wrote in message
ups.com...
From: "Bob Brock" on Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:12:18
-0500

It's been my life experience that MOST citizens will
voluntarily help out others in REAL emergencies, whether
or not they know how to operate a radio. Having been
IN a couple of REAL emergencies locally, I have yet to
experience first-hand any flurry of amateur activity to
"aid organizations who cannot communicate directly via
radio." During one of those REAL emergencies I've found
that the existing organizations were quite adequately
prepared...and drilled and trained on emergencies WITH
their equipment and worked-out emergency plans that
weren't public-relations news releases.

Back in 1999, I spent a week or so coordinating commumications between E-Com
(AKA 911) the National Guard, and the American Red Cross taking people to
shelters during an ice storm and major power outage. Nothing has upgraded
around here since then to allow the different agencies to communicate if
cell phones went out, so I'd be ready to do it again. Not all of us live in
the big cities and based on what I've seen critiqued, they aren't much
better than those of us out in the sticks when it comes to interagency
communications.