ARES Letter for January 18, 2006
================= The ARES E-Letter January 18, 2006 ================= Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor =================================== ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial questions or comments: <k1ce@arrl.net>; =================================== + The View from Flagler County Last month, I glibly questioned our county's purchase of a new 800 MHz trunking system, based on a report from Alabama SEC Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, that theirs was "the first to go in the hard hit areas of Katrina." This prompted emergency responder Scott Davis (no call sign given) to reply that similar systems in Gulfport and Biloxi "did not ever go down." In fact, said Davis, "ten additional channels were added to the Biloxi side to support the influx of users from Florida agencies that came to assist. Military and federal government agencies asked for radios, impressed with the robust nature of the system there. Federal agencies are still operating on the system today. These systems can adapt to the situation as it unfolds." Davis also added directly: "Your little county could not have made a better choice." And in re my quip about ARES job security: "ARES operators will always have job security in times of disaster. HF is a backup backbone. The infrastructure that will go is the telephone, cell sites, and satellite phones (due to response congestion). ARES can fill the gap when needed." It does seem our county planners are set on ramping up our capabilities: We're also getting a new EOC, including positions for Amateur Radio, of course. As for Flagler county ARES, we're about to implement the ARRL emergency communication course training for our volunteers, and a new ARES Plan, initiatives of county EC Merrill Musikar, KG4IDD. Lastly, I dined with veteran Connecticut Section Manager Betsey Doane, K1EIC, and her twin sister Barbara Lombardi, K1EIR, in Daytona Beach last week. What a pleasure to visit with two of the longest serving, and dedicated ARRL volunteers of all time. Over the years we haven't agreed on every issue, but we have always been great friends. Betsey and Barbara are two jewels in the crown of Amateur Radio. - K1CE ============================= In This Issue: + The View from Flagler County + ARES Versus Texan Grass Fires + Mississippi "Lessons Learned" Meeting + Eastern Pennsylvania EmComm Awards + ARES at "Ham Radio University" in New York City-Long Island + Supporters for NIMS/ICS Training as an ARES Priority + 10-Meter ARES Net Open for Check-Ins + Club Wins Large Grant for Emergency Communication Hardware + Section Manager Calls for Input on Selling ARES to Served Agencies + TERT Certification Needed for ARES Ops + Oregon Likes "Break Tags" + WINLINK Documentation + Response to "Local ECs Should Trump Outside Officials" + Closing Message from Alabama Section Manager + K1CE for a Final ============================== + ARES Versus Texan Grass Fires ARES ops from the West Texas Section, and especially the Abilene vicinity, assisted with communications during the last week of 2005 when wildfires struck Cross Plains, Texas, in the southeastern portion of neighboring Callahan County. "There was no cell service because the connection to the cell tower was burned," said Taylor county EC Bill Shaw, KJ5DX. "There was one landline phone working at the church where the Cross Plains Red Cross shelter was set up." ARES operators established communication via UHF and VHF radios between the Cross Plains Shelter, Brownwood Red Cross Shelter, and Abilene Red Cross headquarters. A team of 14 radio amateurs was on hand during this emergency. "We kept up 24 hour communications for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday until noon via ham radio," Shaw reported. "The fire started as a grass fire about noontime on December 27, and quickly escalated into a raging wildfire that was fed by 45 mph winds." Unfortunately, the fire quickly spread toward town about 3 miles away, and it burned the area that is about 4 to 6 miles east-west and 2 to 3 miles north-south in size. "About 31 fire departments fought fires until about 5:00 the next morning," Shaw said. As a result of this fire, almost 8,000 acres burned, 152 homes were damaged, and that represents 25 to 30 per cent of the homes in Cross Plains. Over a hundred of those homes were completely destroyed. Wildfires have also been burning in drought-stricken Oklahoma and New Mexico. - ARRL Letter + Mississippi "Lessons Learned" Meeting The ARRL Mississippi Section held a "Katrina Lessons Learned Meeting" on December 10, 2005, in Hattiesburg. SM Malcolm Keown, W5XX, presided. Many Katrina key players were present. The conferees felt that ARRL should coordinate needs with the section level well before the disaster event: "There is currently no ARRL national/regional emergency response plan in place; inundation of the Gulf Coast and south Mississippi with operators was unexpected, resulting in confusion and inefficiency. Some outside operators seemed to think they were in charge regardless of the fact that an ARES emergency response structure was already in operation. Bottom Line: The ARRL needs to develop a national/regional response plan, coordinated with the field before it is activated." Another recommendation was a pre-populated database of volunteers and rapid response teams (RRTs). "The on-line method used during Katrina resulted in enlisting many helpful operators, but some were ill-trained, unprepared for stressful assignment, and had personal characteristics incompatible with the disaster environment. The database should be actively updated. Volunteers approved for listing in the database also need to be credentialed at the federal level." The conferees believe ECs should be in charge of ARES operations in their county/jurisdiction provided they are coordinated with the county emergency management agency (EMA) director. "The EMA Director should be aware of all emergency nets in operation in his jurisdiction including an ARES net. There is no problem with separate ARES, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Baptist Men's Kitchen nets in operation; the key is that they must be coordinated with the EMA's director and Communications Officer so that communications resources are efficiently employed." The conference noted the "Red Cross has its own way of conducting business but it should not control ARES assets; that is the function of the EC. ARES is, of course, more than willing to help the Red Cross, but is not part of the Red Cross command structure." The important function of NTS is to assist agencies with outbound H/W traffic, the group noted. "When the National Red Cross took over local operations, outbound H/W from shelters was discontinued for privacy considerations. Given that conventional and cell phones were spotty, with many evacuees desperate to tell relatives that they were safe, this action should be reviewed." The group's bottom line recommendation was that the ARRL needs to reexamine its MOUs with disaster response agencies so that the chain of command and points of contact are clearly understood as well as what services the radio amateurs can and cannot render. Attendees: Amy Bullock, N5TBB, EC Benton County; Karl Bullock, WA5TMC, DEC Northeast Mississippi/EC Tippah County; Ron Brown, AB5WF, DEC West Central Mississippi/State RACES Officer; Tom Hammack, W4WLF, DEC Gulf Coast/EC Harrison County; Ken Johnson, W7BES, FEMA; Ben Jones, AC5SU, EC Metro Jackson; James Lee, KC5TYL, EC Lamar County; Tim Livengood, KC5EAK, EC Pearl River County; Lex Mason, KD5XG; Larry Morgan, AG5Z, EC Forrest County; Jimmy Myers, KD5FUY, OES; John Pinkard, KD5KXJ, EC Leake County; Mike Purvis, WZ5Y; Jimmy Ready, N5LRQ; and Sam Williams, W5SEW. + Eastern Pennsylvania EmComm Awards Eastern Pennsylvania's "EmComm Leader of the Year" was recently awarded to Kerry Smeltzer, KA3KAR, for exemplary service. As EC and RACES Officer for York County, Smeltzer drives the organizations' activities, including emcomm, SKYWARN and license classes, assembling a communications vehicle, and conducting operations during activations and drills. The "EmComm Volunteer of the Year" was awarded to Dan McMonigle, N3IXQ. He organized ARES Field Day operations, instructed emcomm courses, established the Delco ARES operations room, serving as RACES Officer and ARES Assistant EC for Delaware County. The "Served Agency of the Year" was awarded to the Chester County Department of Emergency Service, Edward J. Atkins, Director, in appreciation for the support provided to Chester County ARES/RACES. The agency provided meeting facilities, training opportunities, and assistance with funds to purchase equipment. It built a solid relationship with ARES/RACES, treating volunteers as part of the team.. - Chris Snyder, NG3F, Section Emergency Coordinator, Eastern Pennsylvania, and EC/RO, Snyder County + ARES at "Ham Radio University" in New York City-Long Island ARES members from the three districts of the New York City-Long Island section attended and participated in the ARES forum at the recent seventh annual "Ham Radio University - NLI Section Convention." Ham Radio University is a day of education to share ideas, experiences, knowledge, and fellowship among Amateur Radio operators. There were more than twenty forums, a special event station and a club room. Allen Pitts, W1AGP, from ARRL HQ, conducted a forum on the ARES response to Katrina. The SEC, along with each of the three DECs, presented oral reports, and a Q&A session followed. -- Tom Carrubba, KA2D, NLI SEC + Supporters for NIMS/ICS Training as an ARES Priority It is California state law that all emergency responder agencies use the Incident Command System (ICS). The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection uses it on all wildland fire callouts and the state and local Offices of Emergency Services use it routinely. Every hospital in the state has an ICS-based plan in place. If you answer a disaster call from outside of California and you don't know ICS, you will be lost and look uneducated. The minimum qualification I would look for in an Amateur Radio disaster responder is the level 1 emcomm course from the ARRL and significant knowledge of ICS. -- John A. Amos, KC6TVM, ADEC, Hospital Net Coordinator, Santa Clara County, California A challenge for ARES/RACES organizations is being recognized as "professionals" by emergency services personnel. When a multi-agency incident occurs, local authorities assign an Incident Commander (IC) to take charge. The Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS) protocol establishes an Incident Management Team (IMT). The IMT has no time for unknown players. Hence, we need to integrate ARES with the ICS/NIMS structure and training. Then, when we arrive on-scene with IMT credentials, ICs know who we are in a way that fits into their ICS structure. Our ARES/RACES group serves the County Sheriff and County Office Of Emergency Management. Many members are qualified, badged members of the County Type III IMT, trained as RADOs (radio operators), Comm Techs, Incident Communications Managers, and Communications Unit Leaders. All of these are formal positions with formal training requirements within the ICS system. There is a training commitment to be sure, but the results are worth the effort. Many of us have fought this legitimacy issue. ICS/NIMS training is one current way to solve it. -- Roger Krautkremer, K0YY, ARES/RACES, County IMT, County Search and Rescue, State ARES/RACES Disaster Response Team + 10-Meter ARES Net Open for Check-Ins A bi-monthly 10-Meter ARES net is held on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 2015 Eastern time on 28.480 MHz USB. It is an open net with ARES operators around the country invited to check-in with signal reports, traffic and comments. -- Jeff Fishman, KB3FIO, AEC, Frederick County, Maryland + Club Wins Large Grant for Emergency Communication Hardware The Tri State Amateur Radio Club of Cresco, Iowa, has been awarded a Homeland Security grant of $150,000 to purchase a 90 foot radio and lighting tower for emergency communications work. The club is seeking another grant of $220,000 to complete the project. - Ernie Martin, WA0AUU, Cresco, Iowa <leewalt@powerbank.net>; + Section Manager Calls for Input on Selling ARES to Served Agencies I would like to open a discussion of how different groups "sell" their EMCOMM services to served, and non-served, agencies. -- Sherri Brower, W4STB, Section Manager, Southern Florida and Chairman, ARRL Public Relations Committee [We'll publish responses in future issues. - ed.] + TERT Certification Needed for ARES Ops ARES should work with the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) on the Telecommunicator Emergency Response Team (TERT) program and develop training/certification for ARES personnel. [NENA has a new task force for a national system of telecommunicator emergency response teams to safeguard 9-1-1 service during times of critical need]. See <http://www.nena.org/TERT/index.htm> An APCO Mission Critical Communicator (MCC) certification could potentially be worthwhile for ARES members, too. It's partnerships like these that are needed to ensure the viability of the ARES program for the future. It is becoming apparent to agencies that besides having the interoperable equipment and the NIMS/ICS structures, they need personnel that can jump in and augment staff or serve as tactical communicators. See <http://www.pstc911.com/classes/description/misssioncriticalarticle.html> -- Bryan Nehl, K0EMT, EC, Moniteau County, Missouri + Responses to ARES E-Letter and QST Editorial Policy [The following are samples of the responses received to last month's apparently controversial editorial comments on the functions of QST and this newsletter for post-event analysis-ed.] I would like to persuade you that the function of QST can go well beyond just "promote morale of our ARES volunteers and foster relationships with served agencies." There are lessons to be learned from Katrina/Rita that require a wide appreciation of both the good and poor performance aspects of ARES during those disasters, provided by suitable articles published in QST. Such articles may then be used as "levers" with which to move emergency response officials in the many jurisdictions involved, from local to county, to state, to federal level (including FEMA). I routinely forward extracts of the ARES E-Letter to a list of such officials in our city, county, and Council of Governments Region (in Texas the COGs handle the emergency response monies). If I had copies of suitable QST articles, I would forward them and they would be read. -- John Painter, W5LQS <johnpainter@verizon.net>; The details of an after-event critique are for the eyes of those who responded and may be responding to the next event. A critique is an opportunity to learn from mistakes. Personally, I don't need to know names and other finger pointing details to accept the lesson learned by another's mistake. You should present the lessons in a way that's respectful to those involved. -- Doug Younker, N0LKK, DEC Kansas Third District, EC 3-C I must take exception with your viewpoint. You and the [ARRL] leadership have missed critical points: First, we in the affected areas know fully what happened and you have only the glowing reports. As I keep reading the whitewashed reports, I get even angrier. I am not going to take the company position that ARRL is the greatest and the effort by the volunteers was an overwhelming success. ARRL was supposed to have this magnificent plan of action that they implemented after Katrina hit. Now don't you guys think it might have been nice to tell us? Oh, communications down here were cut off? Did anyone try the NTS? It was fully functioning and waiting for traffic, but they were told that H/W traffic was not allowed. They were not even handling priority or emergency traffic because that function was preempted by the agencies that took over. We have an ARES/RACES organization that is well trained and operational and yet we were ignored, bypassed, and pushed aside because it was felt that an outsider could do the job better. You claim that the objective of QST and [the ARES E-Letter] is to recognize "positive aspects" and "address problem areas constructively." Our view from here is that any criticism of League policy or their handling of this event is to be construed as negative and thus not worthy of consideration or bad for membership morale. As for fostering better relationships with served agencies, someone had better convey [your goal] to those agencies that attempted to render the local organizations impotent. ARRL and those served agencies owe operators an explanation if not an apology. If ARES is to properly function, then the League needs to understand that to keep the organization viable, it cannot continue to assume that far away in New England, you know better than the rest of us. -- Darryl J. Goldman, KD5CQT, EC, Jackson County, Mississippi I would like to compliment you on your position of printing only positive information about Katrina and other disasters. There is enough negativism in the press and other media these days and in my opinion it serves no purpose. However, there is no harm in learning from our mistakes and fine-tuning for the future. -- Ed Esborn, K1UQE Throughout the late 70's through the 90's the US Army made changes in training philosophy to ensure a professional Army would result. One change was the implementation of the "After Action Review" (AAR) as an integral part of every training exercise and actual operation. The successful AAR depends on the participation of all members, not just leadership. It also depends on brutal honesty. Your comments in your newsletter concern me because you are saying if an issue would be uncomfortable or cause embarrassment, then it should not be addressed. Not doing so would be a disservice to ARES as there would be no effective way to evaluate the operation and then plan training to address issues. - Rick Kruis, K8CAV I believe, like you, that our issues and problems should be discussed behind closed doors. Making problems, negative issues and criticism public is destructive. We will not get any help next time: why would amateurs travel hundreds of miles on their own dollar to be criticized; would you? Also, our served agencies should see a positive, supportive and helpful face from Amateur Radio. Our problems have to be solved internally. All it takes is for one instance or issue to wipe out years of work in building a relationship with a served agency. - Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, Alabama Section Manager + Oregon Likes "Break Tags" Re the continuing discussion about the system of "break tags," we gave it a trial run (on an operator-optional basis) at our community's 53rd Annual Christmas Parade and it was very helpful. I think we are sold on the concept. -- Bob Shelby, W7FPY, Oregon + WINLINK Documentation Thank you for the mention of Winlink 2000. I've been operating WL2K Telpac and Paclink stations for over a year, with good success, and have trained others in the use and/or setup of WL stations. A downside at this time is documentation. For the most part, the existing documentation is good, but it could be better organized, and made more user friendly when outlining the different segments of the WL network (CMS, PMBO, Telpac, Paclink) to those who need to understand what part they might want to implement, or get familiar with. I believe there are several dedicated people who would tackle such documentation, working with the WL developers and system administrators, but there's a need for actual printing resources. Do you think the ARRL might support such an effort and important emcomm mode by providing services for a WL2K manual? -- Brad Taylor, KW4USA, ASEC/Administration, Virginia ARES <kw4usa@cox.net>; + Response to "Local ECs Should Trump Outside Officials" [The following are responses to last month's opinion piece -ed.] I cannot believe that you're criticizing the Baptist Mens Kitchen relief efforts in the Katrina disaster. They were in the affected area quickly and fed thousands of people who had no other source of aid for many days. I applaud them for not hanging back and waiting for some bureaucratic knothead to "coordinate" their lifesaving aid. -- Brent Cater, W5FRG, Clarksville, Arkansas <w5frg@arrl.net>; [I wrote back to Mr. Cater, "I think the point was to just try to have a little more coordination with the ARES EC in the involved county, that's all. I don't think we were criticizing the benevolent effort of the group." Mr. Cater replied: "The Baptist Mens Kitchen groups were set up and feeding people in the affected area almost before the hurricane winds faded away. I'm sure they would have welcomed any assistance that might have been offered by the local EC." - ed.] Having been inactive in ham radio for a few years, I swerved back into it after working with the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief group. I spent six weeks in Covington, Slidell and Sulphur with the TBDR volunteers. The service provided by hams was multi-functional and widespread within the overall effort. ARRL and ARES influence, training and value extend beyond areas visible to the public and even to the ARRL organization. You have helped make other operations more successful without even knowing it. -- Frank Metcalfe, KA4AQN I've been on both sides of this issue. I think that while the served agency probably knows what it wants, the provider ARES EC/DEC knows the resources at hand. That EC/DEC needs to make him/herself known to the served agency prior to an event. However, when the resources are made available to the served agency, they do become the served agency's responsibility, NOT the EC's, IMHO. -- Ed Ryan, N7VEX, America Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteer; ex-Disaster Specialist, Grand Canyon Chapter, American Red Cross, Peoria, Arizona + Closing Message from the Alabama SM Now is the time to improve the skills you used during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. We must continually prepare, train, practice and test ourselves to be effective in the next event. Prepare your personal Jump kit, equipment, manuals, provisions; join and build local ARES; get vaccinations. Train by taking the ARRL, FEMA, and Red Cross courses. Build your experience through Field Day, the Simulated Emergency Test, contests, nets, public service events, and drills. Pass traffic. Test your equipment in different configurations. Learn to operate it fully, efficiently and with other amateurs. Your preparation will help ARES be ready, effective and successful when called on for the next emergency large or small. -- Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, Alabama Section Manager + K1CE for a Final A chance November Sweepstakes QSO with my old Elmer from the 70's prompted me to send him a letter of thanks for mentoring me into ham radio so long ago. I felt badly that it took me thirty years to express my appreciation to him, but I am now very glad that I did. I received a delightful three-page letter back along with his QSL card for the SS contact. He's now 79, with some health problems, but still sharp as a tack and radio-active. It is a wonderful life. - K1CE
