Emergency Response Communications and the Stake Emergency Plan
By Don L. Nicolaysen (KR6US) and Carolyn Nicolaysen (KI6ZZH) -Meridian Magazine
Communicating in an emergency can be a matter of life and death in some situations, and a matter of comfort or humanitarian assistance in others. When lifesaving situations arise and telephones, cell phones, and internet are down, other methods of communication must be found, and quickly.
For that reason, we discussed in a previous article the importance of radio in emergency scenarios where traditional means of communicating are crippled or non-existent (see our article Prepare to Communicate). In hindsight, how many lives may have been saved in a 9/11 or Katrina-scale event, if more people were prepared to use radios to help themselves and their neighbors? We think the answer would be “many.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of several organizations (like the Red Cross and Salvation Army, for example) that has encouraged the use of Emergency Response Communications radio nets (ERC Nets), to provide communications in the event of disasters and emergencies, enabling urgent services and welfare needs of all kinds might be better provided, and so that church leaders can account for the safety of their missionaries and members.
Stakes and wards are encouraged to develop an emergency plan. For the Church’s guidelines, see “Preparing for Emergencies” at ProvidentLiving.org. As part of that planning, stakes and wards should be prepared to use amateur radio operators to assist in providing communication when other means fail (see “Emergency Communications”).
Our stake in Northern California is one of many in our multi-region area of 62-stakes that is organizing to communicate using amateur radio operators in an Emergency Response Communications network of members who are trained or willing to be trained, as emergency communicators. Operators need to know how and what to prepare in the event we must grab and go, and how to stay on the air if utilities are out of service.
This is part of the answer when considering how welfare and humanitarian needs can be addressed during an emergency event, and how everyone is to be accounted for by their ward and stake leaders. LDS amateur radio operators are also working to support and provide assistance to their communities and civil authorities, ensuring that public safety will be better served.
In areas such as Utah, which are densely populated by wards and stakes of the LDS Church, there are so many ERC Nets organized (the Salt Lake Valley, for example) that amateur radio operators have carefully sought solutions to sharing frequencies and VHF radio repeaters guaranteeing that in an actual emergency there will always be open channels of communication for the most urgent emergency traffic.
LDS amateurs, or “ham” radio operators (who by-the-way are licensed by the FCC as part of the Amateur Radio Service, and nicknamed “hams”), have given service for decades, alongside other hams and professional first responders in areas like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida where hurricanes are a regular event and pose a real threat.
Training of ERC Net operators is available through the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services), whose motto is “When all else fails, amateur radio works.”
In many areas such as Southern California, ERC Nets have been formed by stakes, and members are strongly encouraged to get licensed as amateur radio operators so that communication will be sustained in the event of a major earthquake or severe wildfire. Our daughter and her husband in Irvine, California recently passed the amateur radio license exam, and even their 11-year old son and 8-year old daughter have passed the Technician class exam and are licensed ham operators.
What an important resource this will be to their family if the phones and internet go down while Dad is at work and the kids are at school. They will be able to communicate with one another, as well as support their church leaders who will need updated reports on the welfare of nearby members following that big event.
Recently a friend's father had a major heart attack while the friend's husband and son were on a fifty-mile hike. She had to wait days to notify her husband of the serious situation. What a benefit a ham operator would have been in that scout troop.
Through the organization of an ERC Net, our stake (like so many others) is working toward a capability to support and serve the needs of individual wards through their bishops, and to assist as communicators if necessary, helping gather and report information from the ward to the stake leadership. This will assist in the assessment of welfare and humanitarian needs affecting both members and communities as a whole.
Church welfare resources at bishop’s storehouses can then be allocated according to the real time reports of priesthood leaders. During such emergencies, the logistics of getting relief supplies to the scene of a disaster can be greatly disrupted, the more information available from the scene, the sooner help can arrive.
Although our stake has been actively working to organize and conduct a weekly on-air ERC Net on the 2-meter amateur band for less than 6-months (and has less than 20 ham operators in the whole stake), other stakes have been organized and operating for years. Some also operate Nets on the HF (shortwave bands), allowing communication over long distances (1000 miles plus) as well as locally. We know of one stake in Washington State that has more than 200 ham radio operators. Assuming they have 10 wards, that could be on average about 20 operators per ward, which would be enough to report the status of the ward’s membership following a tsunami or earthquake within a very short time, to each bishop.
Licensing of ham radio operators can seem like a big hurdle, but in reality, there are very successful pass rates for licensing sessions called a “HamCram.” These sessions allow a person with no experience to spend less than 8 hours on a Saturday with a team of Volunteer Examiners, who will help candidates young and old to prepare to pass the entry-level Technician Class amateur radio exam within the same day. Although it does mean applying yourself to study and learn new material, the pass rate is very high. In a change from years past, there is no Morse code to be learned or tested on any amateur radio license exam these days.
The test consists of 35 questions from a published pool of multiple choice questions, so there really is no obstacle to interested persons becoming licensed, and thus authorized to use the vast selection of frequencies that amateurs are allocated in the radio spectrum (HF, VHF and UHF). It is great fun, and a good way to serve and make friends in the community.
My one caveat is that there are high expectations for ham operators to learn the accepted manner of operating, and to conform to good operating practices and maintain a strictly non-commercial and public service spirit in their operating behavior. But generally speaking, this is no problem for the LDS amateur radio operator, who is already accustomed to working within our communities to promote the values of Scouting.
How wards and stakes implement an Emergency Plan with an Emergency Response Communications Net may vary widely depending on local conditions. Locally we conduct a multi-regional ERC Net on Saturday mornings, and a stake ERC Net on Sunday nights. The bottom line, the Church has a mandate to be shepherds over the Lord’s flock, and if there is more we can do to prepare to provide relief under the stress of a natural or manmade disaster, it is our duty to be prepared, so that not only will amateur radio work when all else fails, but we will, too.
For more information or to ask questions visit Carolyn's blog at http://blog.totallyready.com/ or her brand new yahoo group at:: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TotallyReady/.
Communicating in an emergency can be a matter of life and death in some situations, and a matter of comfort or humanitarian assistance in others. When lifesaving situations arise and telephones, cell phones, and internet are down, other methods of communication must be found, and quickly.
For that reason, we discussed in a previous article the importance of radio in emergency scenarios where traditional means of communicating are crippled or non-existent (see our article Prepare to Communicate). In hindsight, how many lives may have been saved in a 9/11 or Katrina-scale event, if more people were prepared to use radios to help themselves and their neighbors? We think the answer would be “many.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of several organizations (like the Red Cross and Salvation Army, for example) that has encouraged the use of Emergency Response Communications radio nets (ERC Nets), to provide communications in the event of disasters and emergencies, enabling urgent services and welfare needs of all kinds might be better provided, and so that church leaders can account for the safety of their missionaries and members.
Stakes and wards are encouraged to develop an emergency plan. For the Church’s guidelines, see “Preparing for Emergencies” at ProvidentLiving.org. As part of that planning, stakes and wards should be prepared to use amateur radio operators to assist in providing communication when other means fail (see “Emergency Communications”).
Our stake in Northern California is one of many in our multi-region area of 62-stakes that is organizing to communicate using amateur radio operators in an Emergency Response Communications network of members who are trained or willing to be trained, as emergency communicators. Operators need to know how and what to prepare in the event we must grab and go, and how to stay on the air if utilities are out of service.
This is part of the answer when considering how welfare and humanitarian needs can be addressed during an emergency event, and how everyone is to be accounted for by their ward and stake leaders. LDS amateur radio operators are also working to support and provide assistance to their communities and civil authorities, ensuring that public safety will be better served.
In areas such as Utah, which are densely populated by wards and stakes of the LDS Church, there are so many ERC Nets organized (the Salt Lake Valley, for example) that amateur radio operators have carefully sought solutions to sharing frequencies and VHF radio repeaters guaranteeing that in an actual emergency there will always be open channels of communication for the most urgent emergency traffic.
LDS amateurs, or “ham” radio operators (who by-the-way are licensed by the FCC as part of the Amateur Radio Service, and nicknamed “hams”), have given service for decades, alongside other hams and professional first responders in areas like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida where hurricanes are a regular event and pose a real threat.
Training of ERC Net operators is available through the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services), whose motto is “When all else fails, amateur radio works.”
In many areas such as Southern California, ERC Nets have been formed by stakes, and members are strongly encouraged to get licensed as amateur radio operators so that communication will be sustained in the event of a major earthquake or severe wildfire. Our daughter and her husband in Irvine, California recently passed the amateur radio license exam, and even their 11-year old son and 8-year old daughter have passed the Technician class exam and are licensed ham operators.
What an important resource this will be to their family if the phones and internet go down while Dad is at work and the kids are at school. They will be able to communicate with one another, as well as support their church leaders who will need updated reports on the welfare of nearby members following that big event.
Recently a friend's father had a major heart attack while the friend's husband and son were on a fifty-mile hike. She had to wait days to notify her husband of the serious situation. What a benefit a ham operator would have been in that scout troop.
Through the organization of an ERC Net, our stake (like so many others) is working toward a capability to support and serve the needs of individual wards through their bishops, and to assist as communicators if necessary, helping gather and report information from the ward to the stake leadership. This will assist in the assessment of welfare and humanitarian needs affecting both members and communities as a whole.
Church welfare resources at bishop’s storehouses can then be allocated according to the real time reports of priesthood leaders. During such emergencies, the logistics of getting relief supplies to the scene of a disaster can be greatly disrupted, the more information available from the scene, the sooner help can arrive.
Although our stake has been actively working to organize and conduct a weekly on-air ERC Net on the 2-meter amateur band for less than 6-months (and has less than 20 ham operators in the whole stake), other stakes have been organized and operating for years. Some also operate Nets on the HF (shortwave bands), allowing communication over long distances (1000 miles plus) as well as locally. We know of one stake in Washington State that has more than 200 ham radio operators. Assuming they have 10 wards, that could be on average about 20 operators per ward, which would be enough to report the status of the ward’s membership following a tsunami or earthquake within a very short time, to each bishop.
Licensing of ham radio operators can seem like a big hurdle, but in reality, there are very successful pass rates for licensing sessions called a “HamCram.” These sessions allow a person with no experience to spend less than 8 hours on a Saturday with a team of Volunteer Examiners, who will help candidates young and old to prepare to pass the entry-level Technician Class amateur radio exam within the same day. Although it does mean applying yourself to study and learn new material, the pass rate is very high. In a change from years past, there is no Morse code to be learned or tested on any amateur radio license exam these days.
The test consists of 35 questions from a published pool of multiple choice questions, so there really is no obstacle to interested persons becoming licensed, and thus authorized to use the vast selection of frequencies that amateurs are allocated in the radio spectrum (HF, VHF and UHF). It is great fun, and a good way to serve and make friends in the community.
My one caveat is that there are high expectations for ham operators to learn the accepted manner of operating, and to conform to good operating practices and maintain a strictly non-commercial and public service spirit in their operating behavior. But generally speaking, this is no problem for the LDS amateur radio operator, who is already accustomed to working within our communities to promote the values of Scouting.
How wards and stakes implement an Emergency Plan with an Emergency Response Communications Net may vary widely depending on local conditions. Locally we conduct a multi-regional ERC Net on Saturday mornings, and a stake ERC Net on Sunday nights. The bottom line, the Church has a mandate to be shepherds over the Lord’s flock, and if there is more we can do to prepare to provide relief under the stress of a natural or manmade disaster, it is our duty to be prepared, so that not only will amateur radio work when all else fails, but we will, too.
For more information or to ask questions visit Carolyn's blog at http://blog.totallyready.com/ or her brand new yahoo group at:: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TotallyReady/.
I talked with Brother Dyer the stake Preparedness Guy and he told me that he will be putting togehter a class to learn how to use ham radios. I will post the informationas soon as I am notified.
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