1990 RACES Bulletins
RACESBUL.098 - SUBJECT: DESIRABLE TRAITS IN A VOLUNTEER
DATE: Jan. 1, 1990 "What are the desirable traits for a Level 1 volunteer?"
A management workshop, based on Harvard business school techniques, divided 110 people into eleven groups of ten people each. The groups were asked to list all of the attributes that came to mind. After a period of time they were told to stop writing lists and vote on their top eight. Then all eleven groups combined their results into the following top eight attributes:
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.099 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 1/6
DATE: Jan. 8, 1990 This is the first of a series of suggestions, observations, findings, and criticisms by Amateur Radio operators. This opening statement applies to each and every subsequent part in this series and will not be repeated in the interest of brevity.
Amateur Radio operators and served organizations met after the October 17, 1989 magnitude 7.1 earthquake in northern California to identify, discuss and document the good and not so good on both sides. From the thousands of words provided us in numerous after-action reports, I have boiled down the following as the most frequent findings. I'm sure there are many reports that were never provided us so we can only quote from those that were.
We are indebted to those hams and agencies that shared their findings with us. As is our practice, we have sanitized the reports to eliminate individual names and callsigns. Most of these findings can or should be helpful to any volunteer or paid individual and organizations in their future training operations and exercises. Most of the findings apply to sound practices and procedures anywhere -- not just to an earthquake in California. It is in this spirit that we share these with you. In an attempt to categorize the findings I have broken them down into the following broad categories: Management, Operations, General, Packet, Plans/Preparedness, and Training.
MANAGEMENT
[To be continued in RACES Bulletin #100. -KH6GBX]
RACESBUL.100 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 2/6
DATE: Jan. 15, 1990MANAGEMENT (continued):
[To be continued in State RACES Bulletin #101. -KH6GBX]
RACESBUL.101 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 3/6
DATE: Jan. 22, 1990OPERATIONS
(To be continued in State RACES Bulletin #102. -KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.102 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 4/6
DATE: Jan. 29, 1990OPERATIONS (continued):
(To be continued in State RACES Bulletin 103. -KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.103 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 5/6
DATE: Feb. 5, 1990
GENERAL
(To be continued in State RACES Bulletin #104. -KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.104 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 6/6
DATE: Feb. 12, 1990
PLANS / PREPAREDNESS
-KH6GBX
RACESBUL.105 - SUBJECT: AMATEUR TELEVISION (ATV) - 1/4
DATE: Feb 19 , 1990 A proper demonstration of airborne Amateur Radio Television (ATV) requires several factors coming together precisely at the chosen time and place. They are:
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 106)
RACESBUL.106 - SUBJECT: ATV - 2/4
DATE: Feb. 26, 1990 These problems may be overcome by a few simple steps:
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 107.)
RACESBUL.107 - SUBJECT: ATV - 3/4
DATE: Mar. 5, 1990
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 108)
RACESBUL.108 - SUBJECT: ATV - 4/4
DATE: Mar. 12, 1990 Aerial ATV platforms I have seen or used have included slow flying fixed wing aircraft owned and operated by the RACES personnel, Highway Patrol helicopters, Civil Air Patrol aircraft, and county fire and police helicopters. Needless to say, fixed wing aircraft must be of the high wing variety.
Because of Murphy's Law and daylight limitations, it is now standard operating procedure for the State RACES ATV unit to prerecord ATV demonstrations. In this manner the crew can pick ideal flying and lighting conditions. Targets with which the viewers can relate are determined in advance. When the day (or night) of the presentation arrives, a proper video demonstration can be made to the local government officials regardless of how hard the wind is blowing outside, the downpour or snowstorm in progress. The officials aren't interested in the aircraft installation, hardware, wiring, cameras, radios and so forth. They are interested only in results. Good results. They are used to seeing helicopter news video. ATV results can be close in quality with the right equipment and skilled operators. If it isn't or it's still in the gee whiz hobby stage -- don't demonstrate it. More harm can be done by failures. The memory of them is long lasting.
-KH6GBX
RACESBUL.109 - SUBJECT: COMM WILL ALWAYS FAIL! - 1/2
DATE: Mar. 19, 1990 "You can depend on it: communications ALWAYS fail in a disaster!" So reports Joseph Scanlon, Director of Emergency Communications Research Unit, Carleton University in the Alberta (Canada) Public Safety Services INSIGHT publication. The following excerpts from his article are food for thought, education and planning:
While working as a consultant, I was asked by an engineer how often communications fail in a disaster. I replied, "always." He looked at me in disbelief; so I asked a colleague, Dr. E. L. Quarantelli. His reply? "Communications always fail in a disaster."
Though that's a fact--and there's lots of evidence to support it--the hardest message about disasters to get across to emergency managers is that, at times, now matter how well prepared, they won't know what's going on.
Take the tornado which hit Edmonton, July 31, 1987. There was damage and destruction including downed power and telephone lines. Traffic routes were impassable. There was flooding, enough to block many north-south arteries. There were toxic chemical incidents. Emergency radio systems--police, fire and ambulance--were overloaded. Part of the phone system was destroyed. No one, for a time, could possibly know what happened.
That doesn't mean that Edmonton's plan, based on a central EOC, didn't work. It means it took time before the EOC had the information needed to make useful decisions.
Any disaster--no matter how well handled--has some communication problems, some uncertainty.
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 110.)
RACESBUL.110 - SUBJECT: COMM WILL ALWAYS FAIL! - 2/2
DATE: Mar. 26, 1990 Effective emergency planning must assume such problems will occur. It must accept that there will be periods of uncertainty. And it must have systems in place to overcome the inevitable failures of communications.
I always liked what the mayor of one Canadian city once told me. He said that everything had gone wrong during an exercise, and that when things become confused during a real disaster, he was in good shape because "confusion seemed normal."
A word about disasters versus emergencies. Emergencies are serious events which require coordinated response to protect the health, safety and welfare of people, or to limit damage to property. Disasters are not just large emergencies, but differ substantially in nature. Disasters are disruptive and cause organizations and systems to break down. The recognized stages of response after a disaster are:
RACESBUL.111 - SUBJECT: WHAT SHOULD AMATEURS EXPECT? - 1/2
DATE: 2 APRIL, 1990 This series of bulletins has, on several occasions, addressed the subject of what government agencies can and should expect from RACES members. Herein are some thoughts on what the Amateurs who volunteer their services and the use of their personal radio gear should expect from their governmental sponsors.
First and foremost, RACES sponsoring agencies owe their volunteers a real effort to learn about radio Amateurs, their capabilities and limitations. This applies both collectively and individually. A realistic appraisal of RACES as an auxiliary to the full time professional communications staff and equipment is basic to their effective utilization. Such an appraisal must be accomplished before the emergency situation which causes the act- ivation of the RACES. Individual members of the RACES can only be effectively utilized if the RACES coordinator evaluates the members, just as full time paid staff is evaluated, and hopefully placed where they will be most useful when needed. This too must obviously be done in advance.
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 112)
RACESBUL.112 - SUBJECT: WHAT SHOULD AMATEURS EXPECT? - 2/2
DATE: 9 APRIL, 1990 Utilization of Amateur Radio Communicators by government agencies in disaster communications has a long history. Disaster service workers are well aware that communication is vital and often unavailable due to equipment failure or simple overload of the normal facilities. RACES groups can offer extensive and flexible augmentation to meet communications needs, often supplying not only skilled personnel, but their own privately owned communications gear. Modern Amateur capabilities include passage of high speed, high volume, virtually error free hard copy between field and headquarters, and headquarters to head- quarters. This in addition to real time voice communication. Some cases RACES units are even capable of supplying airborne video images directly to command centers.
To summarize, Amateur Radio Communicators who volunteer for RACES units should expect active support, as opposed to mere passive acceptance. The RACES is a proven communications tool, offering governments expanded and flexible communication in emergencies, at little or no cost. Like any other tool it must be understood, exercised, and cared for. Fortunately for sponsoring government agencies, RACES people will take care of most of these needs on their own, with proper guidance. A reasonable effort by the sponsoring agency, and appropriate rec- ognition, can yield impressive results.
BILL MUSLADIN, Chief State RACES Officer,
W6HIR @ WA6NWE.CA.USA.NA
RACESBUL.113 - SUBJECT: DO WE KNOW OUR CUSTOMERS? DO OUR CUSTOMERS KNOW US?
DATE: 16 APR 1990 As volunteer communicators, RACES members can and often do make real contributions in emergency and disaster situations - if the government agencies we work for are aware of us and our capabilities. If the RACES is known only by a limited group, most likely the agency that controls it, much of its usefulness may well be lost. The RACES is supposed to serve all branches of government involved in emergency services, not just the agency to which it is assigned. Thus a RACES unit assigned to a fire department may pass traffic for law enforcement, medical, logistical units, and others. If any or all of these agencies are unaware of the RACES communications abilities and facilities, they obviously are not going to use them. Even if an agency is aware of the RACES, it is unlikely to utilize it if confidence in its reliability has not been established in advance.
Establishing awareness of and confidence in the RACES is not necessarily an easy task. After all, the agencies we deal with are often highly trained professionals, unused to working with and trusting "amateurs". Exercising together is probably the most effective method of creating the required level of trust. Regular contact between all the agencies that may need the RACES services in an emergency is vital between exercises. Since the RACES is very likely to be "the new boy on the block", the impetus for these contacts will likely come from the RACES unit itself.
In short, training and becoming effective as a communications unit is only part of the job. The rest involves a selling job. Radio Officers take note.
BILL MUSLADIN, Chief State Radio Officer W6HIR @ WA6NWE.CA.USA.NA
RACESBUL.114 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 1/4
DATE: Apr. 23, 1990THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED
by Russell E. Bankson, N6GWL
Pacific Region, Civil Air Patrol
ABOUT THE AUTHORRuss Bankson has been a licensed Amateur Radio operator for 7 years. He has been deeply involved with volunteer emergency communications operations, plans, and system development for over forty years. A Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, he spearheaded a period of major CAP communications development in California as its director of communications. Russ is active for in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service of the American Radio Relay League. One of his favorite activities is speaking before youth groups and encouraging their interest in radio, electronics, and the sciences.
What does an Amateur Radio operator do as a public service volunteer who sometimes works during an emergency? The basic concept of the volunteer Amateur in emergencies is to provide communications for the safety of life and protection of property for the community during emergencies when established communications for and between public service agencies are overloaded or not functioning. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of how the Amateur tactical communications net performs its services.
When an emergency or disaster happens in a community, the Amateur Radio public service volunteer checks into pre- established nets to report conditions in his locality and his availability and capability. If there is a need for Amateur radio communications, when directed he may report to the emergency operations center, fire department, hospital, Red Cross, shelter, incident commander, forest service, Amateur radio net control station, or to the area as directed where the Amateur is needed. As long as all established communications are available, he does nothing but monitors and is available in the event any communications system becomes overloaded, fails, or is not available between agencies.
(To be continued in Part 2.)
RACESBUL.115 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 2/4
DATE: Apr. 30, 1990 This sometimes means more than coming to the assignment with a hand held transceiver. Following the October 17, 1989 earthquake the Amateurs had to install antennas, coaxial cables, lights for operating positions, power supplies for mobile transceivers used as base stations, maps, phone numbers, writing materials, battery charging systems, personal survival kit, tools, transportation, fuel, money, expertise, dedication and professionalism. Many of the locations worked around the clock for many days. So far nothing has been said about what communications service the Amateurs provided during the earthquake emergency when phones were disabled and electrical power was off and there was danger to life and severe damage to property. I am going to relate some of the messages the Amateurs handled following the earthquake in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. Within twenty minutes after the quake the Amateurs had checked in to the reporting nets, checked their neighbors for well being, and had reported to the Red Cross Amateur Radio stations. Immediately the tactical emergency net was established. This was done because there was no power, no reliable phone communications between the Red Cross Chapters, and a major threat to life and property existed.
(To be continued in part 3 of 4 parts.)
RACESBUL.116 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 3/4
DATE: May 7, 1990
RACESBUL.117 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 4/4
DATE: May 14, 1990 This is just a small example of the many types of messages handled by the tactical net of Amateurs. If you use your imagination you can visualize the service the Amateur provides during floods, hurricanes, fires, lost people, earthquakes, hazardous material spills, internal telephone failures in hospitals, snow storms and other communication needs. Why did the Red Cross need to use Amateur Radio communi- cations? Communications were needed to activate shelters for thousands of displaced people. Feeding, providing clothing, accepting donations of supplies, transporting supplies where needed, providing safe routes between cities, storage of supplies, communications between leaders with responsibilities, assignment of personnel to tactical positions, keeping track of hundreds of assigned volunteers, providing change of shift personnel around the clock, communications with Western Red Cross Field Office and other chapters, communications with other agencies such as the Navy, Air Force, Department of Transportation, fire departments, police, State Office of Emergency services, damage evaluators and hospitals.
When the need is there, the dedicated public service Amateur Radio operator is there, doing volunteer public service.
RACESBUL.118 - SUBJECT: PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCHERS/TELECOMMUNICATORS
DATE: May 21, 1990 I had the opportunity recently to present two seminars on the use of Amateur Radio operators to the Western States Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers conference in New Mexico. They were attended by dispatchers, communications managers/directors, engineers/technicians, and vendors. Most of the dispatchers admitted that they knew virtually nothing about radio hams and thought -- until now -- that they were the same as CB'ers. I was stunned by the latter assumption until it dawned on me that we hams -- and the served agencies -- seldom take the time to brief or educate the public safety communications center employees. Seek out opportunities to do this. Tell them how phone patches work and how they may originate from outside their own 9-1-1 area. How hams must pass a rigorous examination. How flexible ham radio systems are and how they can augment and support the public safety mission in time of emergency. How it is better to understand and work together before the emergency; that any other time is too late. It is vitally important that any such contact and liaison be done (a) by a ham familiar with public safety communications and (b) completely in non-ham radio, non-technical lingo. The latter is more important than the first.
-- KH6GBX (W6HIR @ WA6NWE.CA USA.NA)
RACESBUL.119 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 1/3
DATE: May 28, 1990 Only one state and parts of two others are free from any threat of earthquakes. For this reason we continue to receive requests from volunteer communications services and the agencies they serve for any helpful information. I attended a military- civilian-common carrier critique following the October 1989 Loma Prieta (S.F. Bay Area) earthquake. It was a candid exchange of comments and observations by high ranking individuals. The theme was "Lessons learned from the earthquake". I am sure that you will be able to adopt one or more of the following statements to your own area. How many can you find?
An Army general said, "Too many people show up wanting to be helpful. They should know in advance where they fit in or stay out of the way. If people don't know what to do or where to go, then someone isn't doing their planning job properly."
A big city emergency management director said, "We didn't need ham radio operators. Our biggest communications problem was we didn't have any interdepartmental radio communications without cellular telephones." [The contradiction is clearly obvious to ham radio operators! This city has no RACES program but no shortage of hams who wish it did. ---KH6GBX]
(To be continued in part 2 of 3 parts)
RACESBUL.120 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 2/3
DATE: June 4, 1990 A big city fire department battalion chief said, "One: our plans did not work. They should all be redone. The Incident Command System works but it took more than a few days to make it work. Two: if you don't control the media, they will control you. Three: a mobile command post is extremely important. Four: we were hampered by a lack of simplex radio channels. Five: there must be a mechanism to coordinate volunteers."
A county emergency management director said, " Communications: some lost or overtaxed it so bad we lost it. You must have redundant communications. Volunteers: you should have a plan on how to deal with and manage volunteers. They showed up uninvited in (one hard hit city) and nobody could use them. On the subject of ICS (the Incident Command System), you should all adopt it. Finally, in the recovery phase, we didn't do as good a job as we should have. We should train people how to use the ICS for the recovery phase, too."
A gas and electric utility representative said, "Everybody needs to work on their communications systems. Our phones were overloaded for the first five days. Our mobile radio system was useless because our mountaintop remote base stations were all out. Generators failed because we don't use them. We all have to run them under load for more than just a few minutes."
A state emergency management official said that we need to be more proactive by moving up certain resources to the periphery of the incident, rather than await dispatch from greater distances. She also said that we all should start placing as much emphasis on recovery operations as we do in response.
(To be concluded in Part 3)
RACESBUL.121 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - Part 3/3
DATE: June 11, 1990 An emergency medical service official said, "We instituted the earthquake plan and it really helped. The earthquake was not a catastrophic event but it did validate our planning. Lack of intelligence the first few hours is a problem -- it was zero. Communications needs to be established much more quickly. We need to set up a communications system in advance. One hundred of the 112 hospitals in the earthquake area were affected in one way or another." [Note: Several states have regional or statewide EMS radio communication systems. California does not.]
The critique day concluded with management and communications workshops. Some key findings of the latter were that a four to eight hour communications battery backup is no good if there isn't a generator available. Batteries are simply a switchover bridge between commercial and generator power. Emergency power generators will fail when you really need them if they are not exercised and maintained frequently.
A briefing on Amateur Radio was given to the communications workshop. Most of the governments that do not have a RACES program have little understanding of ham radio; at the time of a disaster is too late to find out. I explained that the RACES is a mutual aid resource similar to fire suppression, law enforcement, engineering and others. They are trained in emergency management procedures and operations, the ICS, public safety, disciplined operations and teamwork. A MARS representative concluded by explaining the MARS resources available to the military community.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.122 - SUBJECT: HOW TO FIND HIGH TECH SUPPORT - 1/2
DATE: June 18, 1990
How To Find High Tech Support
by
Timothy R. S. Campbell
Director, Department of Emergency Services, Chester County, PA Implementation of a new information system for emergency planning and response may be simple for computer literate personnel. However, when viewed from the perspective of a computer novice, these first steps can seem very intimidating. Many computer implementation schemes assume that the person designing the system, network, or databases is familiar with the operation of other computers, software, and/or databases. So how can a newcomer approach this challenge logically?
First, never forget that the purpose of a computer system is to assist human beings in doing their jobs faster. Computers do not inherently make people more efficient or more effective. They merely allow data to be manipulated, stored, or retrieved with breathtaking speed. They reduce mundane routine activities and free up personnel to do those imaginative and creative activities that only humans can do.
Secondly, remember that you have absolute control over the computer. You can turn it off while it cannot turn you off. At worst, losing data will set you back a few days or weeks but you will never be as far behind as you were the day before you started to computerize.
There are significant resources that can be utilized by an emergency management professional in implementing a computerized system for disaster management. It is up to us in the emergency management professional in implementing a computerized system for disaster management. It is up to us in the emergency management field to identify those resources in our home community and begin to involve them in our emergency management program.
Continued in Bulletin 123
RACESBUL.123 - SUBJECT: HOW TO FIND HIGH TECH SUPPORT - 2/2
DATE: June 25, 1990 One of the first groups to look to is the Amateur Radio community. While we in emergency management have traditionally looked upon them as solely communicators, a closer look at the Amateur Radio community reveals that they are engaged in many more activities that have impact on modern emergency operations through the use of technology. For example, Amateurs are presently operating satellite communications from their own satellite. Emergency management does not have a satellite. Amateurs are doing video transmissions, wireless bulletin boards, and packet radio operations which are the equal of any in use in the commercial or public safety field. While your emergency Amateur Radio group may not involve people in these particular activities,,, they will know of people in the community that are engaged in them. Such individuals will almost certainly be familiar with computer operations and can provide a wealth of information to you. So begin by sitting down with your ARES or RACES coordinator and find out if there any packet radio operations or wireless bulletin boards of other Amateur clubs active in your community that can assist you.
/Signed/Timothy R. S. Campbell,
Director, Department of Emergency Services, County of Chester, PA
DATE: Jan. 1, 1990 "What are the desirable traits for a Level 1 volunteer?"
A management workshop, based on Harvard business school techniques, divided 110 people into eleven groups of ten people each. The groups were asked to list all of the attributes that came to mind. After a period of time they were told to stop writing lists and vote on their top eight. Then all eleven groups combined their results into the following top eight attributes:
- Reliability.
- Participation.
- Being a team player.
- Dedication and commitment.
- Ability to cooperate.
- Acceptance of responsibility.
- Support; speaks well of his/her organization before others.
- A success in his/her vocation.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.099 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 1/6
DATE: Jan. 8, 1990 This is the first of a series of suggestions, observations, findings, and criticisms by Amateur Radio operators. This opening statement applies to each and every subsequent part in this series and will not be repeated in the interest of brevity.
Amateur Radio operators and served organizations met after the October 17, 1989 magnitude 7.1 earthquake in northern California to identify, discuss and document the good and not so good on both sides. From the thousands of words provided us in numerous after-action reports, I have boiled down the following as the most frequent findings. I'm sure there are many reports that were never provided us so we can only quote from those that were.
We are indebted to those hams and agencies that shared their findings with us. As is our practice, we have sanitized the reports to eliminate individual names and callsigns. Most of these findings can or should be helpful to any volunteer or paid individual and organizations in their future training operations and exercises. Most of the findings apply to sound practices and procedures anywhere -- not just to an earthquake in California. It is in this spirit that we share these with you. In an attempt to categorize the findings I have broken them down into the following broad categories: Management, Operations, General, Packet, Plans/Preparedness, and Training.
MANAGEMENT
- "Sometimes ARES people forgot to look at the big picture. Decisions were then being made by people too close to the situation or people too weary to comprehend the scope of the event." Solution: "Identify before a disaster a list of people able to serve as supervisors or managers."
[To be continued in RACES Bulletin #100. -KH6GBX]
RACESBUL.100 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 2/6
DATE: Jan. 15, 1990MANAGEMENT (continued):
- "Managers sometimes made decisions without consultation with those in the field." Solution: "Those overseeing the operation must also consult with, or be in touch with, those on the line."
- "The Resource Net sometimes filled in vacant slots with the first ham that came along." Solutions: "(a) Every ham should be told to bring every piece of gear and every kind of clothing and to make sure that they are in excellent health. (b) Hams should be told to bring whatever is known to be required and to meet in a staging area."
- "People would come from long distances and then discover overstaffing. They would then feel unwelcome and return home."
- "Every city ARES EC should have liaison with the local hospitals."
- "Better coordination of housing for hams coming from out of area is needed."
- "The employer having dibs on the body makes active participation hard." (See General comment number 2).
- "Better resource management needed -- database would have been useful."
- "Personality conflicts arose during the course of the operation." Solution: "People don't have to like each other in order to work with each other. When possible, parties with disagreements should wait until after the incident to resolve them. If the disagreements are interfering with the running of the operation and the parties involved cannot reach resolution on their own, then they should agree to sit down with a higher level of management with a specific list of problem behaviors and their suggested resolution. The mediator/manager must help them devise a solution with the good of the group or the operation in mind."
[To be continued in State RACES Bulletin #101. -KH6GBX]
RACESBUL.101 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 3/6
DATE: Jan. 22, 1990OPERATIONS
- "There were complaints that some portions of the ham community did not understand the magnitude of the problem and so provided little support." Solution: "A status or situation report (SITREP) must be broadcast periodically."
- "Two hams may be needed at each station -- one to serve as a runner and one to serve as the ham."
- "Use tactical calls. ID with a ham call only when needed to fulfill FCC requirements."
- "Staying overnight makes it nice to have two people."
- "There is a greater need for ham radio discipline; hams need to follow/listen the Net Control Station (NCS)."
- "There are shift change problems if you do not provide enough time for shifts to do a turn over or for a supervisor to give information out to each new operator. Relief should be present at least 30 minutes before the shift ends in order to do the turnover properly."
- "H&W (Health & Welfare) is important but we need a structured way to address it. Maybe we need to split our [ARES] personnel into H&W and ARES? H&W and tactical communications are two very different missions!"
- "Remember to be courteous on the air -- even during a disaster."
- "Many messages lacked clear 'TO' and 'FROM' addresses. Remember that radio callsigns are not acceptable addresses."
- "There was confusion over tactical callsigns and the overuse of callsigns between any two stations in communication with one another. Use the ham callsign only once: at the end of any two-way exchange or once every ten minutes -- whichever is less."
- "We are communicators -- we shouldn't be making decisions."
(To be continued in State RACES Bulletin #102. -KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.102 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 4/6
DATE: Jan. 29, 1990OPERATIONS (continued):
- "Brief relief operators!"
- "We need to (a) work 8 hours and be off 8 hours; or (b) consider 8 hour shifts instead of 6 hour shifts."
- "Backup power is needed for strategic repeaters."
- "Lack of equipment in Red Cross communications center(s)."
- "Always send 2 people on any assignment."
- "Packet is useful for logistical traffic in a long operation."
- "Surprised not to see packet used but maybe it wasn't planed out?"
- "Packet grossly underutilized."
- One county suggests packet may not have worked because "Many of the packeteers are also the best voice operators."
- One person suggested packet also not desired because people have a need to "talk" in a disaster -- "not to type in a disaster".
- "Cities need more information about our [ARES] skills; statistical information desired by many cities would have been great to go via packet on a preset form."
- Felt packet not used enough "Because lack of packet portability; contact companies now to purchase equipment."
- "Strategically placed packet for resource availability and equipment requirements would have been very helpful."
- "Packet radio was needed."
- "Places that needed packet may have been without electricity."
- "It is hard to decipher manuals for packet during a disaster. Have drills involving packet with other peoples' systems."
- "If cities and counties establish a RACES unit they can buy and have radios and packet terminals in place ready to be operated by any qualified ham operator."
(To be continued in State RACES Bulletin 103. -KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.103 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 5/6
DATE: Feb. 5, 1990
GENERAL
- "Conflict between employment and volunteering; have EOC and Red Cross write letters to employers and maybe send a press release to the job." (Also see Management #7.)
- "At County Communications is a small room for us with a lack of antenna drops and it has to be bigger. Technical improvements are needed."
- "Have procedure manuals at County Communications."
- "Label the ends of all coaxial cables [at any facility]."
- "Headsets are needed on all base stations at any facility."
- "There was a clear need to handle the ARES resources management better in the 'X' area, but the job did get done. The problem again is not the quantity of hams that are licensed but the quality. Only a small handful was willing to come and provide emergency communications when the chips were down. We must continuously address the issue of values and quality of Amateur Radio and not over simplify any exclusive quantity of technological advances."
- "Use this event as an incentive to work out the kinks."
- "How do you train those who won't participate and be trained ahead of time?"
- "How do you train the untrained?"
- "We need to discipline ourselves better in following a directed net. Give practice in passing traffic."
- The need for traffic handling reiterated.
(To be continued in State RACES Bulletin #104. -KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.104 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 6/6
DATE: Feb. 12, 1990
PLANS / PREPAREDNESS
- "Radio clubs of companies (firms) should be involved with the ARES EC of the city in which the company club is located."
- "We need to preassign hams to support the Emergency Broadcast System."
- "Need to establish Memorandums of Understandings with different repeaters/groups before a disaster."
- "Include an AM/FM radio in your list of necessary field response equipment."
- "Pretest equipment. Use simple radios."
- "Now is the time to check over radios and power cables."
- "Separate power supplies are needed for radios."
- "Some volunteers are not properly signed up Disaster Service Workers and this is jeopardizing the volunteer and his/her dependents."
-KH6GBX
RACESBUL.105 - SUBJECT: AMATEUR TELEVISION (ATV) - 1/4
DATE: Feb 19 , 1990 A proper demonstration of airborne Amateur Radio Television (ATV) requires several factors coming together precisely at the chosen time and place. They are:
- Good weather for flying and steady camera transmissions.
- Good visibility and adequate light.
- Competent camera operator. (No aimless panning.)
- Camera operator capable of describing what he is shooting.
- Being on target at precisely the right time for those watching the demonstration.
- Rain, snow, windstorm or other hostile weather problem.
- ATV crew can't find targets of interest to those watching the demo.
- The receiving antenna is set up on the wrong side of the building to "see" the ATV aircraft.
- Some of the government officials and hams scheduled to see the demo don't show up.
- Some key viewer shows up minutes too late to see the demo.
- The ATV crew, either in the aircraft or at the receiver site, discovers they forgot a crucial connector, cable, or piece of equipment.
- The camera operator is untrained in how to shoot and pans dizzily, leaving viewers unimpressed and woozy.
- Battery goes dead.
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 106)
RACESBUL.106 - SUBJECT: ATV - 2/4
DATE: Feb. 26, 1990 These problems may be overcome by a few simple steps:
- Prerecord aerial ATV demos. Pick your clear weather day and record a "perfect" 5 minutes long video. Anything longer may bore the viewers.
- The video should always be shot in the area of interest to those for whom the demo is being made. Select known landmarks and points of interest. These might include the courthouse, freeway through town, a fair or other outdoor event, lake or reservoir activity, hospital, city hall, or any other location that viewers can readily identify. Always ask the agency for whom you are going to demonstrate if there are any particular points of interest they want to see.
- Look for unplanned targets of opportunity. These can often be some of the best material to demonstrate ATV. Targets of opportunity could be a traffic accident scene, a fire, racetrack action, any outdoor crowd, downed aircraft (not yours!), etcetera.
- 2. Proper camera technique. DO NOT PAN. We must remember that the majority of viewers are unfamiliar with seeing things from a few hundred feet up in the air -- and in motion. Hollywood uses a device (Steady-Cam) to keep their aerial shots rock solid -- no jitter, jump, bump and vibration. Since they cost more than some airplanes we use, the basic rule that bears repeating is: DON'T PAN. DON'T ZOOM. That leaves two basic techniques for ATV:
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 107.)
RACESBUL.107 - SUBJECT: ATV - 3/4
DATE: Mar. 5, 1990
- Level, straight line flight. The camera picture travels at the same ground speed of the aircraft. The camera operator can announce where he is and in what direction he is traveling. Help the viewer to locate where you are. If the viewer cannot identify with what is on the screen, ATV serves no purpose. The sooner the viewer knows where he or she is in respect to the picture, the better is your work. It helps when the pilot can make all turns in one direction. If all turns are left-hand turns, all camera shots can be out the left side and vice versa. In this manner the picture never leaves the ground. In other words no shots of sky, camera gyrations, shots of your feet, the back of the pilot's head, etc. If you are only recording and not transmitting live, shut off the camera when you don't want to record and transmit junk. A good camera operator can literally edit on the spot.
- Orbiting the target. The aircraft does 360's over the target or a helicopter hovers or does slow flight 360's.
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 108)
RACESBUL.108 - SUBJECT: ATV - 4/4
DATE: Mar. 12, 1990 Aerial ATV platforms I have seen or used have included slow flying fixed wing aircraft owned and operated by the RACES personnel, Highway Patrol helicopters, Civil Air Patrol aircraft, and county fire and police helicopters. Needless to say, fixed wing aircraft must be of the high wing variety.
Because of Murphy's Law and daylight limitations, it is now standard operating procedure for the State RACES ATV unit to prerecord ATV demonstrations. In this manner the crew can pick ideal flying and lighting conditions. Targets with which the viewers can relate are determined in advance. When the day (or night) of the presentation arrives, a proper video demonstration can be made to the local government officials regardless of how hard the wind is blowing outside, the downpour or snowstorm in progress. The officials aren't interested in the aircraft installation, hardware, wiring, cameras, radios and so forth. They are interested only in results. Good results. They are used to seeing helicopter news video. ATV results can be close in quality with the right equipment and skilled operators. If it isn't or it's still in the gee whiz hobby stage -- don't demonstrate it. More harm can be done by failures. The memory of them is long lasting.
-KH6GBX
RACESBUL.109 - SUBJECT: COMM WILL ALWAYS FAIL! - 1/2
DATE: Mar. 19, 1990 "You can depend on it: communications ALWAYS fail in a disaster!" So reports Joseph Scanlon, Director of Emergency Communications Research Unit, Carleton University in the Alberta (Canada) Public Safety Services INSIGHT publication. The following excerpts from his article are food for thought, education and planning:
While working as a consultant, I was asked by an engineer how often communications fail in a disaster. I replied, "always." He looked at me in disbelief; so I asked a colleague, Dr. E. L. Quarantelli. His reply? "Communications always fail in a disaster."
Though that's a fact--and there's lots of evidence to support it--the hardest message about disasters to get across to emergency managers is that, at times, now matter how well prepared, they won't know what's going on.
Take the tornado which hit Edmonton, July 31, 1987. There was damage and destruction including downed power and telephone lines. Traffic routes were impassable. There was flooding, enough to block many north-south arteries. There were toxic chemical incidents. Emergency radio systems--police, fire and ambulance--were overloaded. Part of the phone system was destroyed. No one, for a time, could possibly know what happened.
That doesn't mean that Edmonton's plan, based on a central EOC, didn't work. It means it took time before the EOC had the information needed to make useful decisions.
Any disaster--no matter how well handled--has some communication problems, some uncertainty.
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 110.)
RACESBUL.110 - SUBJECT: COMM WILL ALWAYS FAIL! - 2/2
DATE: Mar. 26, 1990 Effective emergency planning must assume such problems will occur. It must accept that there will be periods of uncertainty. And it must have systems in place to overcome the inevitable failures of communications.
I always liked what the mayor of one Canadian city once told me. He said that everything had gone wrong during an exercise, and that when things become confused during a real disaster, he was in good shape because "confusion seemed normal."
A word about disasters versus emergencies. Emergencies are serious events which require coordinated response to protect the health, safety and welfare of people, or to limit damage to property. Disasters are not just large emergencies, but differ substantially in nature. Disasters are disruptive and cause organizations and systems to break down. The recognized stages of response after a disaster are:
- confusion (individual response)
- decentralized response
- coordinated response
- cleanup
- recovery
RACESBUL.111 - SUBJECT: WHAT SHOULD AMATEURS EXPECT? - 1/2
DATE: 2 APRIL, 1990 This series of bulletins has, on several occasions, addressed the subject of what government agencies can and should expect from RACES members. Herein are some thoughts on what the Amateurs who volunteer their services and the use of their personal radio gear should expect from their governmental sponsors.
First and foremost, RACES sponsoring agencies owe their volunteers a real effort to learn about radio Amateurs, their capabilities and limitations. This applies both collectively and individually. A realistic appraisal of RACES as an auxiliary to the full time professional communications staff and equipment is basic to their effective utilization. Such an appraisal must be accomplished before the emergency situation which causes the act- ivation of the RACES. Individual members of the RACES can only be effectively utilized if the RACES coordinator evaluates the members, just as full time paid staff is evaluated, and hopefully placed where they will be most useful when needed. This too must obviously be done in advance.
(To be continued in RACES BULLETIN 112)
RACESBUL.112 - SUBJECT: WHAT SHOULD AMATEURS EXPECT? - 2/2
DATE: 9 APRIL, 1990 Utilization of Amateur Radio Communicators by government agencies in disaster communications has a long history. Disaster service workers are well aware that communication is vital and often unavailable due to equipment failure or simple overload of the normal facilities. RACES groups can offer extensive and flexible augmentation to meet communications needs, often supplying not only skilled personnel, but their own privately owned communications gear. Modern Amateur capabilities include passage of high speed, high volume, virtually error free hard copy between field and headquarters, and headquarters to head- quarters. This in addition to real time voice communication. Some cases RACES units are even capable of supplying airborne video images directly to command centers.
To summarize, Amateur Radio Communicators who volunteer for RACES units should expect active support, as opposed to mere passive acceptance. The RACES is a proven communications tool, offering governments expanded and flexible communication in emergencies, at little or no cost. Like any other tool it must be understood, exercised, and cared for. Fortunately for sponsoring government agencies, RACES people will take care of most of these needs on their own, with proper guidance. A reasonable effort by the sponsoring agency, and appropriate rec- ognition, can yield impressive results.
BILL MUSLADIN, Chief State RACES Officer,
W6HIR @ WA6NWE.CA.USA.NA
RACESBUL.113 - SUBJECT: DO WE KNOW OUR CUSTOMERS? DO OUR CUSTOMERS KNOW US?
DATE: 16 APR 1990 As volunteer communicators, RACES members can and often do make real contributions in emergency and disaster situations - if the government agencies we work for are aware of us and our capabilities. If the RACES is known only by a limited group, most likely the agency that controls it, much of its usefulness may well be lost. The RACES is supposed to serve all branches of government involved in emergency services, not just the agency to which it is assigned. Thus a RACES unit assigned to a fire department may pass traffic for law enforcement, medical, logistical units, and others. If any or all of these agencies are unaware of the RACES communications abilities and facilities, they obviously are not going to use them. Even if an agency is aware of the RACES, it is unlikely to utilize it if confidence in its reliability has not been established in advance.
Establishing awareness of and confidence in the RACES is not necessarily an easy task. After all, the agencies we deal with are often highly trained professionals, unused to working with and trusting "amateurs". Exercising together is probably the most effective method of creating the required level of trust. Regular contact between all the agencies that may need the RACES services in an emergency is vital between exercises. Since the RACES is very likely to be "the new boy on the block", the impetus for these contacts will likely come from the RACES unit itself.
In short, training and becoming effective as a communications unit is only part of the job. The rest involves a selling job. Radio Officers take note.
BILL MUSLADIN, Chief State Radio Officer W6HIR @ WA6NWE.CA.USA.NA
RACESBUL.114 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 1/4
DATE: Apr. 23, 1990THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED
by Russell E. Bankson, N6GWL
Pacific Region, Civil Air Patrol
ABOUT THE AUTHORRuss Bankson has been a licensed Amateur Radio operator for 7 years. He has been deeply involved with volunteer emergency communications operations, plans, and system development for over forty years. A Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, he spearheaded a period of major CAP communications development in California as its director of communications. Russ is active for in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service of the American Radio Relay League. One of his favorite activities is speaking before youth groups and encouraging their interest in radio, electronics, and the sciences.
What does an Amateur Radio operator do as a public service volunteer who sometimes works during an emergency? The basic concept of the volunteer Amateur in emergencies is to provide communications for the safety of life and protection of property for the community during emergencies when established communications for and between public service agencies are overloaded or not functioning. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of how the Amateur tactical communications net performs its services.
When an emergency or disaster happens in a community, the Amateur Radio public service volunteer checks into pre- established nets to report conditions in his locality and his availability and capability. If there is a need for Amateur radio communications, when directed he may report to the emergency operations center, fire department, hospital, Red Cross, shelter, incident commander, forest service, Amateur radio net control station, or to the area as directed where the Amateur is needed. As long as all established communications are available, he does nothing but monitors and is available in the event any communications system becomes overloaded, fails, or is not available between agencies.
(To be continued in Part 2.)
RACESBUL.115 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 2/4
DATE: Apr. 30, 1990 This sometimes means more than coming to the assignment with a hand held transceiver. Following the October 17, 1989 earthquake the Amateurs had to install antennas, coaxial cables, lights for operating positions, power supplies for mobile transceivers used as base stations, maps, phone numbers, writing materials, battery charging systems, personal survival kit, tools, transportation, fuel, money, expertise, dedication and professionalism. Many of the locations worked around the clock for many days. So far nothing has been said about what communications service the Amateurs provided during the earthquake emergency when phones were disabled and electrical power was off and there was danger to life and severe damage to property. I am going to relate some of the messages the Amateurs handled following the earthquake in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. Within twenty minutes after the quake the Amateurs had checked in to the reporting nets, checked their neighbors for well being, and had reported to the Red Cross Amateur Radio stations. Immediately the tactical emergency net was established. This was done because there was no power, no reliable phone communications between the Red Cross Chapters, and a major threat to life and property existed.
(To be continued in part 3 of 4 parts.)
RACESBUL.116 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 3/4
DATE: May 7, 1990
- Boots, sox and rain gear needed - who can supply?
- 22,000 pounds of fresh fruit - who can use now?
- People finder dog teams are coming.
- Man with infrared people finder arrived from New York - report where?
- Need canned food, cots and tents.
- Nurses' thermometers broken - need replacements.
- Helicopter is loaded for Santa Cruz - where to land?
- Need prescription filled - drugstore is closed.
- Hard hats are needed.
- Shelter is closing - moving where?
- Amateurs near Cypress overpass disaster must have dust masks.
- Amateurs coming from over 200 miles away.
- 1500 homes in Oakland were damaged.
- Several truck convoys going to Santa Cruz from Bay Area.
- More Amateurs are needed - some have been working around the clock.
- What communication paths are open?
- Message from St. Croix, Virgin Islands, Red Cross worker: I want to come home.
- Supply truck is missing for 14 hours - report if found.
- Operator needed for the blood bank.
- Hospital needs radio circuit with blood bank.
- Two Red Cross emergency power generators will not start.
- Need more shelter managers for replacement.
- Oakland Disaster Control wants Amateur service at the EOC.
- Cellular telephones being sent to Watsonville and Santa Cruz.
- Fresno is sending supplies to Watsonville.
- State Office of Emergency Services Region Two office is on two Amateur Radio frequencies.
RACESBUL.117 - SUBJECT: THE AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR IN TIME OF NEED - 4/4
DATE: May 14, 1990 This is just a small example of the many types of messages handled by the tactical net of Amateurs. If you use your imagination you can visualize the service the Amateur provides during floods, hurricanes, fires, lost people, earthquakes, hazardous material spills, internal telephone failures in hospitals, snow storms and other communication needs. Why did the Red Cross need to use Amateur Radio communi- cations? Communications were needed to activate shelters for thousands of displaced people. Feeding, providing clothing, accepting donations of supplies, transporting supplies where needed, providing safe routes between cities, storage of supplies, communications between leaders with responsibilities, assignment of personnel to tactical positions, keeping track of hundreds of assigned volunteers, providing change of shift personnel around the clock, communications with Western Red Cross Field Office and other chapters, communications with other agencies such as the Navy, Air Force, Department of Transportation, fire departments, police, State Office of Emergency services, damage evaluators and hospitals.
When the need is there, the dedicated public service Amateur Radio operator is there, doing volunteer public service.
RACESBUL.118 - SUBJECT: PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCHERS/TELECOMMUNICATORS
DATE: May 21, 1990 I had the opportunity recently to present two seminars on the use of Amateur Radio operators to the Western States Associated Public-Safety Communications Officers conference in New Mexico. They were attended by dispatchers, communications managers/directors, engineers/technicians, and vendors. Most of the dispatchers admitted that they knew virtually nothing about radio hams and thought -- until now -- that they were the same as CB'ers. I was stunned by the latter assumption until it dawned on me that we hams -- and the served agencies -- seldom take the time to brief or educate the public safety communications center employees. Seek out opportunities to do this. Tell them how phone patches work and how they may originate from outside their own 9-1-1 area. How hams must pass a rigorous examination. How flexible ham radio systems are and how they can augment and support the public safety mission in time of emergency. How it is better to understand and work together before the emergency; that any other time is too late. It is vitally important that any such contact and liaison be done (a) by a ham familiar with public safety communications and (b) completely in non-ham radio, non-technical lingo. The latter is more important than the first.
-- KH6GBX (W6HIR @ WA6NWE.CA USA.NA)
RACESBUL.119 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 1/3
DATE: May 28, 1990 Only one state and parts of two others are free from any threat of earthquakes. For this reason we continue to receive requests from volunteer communications services and the agencies they serve for any helpful information. I attended a military- civilian-common carrier critique following the October 1989 Loma Prieta (S.F. Bay Area) earthquake. It was a candid exchange of comments and observations by high ranking individuals. The theme was "Lessons learned from the earthquake". I am sure that you will be able to adopt one or more of the following statements to your own area. How many can you find?
An Army general said, "Too many people show up wanting to be helpful. They should know in advance where they fit in or stay out of the way. If people don't know what to do or where to go, then someone isn't doing their planning job properly."
A big city emergency management director said, "We didn't need ham radio operators. Our biggest communications problem was we didn't have any interdepartmental radio communications without cellular telephones." [The contradiction is clearly obvious to ham radio operators! This city has no RACES program but no shortage of hams who wish it did. ---KH6GBX]
(To be continued in part 2 of 3 parts)
RACESBUL.120 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - 2/3
DATE: June 4, 1990 A big city fire department battalion chief said, "One: our plans did not work. They should all be redone. The Incident Command System works but it took more than a few days to make it work. Two: if you don't control the media, they will control you. Three: a mobile command post is extremely important. Four: we were hampered by a lack of simplex radio channels. Five: there must be a mechanism to coordinate volunteers."
A county emergency management director said, " Communications: some lost or overtaxed it so bad we lost it. You must have redundant communications. Volunteers: you should have a plan on how to deal with and manage volunteers. They showed up uninvited in (one hard hit city) and nobody could use them. On the subject of ICS (the Incident Command System), you should all adopt it. Finally, in the recovery phase, we didn't do as good a job as we should have. We should train people how to use the ICS for the recovery phase, too."
A gas and electric utility representative said, "Everybody needs to work on their communications systems. Our phones were overloaded for the first five days. Our mobile radio system was useless because our mountaintop remote base stations were all out. Generators failed because we don't use them. We all have to run them under load for more than just a few minutes."
A state emergency management official said that we need to be more proactive by moving up certain resources to the periphery of the incident, rather than await dispatch from greater distances. She also said that we all should start placing as much emphasis on recovery operations as we do in response.
(To be concluded in Part 3)
RACESBUL.121 - SUBJECT: DISASTER CRITIQUE - Part 3/3
DATE: June 11, 1990 An emergency medical service official said, "We instituted the earthquake plan and it really helped. The earthquake was not a catastrophic event but it did validate our planning. Lack of intelligence the first few hours is a problem -- it was zero. Communications needs to be established much more quickly. We need to set up a communications system in advance. One hundred of the 112 hospitals in the earthquake area were affected in one way or another." [Note: Several states have regional or statewide EMS radio communication systems. California does not.]
The critique day concluded with management and communications workshops. Some key findings of the latter were that a four to eight hour communications battery backup is no good if there isn't a generator available. Batteries are simply a switchover bridge between commercial and generator power. Emergency power generators will fail when you really need them if they are not exercised and maintained frequently.
A briefing on Amateur Radio was given to the communications workshop. Most of the governments that do not have a RACES program have little understanding of ham radio; at the time of a disaster is too late to find out. I explained that the RACES is a mutual aid resource similar to fire suppression, law enforcement, engineering and others. They are trained in emergency management procedures and operations, the ICS, public safety, disciplined operations and teamwork. A MARS representative concluded by explaining the MARS resources available to the military community.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.122 - SUBJECT: HOW TO FIND HIGH TECH SUPPORT - 1/2
DATE: June 18, 1990
How To Find High Tech Support
by
Timothy R. S. Campbell
Director, Department of Emergency Services, Chester County, PA Implementation of a new information system for emergency planning and response may be simple for computer literate personnel. However, when viewed from the perspective of a computer novice, these first steps can seem very intimidating. Many computer implementation schemes assume that the person designing the system, network, or databases is familiar with the operation of other computers, software, and/or databases. So how can a newcomer approach this challenge logically?
First, never forget that the purpose of a computer system is to assist human beings in doing their jobs faster. Computers do not inherently make people more efficient or more effective. They merely allow data to be manipulated, stored, or retrieved with breathtaking speed. They reduce mundane routine activities and free up personnel to do those imaginative and creative activities that only humans can do.
Secondly, remember that you have absolute control over the computer. You can turn it off while it cannot turn you off. At worst, losing data will set you back a few days or weeks but you will never be as far behind as you were the day before you started to computerize.
There are significant resources that can be utilized by an emergency management professional in implementing a computerized system for disaster management. It is up to us in the emergency management professional in implementing a computerized system for disaster management. It is up to us in the emergency management field to identify those resources in our home community and begin to involve them in our emergency management program.
Continued in Bulletin 123
RACESBUL.123 - SUBJECT: HOW TO FIND HIGH TECH SUPPORT - 2/2
DATE: June 25, 1990 One of the first groups to look to is the Amateur Radio community. While we in emergency management have traditionally looked upon them as solely communicators, a closer look at the Amateur Radio community reveals that they are engaged in many more activities that have impact on modern emergency operations through the use of technology. For example, Amateurs are presently operating satellite communications from their own satellite. Emergency management does not have a satellite. Amateurs are doing video transmissions, wireless bulletin boards, and packet radio operations which are the equal of any in use in the commercial or public safety field. While your emergency Amateur Radio group may not involve people in these particular activities,,, they will know of people in the community that are engaged in them. Such individuals will almost certainly be familiar with computer operations and can provide a wealth of information to you. So begin by sitting down with your ARES or RACES coordinator and find out if there any packet radio operations or wireless bulletin boards of other Amateur clubs active in your community that can assist you.
/Signed/Timothy R. S. Campbell,
Director, Department of Emergency Services, County of Chester, PA
RACESBUL.124 - SUBJECT: RACES I.D. CARDS
DATE: July 2, 1990 A recent published report on a disaster echoed long standing problems in some areas. "Lack of credentials." "Police and fire personnel at the crash site often had no idea what an ARES or RACES identification signified." "Hams should have some sort of national identification card."
This is not a problem in those jurisdictions around the country where the following premises are accepted and steps taken:
A RACES unit is part of a specific local government. When a RACES person is on duty they are an unpaid employee of that one government. (Note: NOT multiple governments!). Since a RACES person is a member of that government when/while on duty, they are issued that government's identification card. They may also be required to wear whatever outer garments, headgear, and or observe other dress code requirements of their government. In short, they look and act as if they are employees and belong. All RACES duty is performed under the direction of competent authority. RACES personnel do not "self dispatch" unless they are specifically covered by written orders.
The suggestion for a "statewide identification card" surfaces regularly in California. The reason this is not practical is that it would simply be unmanageable -- thousands of identical cards requiring preparation, recording, renewals, etc. It would simply resurrect the generic national 1950 civil defense card; OK for card collectors but useless at the roadblock. We recommend government ID cards, issued only after a satisfactory six month probation period, and good for three years.
Specifically NOT recommended is any insignia on cards and outer garments that is not universally recognized and accepted within the community in which the volunteer serves. In the majority of the country today this includes the old RACES logo, civil defense insignia, association and club logos. We welcome your questions by return packet if we may help you in any way in this regard.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.125 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 1/9
DATE: July 9, 1990 If it's worth doing right, write it up.
Local governments and hams frequently ask what a RACES Radio Officer is supposed to do. The series of Bulletins that follow will address this subject. Variations of this job description have been used by civil defense and emergency management agencies for over thirty years.
In some jurisdictions the Radio Officer coordinates only the Amateur Radio operators for the agency. In others, the Radio Officer coordinates all of the communications volunteers in government service (COMVIGS) such as the hams, Civil Air Patrol, Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), and citizen banders. In most cases the Radio Officer is a volunteer and reports to a paid staff person. The latter is usually the communications officer or agency director.
Too often, an agency doesn't have a clear understanding of what a Radio Officer could or should do. This can lead to the "Don't call us, we'll call you" syndrome or, worse, the undirected "loose cannon". Neither situation, of course, does justice to the volunteers. That is why written job descriptions help both the agency and its volunteers.
The Radio Officer is expected to personally accomplish all the tasks described in the position description. The Radio Officer should be a good manager who delegates tasks and assures that the objectives are met. A County Radio Officer is featured in this series. It may be applied to municipal and state governments with obvious and appropriate modifications.
In all cases the government is the appointing authority of Radio Officers. Position or job descriptions help both paid and volunteer staff to better understand the who, what, why, when, and where of being a Radio Officer. A printed copy of the position description for either a City Radio Officer or County Radio Officer is available for a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.
(To be continued. ---KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.126 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 2/9
DATE: July 16, 1990
POSITION TITLE:County RACES Radio OfficerREPORTING ORGANIZATION:County GovernmentIMMEDIATE MANAGER:(as specified)
BROAD FUNCTION:
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.127 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 3/9
DATE: July 23, 1990
POSITION DESCRIPTION
RACES RADIO OFFICER
(RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE)1.0 - POSITION
RACESBUL.128 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 4/9
DATE: July 30, 1990
RACESBUL.129 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 5/9
DATE: Aug 6, 1990
No single individual can or should do the following tasks alone. It requires a staff of competent and dedicated assistants to share the workload and to provide round-the-clock shift management during major incidents. The governmental jurisdiction appoints the Radio Officer. The Radio Officer, in turn, appoints Assistant Radio Officers and staff.
Typical RACES program management duties and responsibilities of the jurisdiction and its RACES staff include:
1.0 PLANNING
RACESBUL.130 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 6/9
DATE: Aug 13, 1990
RACESBUL.131 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 7/9
DATE: Aug 20, 1990
RACESBUL.132 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 8/9
DATE: Aug 27, 19905.0 COORDINATION
RACESBUL.133 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 9/9
DATE: Sep 3, 1990
RACESBUL.134 - SUBJECT: REPORT: FEMA REGION 8 ARES/RACES WORKSHOP IN OREGON - 1/3
DATE: Sep 10, 1990 At the recent Northwest Emergency Amateur Radio workshop sponsored by the State of Oregon and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dr. J. Michael Dunlap, W7MYU, Amateur Radio Coordinator, Oregon State Emergency Communications Center, presented "Getting Emergency Managers and Amateur Radio Operators Together." Dunlap said:
"Why does and should the Amateur Radio Service compliment the public safety radio services? Because Amateur Radio is a flexible radio service with extremely high resiliency capable of bouncing back very quickly. "Oregon has merged ARES and RACES as one. We see that RACES can be executed at the state or local level. RACES management, however, is not by vote or consensus; it is similar to corporate management.
"The State EOC will soon have an ARES bulletin board (BBS). It will include all of the Emergency Management Division (EMD) public information bulletins for any county or individual to pick up."
He described a callsign problem when they change operators. This problem was created when the FCC did away with the unique RACES station callsigns. A participant suggested that an EOC or agency use an available club station callsign or a tactical callsign all of the time; in the latter, on voice or data, the operator uses a tactical call and signs with his own call to meet the FCC requirements.
Dunlap described how the State checks into a lot of different radio nets to let them know they are there.
"Professional operators can and must gain access to your EOC if that is where they are assigned. We require that they be a Technician Class licensee or higher. Our State RACES operators are trained and may be pulled to operate a non-ham radio channel if necessary. The State RACES role is to provide communications support to the State wherever and whenever needed. "We support the philosophy that the main goal of the RACES (anywhere) is to provide tactical support communications -- not health and welfare messages. To get a good Radio Officer, look for a successful manager. The staff you recruit will often be used as managers of all the previously non-aligned volunteers that will come out of the woodwork in a disaster. Your volunteer key staff cannot have divided loyalties; if you need them they must not beg off because of some other volunteer commitment.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.135 - SUBJECT: OREGON ARES/RACES - 2/3
DATE: Sep. 17, 1990Dr. Dunlap continued:
"Characteristics to look for in Amateur Radio operators: Try to recruit as many as you can within walking distance of the EOC; it may be the only way they can get to to work. Look for flexibility. Cool head. Appropriate class of radio license. They must be capable of listening for eight hours and saying nothing. Ability to take orders. Precision is absolutely essential. Skill and experience in message handling; all messages must be written or printed before being sent and after they have been received. Recruit people whose type of work allows them to take time off for emergencies and meetings. "Exercise and drill your hams -- the more the better! When a local jurisdiction has a drill, some State RACES operators should be on duty at the State headquarters, too, to drill with them. It is really appreciated by the locals who had to turn out for their drill, particularly on a working day.
"Amateurs must have access to their EOC. Access equals functionality. Nothing kills a program faster than denying access to your volunteers. Paid staff may be eight to five but not the volunteers. Ninety-five percent of their work is done after hours. Encourage your hams to come in and use the equipment at any hour. Just because someone is a ham radio operator doesn't mean they can sit down and operate all ham radio equipment -- far from it. All the emergency communications centers should be staffed 24 hours a day during each annual ARRL Field Day.
"Provide as much training as your budgets will permit.
"Have your Amateur Radio operators install and maintain the (RACES) equipment and antennas at the emergency communications centers."
In the question and answer period that followed Dunlap fielded questions on what kind of message forms should be used (ARRL if not prescribed by the agency); and how to deal with counties that refuse to use hams.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.136 - SUBJECT: OREGON ARES/RACES - 3/3
DATE: Sep. 24, 1990 Fred Molesworth, Volunteer Packet Coordinator, Oregon State Emergency Communications Center, gave a report on the growth and plans of their statewide Amateur Radio packet system; "Organizing Packet Networks - The TOPS Story".
"TOPS - The Oregon Packet Society - is about six months old now. It includes almost all the node operators, the BBS sysops, the traffic handlers, and the ARES group. Four of the eight TOPS directors are from the ARES. No one will stress the packet system more than the ARES and RACES; that is what exercises are good for -- to drive design improvements. "We have learned that keyboard to keyboard doesn't cut it when we installed a BBS at the Oregon State EOC. Our autoprint is always turned on so that any person at the State EOC can receive a message at any time.
"We're going to set up district bulletin boards (store and forward mailboxes) to use auto routing capabilities without undue loading problems. Our goal is to have a BBS in every (36) county EOC with a 24-hour dedicated BBS. We can setup the forwarding times to anything we want -- not once an hour as in normal packet networks. We want to go between any two counties or the State EOC in a matter of minutes.
"There are about one thousand active packet radio users in the state of Oregon."
Question and answer period followed:
- How do you train those who setup county EOC bulletin boards? "We (State volunteers) go to the counties and provide them the training. In this way they all get the same training and learn the same do's and don'ts."
- How are these ARES BBS's different from regular Amateur Radio bulletin boards? "We do not carry any 4SALE, AMSAT, ALLUS and similar messages." There were over 80 Amateur Radio and CAP emergency communications and emergency management leaders invited to this workshop from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The conference was judged a complete success and long overdue.
RACESBUL.137 - SUBJECT: SOME GOVERNMENTS WON'T USE VOLUNTEERS - 1/2
DATE: Oct. 1, 1990 Here are some recent questions and answers at a multi-state ARES/RACES conference:
Q: "Our county government won't even talk to us. How can we make them set-up a RACES program?"
A: This is always a sticky issue with no single or simple answer. Here are some answers I have picked up around the country:
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.138 - SUBJECT: SOME GOVERNMENTS WON'T USE VOLUNTEERS - 2/2
DATE: Oct. 8, 1990
A: No, not in most states. In our state the State can provide guidance and recommendations but it cannot tell the counties what to do, nor can we invite ourselves in to make suggestions. The county governments can invite the State to attend informational meetings with them and the hams or present a one-day RACES seminar. The local hams often make this possible by persuading the county CD agency to conduct such an information meeting or seminar. Salesmanship is the operative word. No local government HAS to have an Amateur Radio program; we simply show them why it is to their distinct advantage to have one.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.139 - SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES
DATE: Oct. 15, 1990 The following management priorities have been put forth by COL Ernie Pearson, commander of the California Wing Civil Air Patrol. These are goals worthy of any government, organization, and its volunteers:
RESPECT THE INDIVIDUAL / APPRECIATE EACH OTHERS CONTRIBUTION / BELIEVE IN PEOPLE / HELP OTHERS SUCCEED / PROMOTE A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT / GROW IN SELF-ESTEEM / PRACTICE INTEGRITY / MAINTAIN OPEN COMMUNICATION / RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MISTAKES / PRACTICE PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT.
Characteristics of a good meeting: SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE / LEADER HAS A PREPARED AGENDA / A SPECIFIC START TIME AND DURATION / ALL ATTENDEES ARRIVE ON TIME AND ARE WELL PREPARED / LEADER HAS CONTROL AT ALL TIMES / MEETING OUTCOME IS CLEAR / ESTABLISHED DUE DATES / MEETING MINUTES ARE ISSUED PROMPTLY AND IN WRITING / DECISIONS AND TASKING ARE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL ATTENDEES.
RACESBUL.140 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 1/11
DATE: Oct. 22, 1990 The RACES BULLETINS are written by and for people in the RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). They are available to individuals and organizations via:
As suggested by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in 1988, the BULLETINS went into national distribution via the Amateur Radio linked packet radio bulletin board system. They are also carried by the CAP and MARS packet radio networks.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.141 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 2/11
DATE: Oct. 29, 1990 The RACES BULLETINS are addressed to the emergency management officials for delivery by their Amateur Radio operators. This strengthens the communications and bond between the professional staff and their volunteer communicators in government service. The delivery of and discussions with the paid staff by their volunteers delivering these BULLETINS provides a regular and beneficial contact. Volunteers must remember that "Out of sight is out of mind." The majority of the BULLETINS are written for the benefit of the non-ham paid staff with whom the volunteers work.
If you or your agency ever have a question please write or packet a message to us. They become the basis for all BULLETINS. They are written or suggested by people across the nation and Canada. If it is a lengthy topic we will section it into two or more consecutive weekly BULLETINS.
The BULLETINS are then read over the air of many ARES, RACES and other Amateur Radio nets. They also appear in some Civil Air Patrol and MARS PBBS.
Important note: The remainder of the RACES Bulletin INDEX series will NOT, repeat NOT, be in a consecutive series via packet. Regular bulletins may be interspersed between Part 2 and Part 3 and so forth. A printed index is available for a SASE.
WILLIAM MUSLADIN, N6BTJ STANLY HARTER, KH6GBX
Chief State RACES Radio Officer State RACES Coordinator
RACESBUL.142 - SUBJECT: OPERATIONS CRITIQUE FOR TRAINING PURPOSES - 1/2
DATE: Nov. 5, 1990 A recent incident utilized about 40 Amateur Radio operators for over a week. Observations were collected from staff and participants following the incident. Both served agency managers and their volunteers may benefit from the findings in your future training, meetings, and in the preparation of standard operating procedures.
(To be continued in Part 2.)
RACESBUL.143 - SUBJECT: OPERATIONS CRITIQUE - 2/2
DATE: Nov. 12, 1990
RACESBUL.144 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 3/11
DATE: Nov. 19, 1990
1985 STATE RACES BULLETIN INDEX Those messages that referred to dated announcements of meetings or events no longer of interest have been removed. A copy of any message (or a complete set) is available to any governmental jurisdiction at no cost. Copies are available to individuals, four at a time, in return for an SASE; complete sets for $5 check payable to STATE OF CALIFORNIA to cover postage and reproduction. Call or write for details. They are also available at no cost by providing us one 3" 720K diskette or two 5" floppys.
DATE: July 2, 1990 A recent published report on a disaster echoed long standing problems in some areas. "Lack of credentials." "Police and fire personnel at the crash site often had no idea what an ARES or RACES identification signified." "Hams should have some sort of national identification card."
This is not a problem in those jurisdictions around the country where the following premises are accepted and steps taken:
A RACES unit is part of a specific local government. When a RACES person is on duty they are an unpaid employee of that one government. (Note: NOT multiple governments!). Since a RACES person is a member of that government when/while on duty, they are issued that government's identification card. They may also be required to wear whatever outer garments, headgear, and or observe other dress code requirements of their government. In short, they look and act as if they are employees and belong. All RACES duty is performed under the direction of competent authority. RACES personnel do not "self dispatch" unless they are specifically covered by written orders.
The suggestion for a "statewide identification card" surfaces regularly in California. The reason this is not practical is that it would simply be unmanageable -- thousands of identical cards requiring preparation, recording, renewals, etc. It would simply resurrect the generic national 1950 civil defense card; OK for card collectors but useless at the roadblock. We recommend government ID cards, issued only after a satisfactory six month probation period, and good for three years.
Specifically NOT recommended is any insignia on cards and outer garments that is not universally recognized and accepted within the community in which the volunteer serves. In the majority of the country today this includes the old RACES logo, civil defense insignia, association and club logos. We welcome your questions by return packet if we may help you in any way in this regard.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.125 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 1/9
DATE: July 9, 1990 If it's worth doing right, write it up.
Local governments and hams frequently ask what a RACES Radio Officer is supposed to do. The series of Bulletins that follow will address this subject. Variations of this job description have been used by civil defense and emergency management agencies for over thirty years.
In some jurisdictions the Radio Officer coordinates only the Amateur Radio operators for the agency. In others, the Radio Officer coordinates all of the communications volunteers in government service (COMVIGS) such as the hams, Civil Air Patrol, Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), and citizen banders. In most cases the Radio Officer is a volunteer and reports to a paid staff person. The latter is usually the communications officer or agency director.
Too often, an agency doesn't have a clear understanding of what a Radio Officer could or should do. This can lead to the "Don't call us, we'll call you" syndrome or, worse, the undirected "loose cannon". Neither situation, of course, does justice to the volunteers. That is why written job descriptions help both the agency and its volunteers.
The Radio Officer is expected to personally accomplish all the tasks described in the position description. The Radio Officer should be a good manager who delegates tasks and assures that the objectives are met. A County Radio Officer is featured in this series. It may be applied to municipal and state governments with obvious and appropriate modifications.
In all cases the government is the appointing authority of Radio Officers. Position or job descriptions help both paid and volunteer staff to better understand the who, what, why, when, and where of being a Radio Officer. A printed copy of the position description for either a City Radio Officer or County Radio Officer is available for a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.
(To be continued. ---KH6GBX)
RACESBUL.126 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 2/9
DATE: July 16, 1990
POSITION TITLE:County RACES Radio OfficerREPORTING ORGANIZATION:County GovernmentIMMEDIATE MANAGER:(as specified)
BROAD FUNCTION:
- Coordinates all RACES activity within a county jurisdiction. Serves as the county's principal point of contact for all matters relating to Amateur Radio.
- Maintain a valid Amateur Radio license.
- Be cognizant of FCC rules and regulations as they relate to Amateur Radio activity.
- Develop and maintain a state approved county RACES plan. Review and approve city RACES plans.
- Promote the RACES program through participation in meetings, public appearances, conferences and other appropriate communications media.
- Coordinate efforts to recruit and train personnel for the RACES program.
- Insure that all communications volunteers serving the jurisdiction are registered Disaster Service Workers in accordance with the requirements of the California Government Code and guidelines of the State Office of Emergency Services.
- Supervise appropriate Amateur personnel as required to satisfy directed mission requirements.
- Coordinate RACES mutual aid within the county and with OES Region and adjacent counties.
- Maintain close working relationships with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, public safety communications organizations, the Civil Air Patrol, Military Affiliate Radio System, Red Cross and other volunteer and government communications agencies.
- Insure that RACES activity reports and recommendations are reduced to written form and distributed through appropriate channels.
- Provide other assistance in support of the RACES program as may be directed by responsible authority.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.127 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 3/9
DATE: July 23, 1990
POSITION DESCRIPTION
RACES RADIO OFFICER
(RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE)1.0 - POSITION
- This position description is for the RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) Radio Officer for the County of _____________. The terms RACES Officer and Radio Officer are commonly used and are interchangeable.
- The Radio Officer reports to the coordinator of emergency services for the county.
- The Radio Officer is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the OES Coordinator and is this agency's principal point of contact in all matters relating to the Amateur Radio Service.
- The Radio Officer shall appoint necessary staff, including assistants to serve during the Radio Officer's absence.
- RACES personnel are unpaid volunteers assigned to the (County office of emergency services or as specified).
- RACES personnel provide radiocommunications where and when required by or through the (name of office here).
- RACES personnel may be used to install, modify, remove, or operate Amateur Radio communications equipment of their own or others.
- the supervision of all Amateur radio personnel permanently assigned to or temporarily serving at or for the (name of county Office of Emergency Services);
RACESBUL.128 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 4/9
DATE: July 30, 1990
- the recruiting and training of such personnel;
- furthering the goals and mission of the RACES through meetings, public appearances, conferences, training, written and radio communications;
- scheduling Amateur radio operators and technicians to meet mission requirements;
- serving as the liaison between this office and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES, an activity sponsored by the ARRL), Amateur radio organizations and individuals, other local government telecommunications personnel, and the State OES Region RACES Coordinator/Communications Coordinator and Region Radio Officer;
- providing a periodic RACES net to disseminate information and guidance in a timely manner;
- maintaining a list of current list of RACES personnel;
- planning exercises, drills and meetings to maintain proficiency and interest;
- keeping the RACES Plan and attachments current;
- recommending program policy and direction to the (title of director or coordinator); and
- assuring that the weekly State RACES BULLETINS are delivered to the [name of the county or city emergency services office] Coordinator;
- other related duties as may be required.
- A current Amateur Radio license issued by the Federal Communications Commission higher than Novice.
RACESBUL.129 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 5/9
DATE: Aug 6, 1990
- A full understanding of the RACES program and the FCC Rules and Regulations governing Amateur Radio.
- Adequate time and interest to perform the duties with enthusiasm. Ability to carry out the duties in a professional manner that reflects favorably on the office at all times.
- The incumbent shall not be enrolled in the Amateur Radio Service activity of any other local government.
No single individual can or should do the following tasks alone. It requires a staff of competent and dedicated assistants to share the workload and to provide round-the-clock shift management during major incidents. The governmental jurisdiction appoints the Radio Officer. The Radio Officer, in turn, appoints Assistant Radio Officers and staff.
Typical RACES program management duties and responsibilities of the jurisdiction and its RACES staff include:
1.0 PLANNING
- PRIORITY: Complete (or update if more than 2 years old) a County RACES Plan in accordance with the new "Santa Luisa County RACES Plan" model format.
- City RACES Resources. Encourage city radio officers (if any) to maintain a resource file of specialized resources applicable to RACES mutual aid; i.e., portable packet terminals, ATV, portable/mobile HF-SSB radios, portable VHF/UHF-FM repeaters, portable packet digipeaters, and strike teams. The County Radio Officer should have a good idea where such resources are available.
RACESBUL.130 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 6/9
DATE: Aug 13, 1990
- RACES Plan survey:
- Obtain a copy of each city RACES Plan.
- List all cities by plan (Yes or No?) and the date it was last updated.
- Concentrate effort on preparing plans where none exist; request and assist jurisdictions to update any plan over 2 years old.
- Staff and operate the County RACES facilities for training nets and during actual incidents and exercises. Train shift supervisors and operators to maintain 24-hour operations.
- Respond RACES resources to field incidents, as authorized, to support operations. Develop voice, data (packet), television (ATV), CW and other modes to support the mission. The success of the RACES is based upon frequent callouts to provide service; whether it be only one, a few or all of the RACES unit. Whether or not the RACES involvement is critical to the success of a given incident should be a secondary consideration; the opportunity to train and exercise the resource is primary.
- Training
- Job orientation. The RACES personnel should receive orientation on its government's policies and procedures, departmental mission and organization, communications systems, Incident Command System, communication standard operating procedures and other subjects the office may deem necessary.
- Exercises and drills may be any activity requiring or requesting Amateur Radio participation that is approved by the jurisdiction.
- The Radio Officer is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the jurisdiction.
RACESBUL.131 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 7/9
DATE: Aug 20, 1990
- Recruit and assign assistants, some or all of whom will be capable of serving as your alternate in your absence. Delegate duties and workload without losing responsibility. Provide written job descriptions; assistance is available from State OES Headquarters. Some management areas to be considered are training, operations, plans, technical services, administration (records, personnel, etc.), MARS liaison, CAP liaison, and CB or REACT liaison.
- Radio Officer Roster. Compile and maintain a list of your staff and all city and adjacent county Radio Officers, their home and work telephone numbers, pagers (if any), and alternate means of contact or alerting (via Sheriff's dispatch, etc.) You and your assistants (alternates) should carry this with you at all times.
- City RACES Rosters. Request that all city radio officers provide you a roster of their RACES personnel every quarter. [Note. We do not generally recommend the creation of new city RACES organizations for reasons outlined in an earlier RACES management position paper available from the State RACES Coordinator.]
- The Radio Officer directs the County RACES and other volunteer communications staff assigned to County OES.
- The Radio Officer reports to the position designated by the OES Coordinator. In most counties it is the emergency services coordinator. In others it may be the sheriff, fire chief, the county communications officer/coordinator/director, or other position specified and authorized by the OES coordinator.
- Training. On-going, but not burdensome, training is essential for all volunteers and professionals. Since RACES section personnel are volunteer employees of the county, it is reasonable to expect them to be briefed in such matters as ICS, county government organization (names and titles, broad responsibilities), speakers from other agencies, training available from CSTI, expected conduct and deportment, familiarity with county radio systems and codes (if any), OES programs and how they fit into the "big picture", a clear understanding of when they are authorized to be on duty, proper clothing and equipment, proper and improper use of the ID card, etc.
RACESBUL.132 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 8/9
DATE: Aug 27, 19905.0 COORDINATION
- RACES. The Radio Officer coordinates with the State Region OES Radio Officer, city radio officers within the county, and adjacent county (and sometimes city) radio officers.
- ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). Maintain liaison and coordination with ARRL Emergency Coordinators to (a) encourage all ARES members to become enrolled in a RACES (State, county or a city) unit and (b) to request support of ARES if all timely RACES resources are exhausted. RACES managers are reminded that unregistered Disaster Service Worker volunteers must first sign up on the OES Form 99 for temporary coverage during the particular incident and that there is often no provision to do so; hence offers from such unregistered volunteers may be declined under those circumstances. (This is why it is so important that Amateurs to satisfactorily complete the RACES enrollment requirements in advance.)
- Meetings and coordination with city Radio Officers and/or their assistants; attend RACES meetings within their own and adjoining jurisdictions to maintain a close working relationship for assistance and mutual aid.
- County Radio Officer and staff meet on a periodic basis to exchange information, receive training and guidance from County OES staff and to maintain close working relationships. It is strongly recommended that the RACES staffs from any cities, and the adjacent county radio officers, be included.
RACESBUL.133 - SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 9/9
DATE: Sep 3, 1990
- Speak at Amateur Radio club meetings and civic groups to describe and promote the RACES program.
- Internal Communications. County Radio Officers prepare periodic mailings, as required, to all county RACES members and city radio officers to provide continuity, maintain interest, share information, and to demonstrate concern for the RACES program on behalf of the county OES staff. The county Radio Officer demonstrates a leadership role at every opportunity in a tactful and proactive manner.
- Mutual Aid. Establish and oversee RACES mutual aid procedures within your county, between cities within your county, and between you and adjoining counties. Assure that all know how to properly use the OES communications resource order form.
- Radio Officer will submit periodic written reports to their supervisor as may be required.
- Records. Radio Officers maintain a file for every city RACES within their county. Each file contains the RACES Plan, reports, resources, correspondence and other significant records. All files will be turned over intact to any successor.
- Submit budget requests for review within the office to update and replace communications equipment, supplies, service and travel to support the county RACES program.
RACESBUL.134 - SUBJECT: REPORT: FEMA REGION 8 ARES/RACES WORKSHOP IN OREGON - 1/3
DATE: Sep 10, 1990 At the recent Northwest Emergency Amateur Radio workshop sponsored by the State of Oregon and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dr. J. Michael Dunlap, W7MYU, Amateur Radio Coordinator, Oregon State Emergency Communications Center, presented "Getting Emergency Managers and Amateur Radio Operators Together." Dunlap said:
"Why does and should the Amateur Radio Service compliment the public safety radio services? Because Amateur Radio is a flexible radio service with extremely high resiliency capable of bouncing back very quickly. "Oregon has merged ARES and RACES as one. We see that RACES can be executed at the state or local level. RACES management, however, is not by vote or consensus; it is similar to corporate management.
"The State EOC will soon have an ARES bulletin board (BBS). It will include all of the Emergency Management Division (EMD) public information bulletins for any county or individual to pick up."
He described a callsign problem when they change operators. This problem was created when the FCC did away with the unique RACES station callsigns. A participant suggested that an EOC or agency use an available club station callsign or a tactical callsign all of the time; in the latter, on voice or data, the operator uses a tactical call and signs with his own call to meet the FCC requirements.
Dunlap described how the State checks into a lot of different radio nets to let them know they are there.
"Professional operators can and must gain access to your EOC if that is where they are assigned. We require that they be a Technician Class licensee or higher. Our State RACES operators are trained and may be pulled to operate a non-ham radio channel if necessary. The State RACES role is to provide communications support to the State wherever and whenever needed. "We support the philosophy that the main goal of the RACES (anywhere) is to provide tactical support communications -- not health and welfare messages. To get a good Radio Officer, look for a successful manager. The staff you recruit will often be used as managers of all the previously non-aligned volunteers that will come out of the woodwork in a disaster. Your volunteer key staff cannot have divided loyalties; if you need them they must not beg off because of some other volunteer commitment.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.135 - SUBJECT: OREGON ARES/RACES - 2/3
DATE: Sep. 17, 1990Dr. Dunlap continued:
"Characteristics to look for in Amateur Radio operators: Try to recruit as many as you can within walking distance of the EOC; it may be the only way they can get to to work. Look for flexibility. Cool head. Appropriate class of radio license. They must be capable of listening for eight hours and saying nothing. Ability to take orders. Precision is absolutely essential. Skill and experience in message handling; all messages must be written or printed before being sent and after they have been received. Recruit people whose type of work allows them to take time off for emergencies and meetings. "Exercise and drill your hams -- the more the better! When a local jurisdiction has a drill, some State RACES operators should be on duty at the State headquarters, too, to drill with them. It is really appreciated by the locals who had to turn out for their drill, particularly on a working day.
"Amateurs must have access to their EOC. Access equals functionality. Nothing kills a program faster than denying access to your volunteers. Paid staff may be eight to five but not the volunteers. Ninety-five percent of their work is done after hours. Encourage your hams to come in and use the equipment at any hour. Just because someone is a ham radio operator doesn't mean they can sit down and operate all ham radio equipment -- far from it. All the emergency communications centers should be staffed 24 hours a day during each annual ARRL Field Day.
"Provide as much training as your budgets will permit.
"Have your Amateur Radio operators install and maintain the (RACES) equipment and antennas at the emergency communications centers."
In the question and answer period that followed Dunlap fielded questions on what kind of message forms should be used (ARRL if not prescribed by the agency); and how to deal with counties that refuse to use hams.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.136 - SUBJECT: OREGON ARES/RACES - 3/3
DATE: Sep. 24, 1990 Fred Molesworth, Volunteer Packet Coordinator, Oregon State Emergency Communications Center, gave a report on the growth and plans of their statewide Amateur Radio packet system; "Organizing Packet Networks - The TOPS Story".
"TOPS - The Oregon Packet Society - is about six months old now. It includes almost all the node operators, the BBS sysops, the traffic handlers, and the ARES group. Four of the eight TOPS directors are from the ARES. No one will stress the packet system more than the ARES and RACES; that is what exercises are good for -- to drive design improvements. "We have learned that keyboard to keyboard doesn't cut it when we installed a BBS at the Oregon State EOC. Our autoprint is always turned on so that any person at the State EOC can receive a message at any time.
"We're going to set up district bulletin boards (store and forward mailboxes) to use auto routing capabilities without undue loading problems. Our goal is to have a BBS in every (36) county EOC with a 24-hour dedicated BBS. We can setup the forwarding times to anything we want -- not once an hour as in normal packet networks. We want to go between any two counties or the State EOC in a matter of minutes.
"There are about one thousand active packet radio users in the state of Oregon."
Question and answer period followed:
- How do you train those who setup county EOC bulletin boards? "We (State volunteers) go to the counties and provide them the training. In this way they all get the same training and learn the same do's and don'ts."
- How are these ARES BBS's different from regular Amateur Radio bulletin boards? "We do not carry any 4SALE, AMSAT, ALLUS and similar messages." There were over 80 Amateur Radio and CAP emergency communications and emergency management leaders invited to this workshop from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The conference was judged a complete success and long overdue.
RACESBUL.137 - SUBJECT: SOME GOVERNMENTS WON'T USE VOLUNTEERS - 1/2
DATE: Oct. 1, 1990 Here are some recent questions and answers at a multi-state ARES/RACES conference:
Q: "Our county government won't even talk to us. How can we make them set-up a RACES program?"
A: This is always a sticky issue with no single or simple answer. Here are some answers I have picked up around the country:
- Too often a ham group has approached a local government, "Here is what WE are going to do for YOU." They may also infer that it will be done on their terms. They don't ask, "What can we volunteers do for you?" This is a sure way to turn a government off to volunteers. (Of course it helps to have done some local government homework so that you can have some professional suggestions based on local conditions -- not generalities based on distant suggestions or fill-in-the-blanks agreements.)
- Headstrong or inflexible volunteer leadership may feel their perceived authority threatened if they feel they must answer to and be responsive to a higher local authority. This can preclude the coming together between the volunteers and the government in the first place, or it can kill a new, trial program early on. The "us and them" syndrome has split apart more governments from their volunteers than anything else.
- Government leadership is just as often at fault in this regard by saying, in effect, "I don't have time to fool around with the volunteers (or, I don't know how) and I don't want a volunteer on my staff. If I need those hams I just call in such- and-such group." Do you do that regularly? "No, because they don't know how we do things around here." Do you give them any training? "No, don't have time." Lip service.
- A government official may say, in effect, that "We just spent 2 million dollars for a brand new professional two-way radio system with all the bells and whistles. What do we need you amateurs for?" Regrettably, that official is unaware that in a major emergency there will NEVER be enough radio communication circuits to support their needs for an unknown period of time.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.138 - SUBJECT: SOME GOVERNMENTS WON'T USE VOLUNTEERS - 2/2
DATE: Oct. 8, 1990
- A disaster management official had a run in with a tipsy ham volunteer. Ergo, all hams must be tipsy and obstreperous, right? Even though that official changed governments, the official has resisted all efforts to be provided Amateur management personnel that are above reproach. In cases like this where ANY Amateur Radio service program within the government is rejected, the alternatives are limited:
- Bring political pressure to bear from supportive higher authority within the same government. This has its obvious after action pitfalls -- unless you can find another department within the same government that wants and is willing to administer a RACES type program for the unwilling civil defense director. This is perfectly legal (FCC) since the CD director will or has delegated this CD function to one of the line departments. The CD director (or by whatever local title) may not be aware that he or she can do this. The official may be tickled to delegate the "unknown world of Amateur Radio" to another official! This has worked successfully in hundreds of jurisdictions.
- Do nothing other than to wait for the responsible official to retire, be promoted, be transferred or be otherwise replaced.
- "If I have to use Amateurs it will make me look bad."
- "I don't have the time." Either the role of the trusted volunteer called a Radio Officer hasn't been accepted or, if it has, the concept is rejected. Try the suggestion to delegate the ham radio communications program to another department; see 5a above.
A: No, not in most states. In our state the State can provide guidance and recommendations but it cannot tell the counties what to do, nor can we invite ourselves in to make suggestions. The county governments can invite the State to attend informational meetings with them and the hams or present a one-day RACES seminar. The local hams often make this possible by persuading the county CD agency to conduct such an information meeting or seminar. Salesmanship is the operative word. No local government HAS to have an Amateur Radio program; we simply show them why it is to their distinct advantage to have one.
---KH6GBX
RACESBUL.139 - SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES
DATE: Oct. 15, 1990 The following management priorities have been put forth by COL Ernie Pearson, commander of the California Wing Civil Air Patrol. These are goals worthy of any government, organization, and its volunteers:
RESPECT THE INDIVIDUAL / APPRECIATE EACH OTHERS CONTRIBUTION / BELIEVE IN PEOPLE / HELP OTHERS SUCCEED / PROMOTE A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT / GROW IN SELF-ESTEEM / PRACTICE INTEGRITY / MAINTAIN OPEN COMMUNICATION / RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MISTAKES / PRACTICE PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT.
Characteristics of a good meeting: SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE / LEADER HAS A PREPARED AGENDA / A SPECIFIC START TIME AND DURATION / ALL ATTENDEES ARRIVE ON TIME AND ARE WELL PREPARED / LEADER HAS CONTROL AT ALL TIMES / MEETING OUTCOME IS CLEAR / ESTABLISHED DUE DATES / MEETING MINUTES ARE ISSUED PROMPTLY AND IN WRITING / DECISIONS AND TASKING ARE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL ATTENDEES.
RACESBUL.140 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 1/11
DATE: Oct. 22, 1990 The RACES BULLETINS are written by and for people in the RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). They are available to individuals and organizations via:
- The Amateur Radio packet radio bulletin board service throughout the United States, Canada, and Pacific rim countries.
- First class mail. Camera ready. Four at a time in your business size SASE. Starts upon receipt of your SASE supply. Expiration reminder inserted when last SASE envelope is used. The published Bulletins frequently contain additional information, articles, diagrams or cartoons not available to the packet radio or diskette versions.
- All the BULLETINS from 1985 forward are available to you on your one IBM formatted 3 or 5 inch diskette, in ASCII. Direct all mail to RACES BULLETINS Dept. PKT, State OES, 2800 Meadowview Drive, Sacramento, CA 95832.
As suggested by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in 1988, the BULLETINS went into national distribution via the Amateur Radio linked packet radio bulletin board system. They are also carried by the CAP and MARS packet radio networks.
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.141 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 2/11
DATE: Oct. 29, 1990 The RACES BULLETINS are addressed to the emergency management officials for delivery by their Amateur Radio operators. This strengthens the communications and bond between the professional staff and their volunteer communicators in government service. The delivery of and discussions with the paid staff by their volunteers delivering these BULLETINS provides a regular and beneficial contact. Volunteers must remember that "Out of sight is out of mind." The majority of the BULLETINS are written for the benefit of the non-ham paid staff with whom the volunteers work.
If you or your agency ever have a question please write or packet a message to us. They become the basis for all BULLETINS. They are written or suggested by people across the nation and Canada. If it is a lengthy topic we will section it into two or more consecutive weekly BULLETINS.
The BULLETINS are then read over the air of many ARES, RACES and other Amateur Radio nets. They also appear in some Civil Air Patrol and MARS PBBS.
Important note: The remainder of the RACES Bulletin INDEX series will NOT, repeat NOT, be in a consecutive series via packet. Regular bulletins may be interspersed between Part 2 and Part 3 and so forth. A printed index is available for a SASE.
WILLIAM MUSLADIN, N6BTJ STANLY HARTER, KH6GBX
Chief State RACES Radio Officer State RACES Coordinator
RACESBUL.142 - SUBJECT: OPERATIONS CRITIQUE FOR TRAINING PURPOSES - 1/2
DATE: Nov. 5, 1990 A recent incident utilized about 40 Amateur Radio operators for over a week. Observations were collected from staff and participants following the incident. Both served agency managers and their volunteers may benefit from the findings in your future training, meetings, and in the preparation of standard operating procedures.
- Proper clothing is necessary for an extended stay. This means appropriate attire for both day and night. Since this was a wildfire incident, this means boots or heavy duty work shoes. Not sneakers and never thongs.
- Use tactical calls. This is still the hardest thing for Amateurs unfamiliar with tactical emergency communications. It must be stressed in training and Standard Operating Procedures so that it will be natural in an incident or even scheduled nets and rollcalls. Short place names are usually used to identify locations. Functional names may be used for individual positions. Note again that it is the position that is important and not so much the individual holding down that position at any given time. If a callsign is not known, don't hesitate to call anyone on any radio by their given name. An individual's regular callsign is really unimportant during an incident and that includes Amateur's, too. When one location calls another location it is to establish two way radio communications by using tactical callsigns readily understood by anyone for the duration of the incident or net. Again, that net might last 30 minutes or 30 days. The FCC Rules for the Amateur Radio Service state that an Amateur Radio STATION shall be identified with its ham call at least once in every ten minutes of transmission. We have seen an awful lot of time wasted in real operations and exercises when a ham, wanting to talk to ANYONE at a given location wastes a lot of air time by repeatedly calling an individual's ham callsign instead of the proper tactical callsign. Ham radio operators will come and go but the tactical callsign will remain unchanged. The tactical callsigns are all important, the individual ham callsigns are not. We are told that this wounds a few egos but that is simply the way Incident Command System communications are conducted. Our hams bring their expertise, equipment, and willingness to serve the served agency in the manner the served agency wants and should leave their egos home.
(To be continued in Part 2.)
RACESBUL.143 - SUBJECT: OPERATIONS CRITIQUE - 2/2
DATE: Nov. 12, 1990
- Closely coupled with the comments in part 2 above is the fact some volunteers report for duty with little or no prior training in the what and why they are there. Sometimes volunteers pick up all the necessary training in the several days of real duty and they really shine. There are a few, however, who challenge the very mission of the Amateur Radio operators to be there in the first place. Those few, for example, have questioned why they support the fire information officer's role on a wildfire incident. To ask such a question, of course, is indicative of no prior training being received by that person. This bulletin will not attempt to define that role but it will be addressed in future bulletins for information purposes only -- not an attempt to replace the classroom training that is required of any volunteer serving in the RACES and the Department of Forestry's programs. Once a volunteer understands his or her expected role -- up front and ahead of time -- they can decide whether to roll with the team or head for the door. As program managers it is our role to provide sufficient briefings and training so that any volunteer can determine before an incident whether or not tactical government service communications is their cup of tea. Out on the line is too late.
- Determine in advance who can read maps and who cannot. Some people simply cannot. This is no disgrace. One who cannot read maps, however, should not be sent into a strange area alone.
RACESBUL.144 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 3/11
DATE: Nov. 19, 1990
1985 STATE RACES BULLETIN INDEX Those messages that referred to dated announcements of meetings or events no longer of interest have been removed. A copy of any message (or a complete set) is available to any governmental jurisdiction at no cost. Copies are available to individuals, four at a time, in return for an SASE; complete sets for $5 check payable to STATE OF CALIFORNIA to cover postage and reproduction. Call or write for details. They are also available at no cost by providing us one 3" 720K diskette or two 5" floppys.
Number | Title |
85-1 | Lack of communications creates misunderstandings |
85-2 | State RACES Net. 30 Meter band added to RACES. Volunteers must be registered Disaster Service Workers. |
85-3 | Surplus equipment available. |
85-4 | Amateur TV demonstrated. |
85-5 | Frequency barriers between ARES and RACES are gone |
85-6 | The RACES Plan. Many are out of date. |
85-7 | RACES Coordinator's travel plans. |
85-9 | Technical: Portable Radio Batteries |
85-10 | Request to read Bulletins on VHF/UHF radio nets. |
85-12 | Ojai forest fire and other news. |
85-13 | San Jose World Police & Fire games; State OES recruiting. |
85-14 | Questions and answers. |
85-15 | RACES cannot be used for only one department. |
85-16 | Do federal agencies have RACES? |
85-17 | Does the RACES provide equipment to radio Amateurs? |
85-18 | State OES recruiting hams for Sacramento, L.A., Pleasant Hill, and Redding. |
85-20 | Amateur Radio is major topic at National APCO conference |
85-21 | The Emergency Broadcast System and Amateur Radio |
85-22 | RACES seminar to be held in Mariposa |
85-23 | Surplus property available |
85-25 | Antenna restrictions and FCC's PRB-1 |
85-26 | Storm Preparedness/Flood Awareness Week |
85-27 | FCC Form 610 |
85-28 | Mexican earthquake briefing by Richard Andrews |
85-29 | Rainfall report to date |
85-30 | Packet radio is operational at State OES HQ 12/2/85 |
85-31 | FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) |
85-32 | Mexico City earthquake |
RACESBUL.145 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 4/11
DATE: Nov. 26, 1990
1986 STATE RACES BULLETIN INDEX
DATE: Nov. 26, 1990
1986 STATE RACES BULLETIN INDEX
Number | Title |
86-1 | Antenna Safety |
86-2 | Packet radio. Siskiyou County RACES/ARES meeting. |
86-3 | Technical: Underwriters Labs over/under voltage device |
86-4 | Definition of "RACES" |
86-5 | Weekly State RACES Net |
86-6 | Uses for the RACES - Part 1 |
86-7 | Uses for the RACES - Part 2 |
86-8 | Critique (of an earthquake exercise using hams) |
86-9 | Floods |
86-9X | Floods |
86-10 | CB Linear Crackdown |
86-11 | Kern County RACES |
86-13 | Who activates the RACES? |
86-14 | One-hour exercise question |
86-15 | El Dorado County RACES |
86-16 | Portable repeaters |
86-17 | Radio Officers |
86-18 | Family Care |
86-19 | HF Radio is Very Important |
86-20 | Yes, Non-Hams Can Join Too! |
86-21 | Earthquake Alarms - Part 1/2 |
86-22 | Earthquake Alarms - Part 2/2 |
86-23 | Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 1/3 |
RACESBUL.146 - SUBJECT: COMM RESOURCES ORDER FORM - PART 1/2
DATE: Dec. 3, 1990 To assure that any volunteer on a mutual aid mission is properly covered with insurance and instructions, we use a written form. This protects the volunteer portal to portal, not just while he or she is at the incident. People can and do get hurt en route or returning home. This is why it is mandatory in California and other states that volunteers be preregistered disaster service workers. We call it the "Communications Resources and Personnel Order" form and encourage its use by any state and local government wherein mutual aid is practiced.
We cannot reproduce the form in its actual size in this bulletin but we show all of the line items.
Click here to download form.
Since we adopted this form in 1987, all of our RACES personnel responding to incident assignments report total acceptance by road block law enforcement personnel. Several public safety agencies are impressed and wish that all responders had such paperwork. Such things as badges, identification cards, jackets, caps, or other paraphernalia with logos or alphabet soup seldom carry much weight at roadblocks on large scale incidents.
The form items will be in Part 2/2 of this bulletin.
RACESBUL.147 - SUBJECT: COMM RESOURCES ORDER FORM - PART 2/2
DATE: Dec. 10, 1990
COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL ORDER
[NAME OF GOVERNMENT]
RACESBUL.148 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 5/11
DATE: Dec. 17, 1990
1 9 8 6
DATE: Dec. 3, 1990 To assure that any volunteer on a mutual aid mission is properly covered with insurance and instructions, we use a written form. This protects the volunteer portal to portal, not just while he or she is at the incident. People can and do get hurt en route or returning home. This is why it is mandatory in California and other states that volunteers be preregistered disaster service workers. We call it the "Communications Resources and Personnel Order" form and encourage its use by any state and local government wherein mutual aid is practiced.
We cannot reproduce the form in its actual size in this bulletin but we show all of the line items.
Click here to download form.
Since we adopted this form in 1987, all of our RACES personnel responding to incident assignments report total acceptance by road block law enforcement personnel. Several public safety agencies are impressed and wish that all responders had such paperwork. Such things as badges, identification cards, jackets, caps, or other paraphernalia with logos or alphabet soup seldom carry much weight at roadblocks on large scale incidents.
The form items will be in Part 2/2 of this bulletin.
RACESBUL.147 - SUBJECT: COMM RESOURCES ORDER FORM - PART 2/2
DATE: Dec. 10, 1990
COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL ORDER
[NAME OF GOVERNMENT]
- Date/Time
- Other's Order number [This may be from forestry or some other agency]
- OES number [This is your agency's mission number]
- REQUESTER (AGENCY AND NAME)
- WHAT (type of equipment and/or operator required):
- WHEN?
- UNTIL approximately what date or time.
- WHERE?
- ROUTING INSTRUCTIONS: [i.e., how to get there.]
- EN ROUTE FREQUENCIES
- UPON ARRIVING, REPORT TO: [name and/or Incident Command title]
- ESTABLISH/MAINTAIN WHAT POINTS OF COMMUNICATIONS? FREQUENCY? CALLSIGNS?:
- WHO SENT?
- CALLSIGN(S)
- ADDRESS
- RES.PHONE
- IN WHAT AGENCY DSW REGISTERED? (Use reverse side to enter the same information for any additional personnel responding on this Order) _____Check here if applicable.
- BRIEFING: [each one of the following items must be checked off by the government official giving the briefing]
- Briefed on safety and hazards?
- Reminded to take adequate equipment, supplies, appropriate day and night clothing, money and medications. Sleeping bag/blankets.
- Drive safely, defensively, headlights on.
- ORDER PREPARED BY (PRINT)
- TITLE
- DIVISION
- REGION/OFFICE
- SIGNATURE
- DATE/TIME ORDER ACCOMPLISHED OR PERSONNEL ENROUTE:
- HOME OES AGENCY NOTIFIED:
RACESBUL.148 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 5/11
DATE: Dec. 17, 1990
1 9 8 6
Number | Title |
86-1 | Antenna Safety |
86-2 | Packet radio. Siskiyou County RACES/ARES meeting. |
86-3 | Technical: Underwriters Labs over/under voltage device |
86-4 | Definition of "RACES" |
86-5 | Weekly State RACES Net |
86-6 | Uses for the RACES - Part 1 |
86-7 | Uses for the RACES - Part 2 |
86-8 | Critique (of an earthquake exercise using hams) |
86-9 | Floods |
86-9X | Floods |
86-10 | CB Linear Crackdown |
86-11 | Kern County RACES |
86-13 | Who activates the RACES? |
86-14 | One-hour exercise question |
86-15 | El Dorado County RACES |
86-16 | Portable repeaters |
86-17 | Radio Officers |
86-18 | Family Care |
86-19 | HF Radio is Very Important |
86-20 | Yes, Non-Hams Can Join Too! |
86-21 | Earthquake Alarms - Part 1/2 |
86-22 | Earthquake Alarms - Part 2/2 |
86-23 | Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 1/3 |
(To be continued)
RACESBUL.149 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 6/11
DATE: Dec. 24, 1990
RACESBUL.149 - SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - 6/11
DATE: Dec. 24, 1990
Number | Title |
86-24 | Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 2/3 |
86-25 | Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 3/3 |
86-26 | Bill of Rights for Volunteers |
86-27 | Richter Scale |
86-28 | ARES and RACES. Earthquake activation Riverside |
86-29 | Earthquake Preparedness List for Home and Family |
86-30 | Packet Expanding |
86-31 | ATV Antenna on Aircraft |
86-32 | Earthquakes |
86-33 | RACES History - Part 1/2 |
86-34 | RACES History - Part 2/2 |
86-35 | ARRL, ARES and RACES |
86-36 | Photocopiers (warning on potential eye damage) |
86-37 | Proper Communications Channels |
86-38 | Packet Tips |
86-40 | California SAR 1985 Statistics Released |
86-41 | Packet Recommended for Every OES/CD Agency |
86-42 | RACES Program Guidance Policy |
86-43 | What is a RACES Station? |
86-44 | Portable Radio Tip |
86-45 | New State OES Callsign |
86-46 | New Year's Greetings! |
(To be continued)
Merry Christmas to all!
RACESBUL.150 - SUBJECT: (reserved for Webb)
DATE: Dec. 31, 1990
* * * * * End 1990 Bulletins * * * * *
Merry Christmas to all!
RACESBUL.150 - SUBJECT: (reserved for Webb)
DATE: Dec. 31, 1990
* * * * * End 1990 Bulletins * * * * *