- It provides the initial aspect of key leadership that is so vital to the success of the communications reserve program.
- It protects the agency, and the people whom the agency serves, against loss of a valuable resource.
- It precludes future misunderstandings between an administrator and program participants. A well written mission statement can minimize the chance for a serious disagreement that could have been otherwise avoided.
A MISSION STATEMENT for an emergency management agency communications reserve (such as the Auxiliary Communications Service, RACES or equivalent) has several advantages.
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Ever wonder why the computer fails when it shouldn't, or sensitive equipment bites the dust?
A National Power Laboratory (NPL) power quality study provides a clue. It showed an actual incident rate for disturbances large enough to corrupt data or destroy equipment. The study accumulated 450 site-months of power line disturbance data from 74 monitored locations in the US and Canada. Here are some ideas for training, taken from the Prince George's County ARES-RACES Newsletter, summer/fall edition for 1993. Topics for training:
Your questions are welcomed. Several have asked the following in one way or another: "What I've heard from RACES and the ARRL seems to assume that the RACES member should be willing to report to a (hopefully) preassigned duty station and remain there for several days in the event of a major disaster. Is this the case?"
Comment: Previous bulletins have covered the aspects of one's obligation to family first. Still, there are Strike Teams that do make that commitment and dedication, as do key participants of a well prepared communications reserve, like the RACES, the OES Auxiliary Communications Service, or others. Strike Teams and key responders are for a short quick response to fill in until the slower mobilizing units can respond; then they retire. Here are some of the events utilized in one area to help citizens become familiar with RACES and to train RACES participants:
The following was from a concerned FCC Amateur licensee:
Question: What role does direction finding have in the RACES, if any?
Response: Direction finding - the process of locating Radio Frequency signals by other radio equipment - has a tremendous role for Amateur Radio operators, particularly in urban areas. RACES units have been called upon to locate spurious signals from a variety of sources from malfunctioning equipment, such as stuck transmitters, to deliberate jamming of local government or other facilities. During an incident there are times that it is necessary for a jurisdiction to request additional help from "outside". In California this involves mutual aid whereby local authorities turn to an "outside resource" (outside of their jurisdiction) to augment their own forces (or where none exists) to accomplish their mission. Either way (i.e., augment or provide) the so-called "outside" mutual aid people are ALWAYS under control of the REQUESTING government. The structure by which that functions is part of the Incident Command System.
Question: How are participants in a communications reserve program, such as RACES, classified; and if so, why?
Response: In its communications reserve program plan, such as the RACES plan, a jurisdiction identifies the program participants based on their level of activity and screening required. |
RACES BulletinsCA State OES began the Bulletins in the early 1950's to assist agencies and radio operators to become more familiar with RACES. They were issued periodically until 1985, at which time they began to be issued weekly over voice and digital radio systems of Amateur Radio and in print. Originally intended for California, increased demand, and a 1988 request by the ARRL for national distribution, led to their eventual worldwide distribution. Archives
December 1994
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