active year
ever with 32 events with hospitals.  There were eight
emergency
responses, eight standby operations, seven drills and
nine public
service/demo events with hospitals during 2005.  The
most active year
previously was 1994 with 31 events.

A "Year End/Year Beginning Finale Meeting" at Kindred
Hospital-Westminster recognized the "Disaster Dozen,"
the year's top
12 communicators.  To be active in HDSCS, members must
earn a minimum
of five points in a year.  Those that made the
Disaster Dozen earned
from 65 to more than 100 points.  They participated in
drills,
responded to emergencies, helped out in standbys,
attended meetings
with hospital representatives, and were regulars on
the weekly nets. 
They are: Paul Broden, K6MHD; Allen Bullock, KD6LCL;
Bruce Chappell,
KE6TSM; Tom Gaccione, WB2LRH; Dennis Kidder, WA6NIA;
Jim McLaughlin,
AB6UF; Joe Moell, K0OV; Dave Mofford, W7KTS; Cheryl
Simpson, KD6MWZ;
Ken Simpson, W6KOS; Clay Stearns, KE6TZR; and Fred
Wagner, KQ6Q. A
new AEC for HDSCS is Jim McLaughlin, AB6UF, a 15-year
veteran of the
group. 

HDSCS was just contacted by Kindred Hospital-Santa Ana
requesting
support of that facility.  Thirty-four hospitals now
have HDSCS
support for any communications disruption or failure.
Please see
<http://www.hdscs.org> -- April Moell, M.A., WA6OPS,
Emergency
Coordinator, Hospital Disaster Support Communications
System, Orange
County, California 

+ Jackson Hamfest Hosts Katrina Review

The Katrina Relief Review forum at the recent Jackson
(Mississippi)
Hamfest was productive and well attended.  ECs, DECs,
and a host of
others were present. Positive interaction, valuable
suggestions,
comments and lessons learned were discussed.  This was
a good group
of amateurs and their dedication and enthusiasm for
ARES shown
through. It was good to meet and talk with several of
the amateurs
that I worked with during the Katrina relief effort. 
Many
Mississippi amateurs passed along their thanks and
appreciation.
Additional Katrina Relief Review forums will be held
throughout the
coming year. - Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, Alabama Section
Manager

+ Government Perspective of Communication Failures Not
to Be Missed

The article "Missed Signals" appears in this month's
issue of
"Government Executive Magazine." It should be required
reading for
anyone involved in emergency communications, but
especially ARES
leaders. We can't help solve the problems faced by our
served
agencies until we understand them. See
<http://www.govexec.com/features/0206-01/0206-01s2.htm>
-- Les
Rayburn, N1LF, ARES, SHARES, SKYWARN, ARRL EmComm
Level 3 Certified,
Official Emergency Station
 
+ NIMS/ICS Training Essential

The Department of Homeland Security is requiring all
first
responders, including volunteers, to complete training
in the
National Incident Management System (NIMS) by 2007.
This sounds
formidable, but in reality there is an Independent
Study course from
FEMA that covers it. The course is IS-700 - go to
<http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIweb/IS/crslist.asp>
and find the
course list. Follow directions and you will get to
IS-700. Readers
can take the course on line or download the material
and do it at
their own pace. It shouldn't take more than three
hours in any case.
There's a final exam on line, but it isn't going to
cost much sweat
(or any money - courses are all free). After passing
the final, the
student will get notification by e-mail or regular
mail. 

Readers are encouraged to look at the rest of the
course offerings on
the FEMA training Web site. They represent a wealth of
knowledge,
organized so that us real people can get through them
and actually
learn something. They aren't rocket science, just good
stuff we need
to know! -- John Amos, KC6TVM, ADEC, Hospital Net
Coordinator, Santa
Clara County, California. See also IS-100, and IS-200.
-- Lloyd
Colston <kc5fm at ureach.com>  K3XO training also
available:
<http://www.k3xo.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5>
The
ICS course is available free of charge. -- Rip Smith,
K3XO

+ Opinion: ARES Appointment Requirements Should
Include FEMA/ARRL
Courses

Successful completion of the ARRL Levels 1, 2, and 3
emcomm courses
and FEMA courses IS-100 and IS-700 should be a
requirement for all
new SECs, DECs, ECs and Official Emergency Stations
(OES). ARRL could
grandfather current appointees with the provision that
they complete
the required course work within three years. These
courses provide
the basics that every ARES appointee should have if
they are to work
effectively with served agencies and each other. There
is a need for
a new minimum level of training for ARES operators. -
Dennis
Baumgarte, AE2EE, EC Dutchess County, New York; SEC
Eastern New York;
and Radio Officer, Orange County, New York 

+ International Beat: Working Group on Emergency
Communications
(WGEC) Seeks to Enhance Region 2 Support

Following the first Global Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications
Conference (GAREC 2005) held in Tampere, Finland last
year, the IARU
Region 2 Executive Committee formed a Working Group on
Emergency
Communications (WGEC) to make recommendations for the
IARU Region 2
organization to better support its Member Societies
and improve their
capability.

Noel E. Donawa, 9Y4NED, was appointed Chairman of the
committee
(WGEC), along with members: Area Emergency Advisors
Arnie Coro,
CO2KK, Cesar Santos, HR2P, and Steve Ewald, WV1X, of
the ARRL staff;
telecomms expert Fred Kleber, K9VV; and IARU Region 2
Emergency
Coordinator (EMCOR) Rick Palm, K1CE.

The WGEC reviewed the existing EMCOR Terms of
Reference and data
available from the EMCOR Web site
<http://www.iaru-r2emcor.net>
including reports of operations following disaster
events,
preparedness, response capability, mobility and
performance, level of
training, ability to respond in rural areas, inventory
of equipment,
availability of personnel for rapid response,
relations with national
disaster management agencies and levels of
certification for
operators. The study was done in light of the recent
increase of
hurricane, earthquake, flooding and land slide
disasters and the
implementation of ITU recommendations to governments
to embrace the
resources of Amateur Radio operators.  

The WGEC agreed that the EMCOR function should include
offering
training materials and seminars to improve Region 2
performance.
Further, the WGEC proposed new EMCOR structure to
better encourage
the region's Member Societies to set up emergency
response assets
that can be deployed nationally into rural areas, and
internationally
for purposes of mutual assistance.

The committee concluded that the IARU, the
international organization
representing the interests of Amateur Radio globally,
needs to foster
these goals across all three regions of the world. The
WGEC is
concluding its work and expects to present its
recommendations to the
Region 2 Executive Committee soon.

+ Collaboration, not Control: An "Outsider's"
Perspective on Katrina
Operations

[The following is from an amateur who deployed from
Georgia to the
affected areas, and offers the perspective of the
"outsider." - ed.]

I didn't see any steamrolling by us, the non-locals;
we were not
trying to take control of the response from local ARES
constituents.
But it should be expected that local ECs and EOCs will
be impacted by
the disaster effects, and may not be in a position to
lead operations
early on. This was the case in several locations. ECs,
their local
ARES groups, and EOCs should not be surprised to see
outsiders in
"their" area if they have not been in operation and
communication. 

When ECs resurface after taking care of their own
immediate needs and
concerns, the first step should be to assess what is
and is not
working, and then think about integration. Determining
who is in
control should come last, and should be collaborative
with incoming
mutual assistance responders. In the areas I served,
the first action
of the locals appeared to be the "I'm in charge here"
type of
commands, followed by control struggles with no
attempt to gain
mutual understanding and the need for integration. On
the other hand,
external teams should be prepared to be assimilated
into local ARES
efforts as they come on line. 

During our Katrina response, while we were able to do
significant
good, we were underutilized despite the need and our
capabilities. A
Red Cross shelter manager said "the first contact we
had with anyone
was when the Army helicopter landed 2-3 days after the
hurricane
passed; our second contact was with the Amateur Radio
team that
showed up." That team was dispatched via the
Montgomery staging area,
not part of the local ARES organization, which
legitimately had
problems of their own to deal with. The point is,
don't discount the
utility of the outsider ARES operator coming in to
assist the local
effort. - Alan Barrow, KM4BA 

+ In Support of "Plain Language"

>From the FEMA NIMS FAQ: The use of plain language in
emergency
response situations is a matter of public safety,
especially the
safety of first responders and those affected by the
incident. It is
critical that all local responders, as well as those
coming into the
impacted area from other jurisdictions, know and use
commonly
established operational structures, terminology,
policies and
procedures. This is what NIMS and the Incident Command
System (ICS)
are all about - achieving interoperability across
jurisdictions and
disciplines.

The use of common terminology is about the ability of
area
commanders, state and local EOC personnel, federal
operational
coordinators, and responders to communicate clearly
with each other
and effectively coordinate response activities, no
matter what the
size, scope or complexity of the incident. FEMA
requires that plain
English be used for multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction
and
multi-discipline events, such as major disasters and
exercises.
Beginning in the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1,
2007, federal
preparedness grant funding is contingent on the use of
plain English
in major incidents requiring assistance from
responders from other
agencies, jurisdictions and functional disciplines. It
is important
to practice everyday terminology and procedures that
will need to be
used in emergency incidents and disasters. NIMS
implementation is a
long-term effort and it's probably not possible to
persuade everyone
to change ingrained habits overnight. But over time,
everyone will
understand the importance of using common terminology,
that is, plain
English, every day. See
<http://faq.fema.gov/cgi-bin/fema.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php>
--
Submitted by Les Rayburn, N1LF

+ After Action Review and Reporting Philosophy

Having been part of numerous "Lessons Learned"
meetings in industry,
there are both public and private aspects of these
reviews. The
review itself must be restricted to only those parties
that actually
participated. Press, and staff/management more than a
level or two
removed should not be present or the necessary honesty
will not be
forthcoming.  In addition, the published report should
avoid
identifying individuals.  

The report itself must be public within the
appropriate community -
in this case the amateur emcomm community.  It is part
of the
long-term validation cycle that drives improvement. 
Without a public
report that identifies successes and failures, there
is no way for
the community to decide what needs to be preserved,
fixed, or
discarded.  Entities that did well will not receive
the benefit of
their success. Entities that did poorly have no
incentive to
demonstrate improvement.

Should the report's information be published to the
public at large;
i.e., QST?  Not without serious filtering and
judgment. The general
QST readership does not have the background to place
all of the
report's information in context. It is entirely
appropriate for QST
coverage to identify specific points of organizational
failure. 
Wherever possible, the expected response should also
be included so
that the readers will know what actions to expect.  If
possible,
there should also be follow-up coverage to major
events such as
Katrina.

Balancing the public's need-to-know with an
organization's need for
accountability and an individual's need for support in
his or her job
is very difficult, particularly in a situation where
things did not
go well across the board.  All three must be
accommodated, however,
if the capabilities of the community are to improve.
-- Ward Silver,
N0AX, EC Vashon Island ARES

+ Delta Recognizes Amateurs

Amateur Radio and its contributions in the realm of
emergency
communications recognized again, this time by Delta
Airlines:
<http://www.delta-sky.com/2006_02/RolePlaying/index.html>
 -- Jay
Musikar, AF2C, District EC, East Central District,
Northern Florida
Section ARES

+ ARES Marketplace

A handsome all-brass ARES belt buckle is available:
<http://www.ItsUrCall.com>. The company has a
marketing agreement
with the ARRL and is producing the belt buckles with
an ARES theme.
ARRL receives a portion of each sale. They're not
cheap, but I know
I'm going to get one. - K1CE

HAMTHREADS <http://www.hamthreads.com> makes ARES,
RACES, and SKYWARN
hats, shirts, jackets and vests, with 3M Reflective
Tape for high
visibility. Club discounts provided. - Dave Birdsley,
KF8WS, B & B
Embroidery/Ham Threads 

+ K1CE for a Final

Got an ARES Net this week? Try running the net
exclusively in plain
language - no jargon! It should be an interesting and
fun exercise.
Let me know how it goes: <k1ce at arrl.net>. I'm an RN at
the city
hospital in Daytona Beach, and we are also striving to
use plain
language instead of medical jargon; for example,
"right eye" instead
of "O.D." or "oculus dexter."	 

I am going to take FEMA's NIMS/ICS on-line training
before the next
release of this newsletter. I'll let you know how it
goes in the next
issue.

======================================================================
The ARES E-Letter is published on the third Wednesday
of each month
by the American Radio Relay League--The National
Association For
Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel
860-594-0200;
fax 860-594-0259; <http://www.arrl.org/>. Jim Haynie,
W5JBP,
President.

The ARES E-Letter is an e-mail digest of news and
information of
interest to active members of the ARRL Amateur Radio
Emergency
Service (ARES). 

Material from The ARES E-Letter may be republished or
reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without additional
permission. Credit
must be given to The ARES E-Letter and The American
Radio Relay
League.

Editorial questions or comments: Rick Palm, K1CE,
k1ce at arrl.net
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======================================================================



--- automatic signature follows...

David Johnson
MCP,MCSE,MCSD,MCDBA,CWS
david at justcalldavid.com
kb5ylg at yahoo.com

---

Emergency and public service communications,
a hobby of myriad facets, an enhancement to any
other hobby:  The Amateur Radio Service.

Find out more at http://www.arrl.org

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