Continuation:
Hundreds of instances occur in EVERY EMERGENCY where "old fashioned radio" assists countless jurisdictions. Fire, law, water and road departments, helicopter searches, search and rescue teams, just to name a few, get their information and handle their command and
Hundreds of instances occur in EVERY EMERGENCY where "old fashioned radio" assists countless jurisdictions. Fire, law, water and road departments, helicopter searches, search and rescue teams, just to name a few, get their information and handle their command and
control functions, by radio. Sometimes the drama is even heard and seen on national television - a system that is based on radio waves. For instance, during the California Floods of '97, there was a dramatic rescue by helicopter of a couple from New Jersey found standing knee deep in water on top of their flooded car after having been stranded in the cold dark hours of the previous night.
It is an essentially proven fact that radio works in hundreds - nay, thousands - of ways when resourceful people are tasked to make it do so. Managers typically forget that the transparency of a system leaves them open to a disaster they seldom foresee: the catastrophic loss of it at the very time they need essential command and decision communications with TOP-LEVEL decision makers - those who ALWAYS use the transparent system to intercommunicate.
But, you ask, "where do we find resourceful people when most needed? Our technical staff is good, but not noted for being THAT resourceful!"
We would reply: For resourceful problem solvers look to the volunteer communications units, like the Auxiliary Communi- cations Service (ACS) with its unpaid professionals who are predominantly FCC Amateur Radio Service licensees. This provides the immense talents of a pool of skilled people who are natural problem solvers. Give them a problem that CAN'T be solved, and viola, they present you with a solution!
And, you say, "but they need to know our system ahead of time". Again, we respond: Then understand that having the ACS means an ON-GOING day-to-day involvement of its key leaders who should be IN your agency as many days of the year as possible. That way they WILL know your systems. See our other bulletins on how to use them in familiarization of your agency, its nuances, protocol and systems.
(end of 4 part series.)
It is an essentially proven fact that radio works in hundreds - nay, thousands - of ways when resourceful people are tasked to make it do so. Managers typically forget that the transparency of a system leaves them open to a disaster they seldom foresee: the catastrophic loss of it at the very time they need essential command and decision communications with TOP-LEVEL decision makers - those who ALWAYS use the transparent system to intercommunicate.
But, you ask, "where do we find resourceful people when most needed? Our technical staff is good, but not noted for being THAT resourceful!"
We would reply: For resourceful problem solvers look to the volunteer communications units, like the Auxiliary Communi- cations Service (ACS) with its unpaid professionals who are predominantly FCC Amateur Radio Service licensees. This provides the immense talents of a pool of skilled people who are natural problem solvers. Give them a problem that CAN'T be solved, and viola, they present you with a solution!
And, you say, "but they need to know our system ahead of time". Again, we respond: Then understand that having the ACS means an ON-GOING day-to-day involvement of its key leaders who should be IN your agency as many days of the year as possible. That way they WILL know your systems. See our other bulletins on how to use them in familiarization of your agency, its nuances, protocol and systems.
(end of 4 part series.)
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