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:

​More than one professional in the field of Search and Rescue or Emergency Response Management has been known to say that “hams can be too much of a good thing.” What they refer to is the propensity of hams to respond en-mass to a call out without regard to their own skills, physical limitations, body condition, time commitment, and mental state.

​This piece is from 1993, but it’s still true to this day! 

Let’s face it, for the fact that it is: some governments don’t really understand about Emergency Communications Units; they don’t really understand how to work with and utilize volunteers, including hams, some of whom are professional communicators.

For quite a while now I have advocated for Ham Radio operators to cross train and learn how to “do” Social Media.

I became interested in the American Red Cross as a ham radio operator. I saw the potential to use my skill-set to help as a disaster communicator. I joined as a volunteer in 1995.

Ham Radio, also known as Amateur Radio, is a popular hobby and a service in which licensed participants operate communications equipment with a deep appreciation of the radio art.  Most of the time, it’s the most fun you can have with a radio. It’s a way to talk with people around the world, or even orbiting the world; to send e-mail without any sort of internet connection and to keep in touch with friends across town or across the country.  But it is called the “Amateur Radio Service” because it also has a serious face.  It’s a very important emergency communications system too.
What is Amateur Radio?