"Steve Bonine" wrote in message

wrote:
On Mar 14, 5:20 pm, Steve Bonine wrote:

I don't object if others
choose to participate in parades. I trust that they
won't object if I choose not to do so.

I certainly don't object. You've described other things
that you chose to do. The thing that I object to is the
folks who say that they don't have time to participate in
training, but "I'll be there if you need me in an
emergency."

Sorry, but I'm one of those. I *don't* have time, I have a full time job
and I volunteer for an animal rescue charity at the weekends, plus all the
normal family/household things that most people do. Besides, what training
is necessary to pass radio messages..? Don't we already know how to do
that..?

Or am I missing something..?


73 Ivor G6URP

Ivor Jones wrote:
"Steve Bonine" wrote

. . . The thing that I object to is the
folks who say that they don't have time to participate in
training, but "I'll be there if you need me in an
emergency."

Sorry, but I'm one of those. I *don't* have time, I have a full time job
and I volunteer for an animal rescue charity at the weekends, plus all the
normal family/household things that most people do. Besides, what training
is necessary to pass radio messages..? Don't we already know how to do
that..?

Or am I missing something..?

My experience in actual disasters suggests both good news and bad news
in this regard.

Bad news: Yes, you're probably missing something. Knowing how to pass
radio messages is a valuable skill, but it doesn't translate directly to
the kinds of tactical communications required during a real event.
Having trained with your local group can be a big help, both in terms of
honing specific skills, getting familiar with the local people so you
work better as a team, and forging relationships with the local agencies
that you're going to work with in the actual disaster.

Good news: During the Katrina operation, I worked with a team of hams
who had never met each other until we were thrown together in
Mississippi. Experience and training ran the gamut from decades to
minutes. We were able to meld into an effective operation and provide a
much-needed service. Some in the group had a lot of training and
experience that they shared with the rest of us. Most hams are fast
learners and the basic experience of using the radio is valuable.

So in the best of all worlds, everyone would have had training. In this
world we live in, I understand that it's simply not possible for
everyone, either because of time constraints or because there's no
organized ham radio group in the area.

My comment was actually aimed at a tiny minority of hams who show up on
site and become a part of the problem rather than a part of the
solution. These people do exist, even in the ham radio fraternity.

73, Steve KB9X

Ivor Jones wrote:
"Steve Bonine" wrote in message

wrote:
On Mar 14, 5:20 pm, Steve Bonine wrote:
[snip]
The thing that I object to is the
folks who say that they don't have time to participate in
training, but "I'll be there if you need me in an
emergency."

Sorry, but I'm one of those. I *don't* have time, I have a full time job
and I volunteer for an animal rescue charity at the weekends, plus all the
normal family/household things that most people do. Besides, what training
is necessary to pass radio messages..? Don't we already know how to do
that..?

Or am I missing something..?

Ivor,

We're all too busy these days: I'd guess that the rest of the world said
goodbye to the 40 hour work-week at about the same time as those of us
in the U.S. Both parents working, kids in day care, constant juggling:
it's a familiar story.

But -

Drills, especially large ones, are the _ONLY_ way to prepare for the
mass confusion, conflicting agendas, egomania, short tempers, long
waits, and broken radios that hams must deal with during a deployment.
Those who don't prepare _are_ a part of the problem: however
well-intentioned an operator might be, (s)he will bring a set of
expectations and capabilities to a response which only training can shape.

On my first deployment, I brought a massive backpack, which included
almost nothing I later needed and almost everything I didn't. The drills
that I attended after that did little to hone my radio skills, but a lot
to make me ready to use them, quickly and effectively.

In short, time is the currency of the realm in disaster response: it's
the _only_ item that can't be bought, fabricated, fedex'd or
helicoptered into a disaster. However well-intentioned a ham may be, if
(s)he's not trained and in practice, then it takes time to get him/her
up to speed, and that's time that's better used for other things. Those
of us who must choose to spend our time in other activities - there is,
of course, nothing wrong with that - can best prepare for disasters by
getting ready to help from our own QTH: there are, after all, always two
ends to any radio circuit.

Bill
P.S. There's are a lot of old sayings in the business: here are some
I've found inspirational -

"Always Arrange Agreement in Advance"

"Bring Basics: Bandages, Bedding, Bottles, Batteries, Beans"

"Proper Planning and Practice Provides Peak Performance"

"Water, Wind, Waves, and Weakness Won't Wait".


P.P.S. I'd bet there isn't a single question on any ham exam in the
world that asks how much toilet paper to bring to a deployment; Q.E.D.

--
73,

Bill W1AC

(Remove "73" and change top level domain for direct replies)

"Bill Horne, W1AC" wrote in message
...
Ivor Jones wrote:
"Steve Bonine" wrote in message

wrote:
On Mar 14, 5:20 pm, Steve Bonine wrote:
[snip]
[snipped]

P.P.S. I'd bet there isn't a single question on any ham exam in the
world that asks how much toilet paper to bring to a deployment; Q.E.D.

[snipped]

Most hams won't even think to put it in there go kit.

Another clue, if going on a long deployment (subjective) take twice as many
socks as you think you will need and you will probably have enough.

In article ,
Ivor Jones wrote:

Sorry, but I'm one of those. I *don't* have time, I have a full time job
and I volunteer for an animal rescue charity at the weekends, plus all the
normal family/household things that most people do. Besides, what training
is necessary to pass radio messages..? Don't we already know how to do
that..?

Some do. Some do not. It does not come naturally.

Chatting with someone on the radio, or making HF QSOs, is not
necessarily going to prepare you for passing formal or semi-formal
message traffic *efficiently* on a busy net, when you and everyone
else are under stress in an emergency.

Things like "listen before you transmit", "don't read the message
faster than you can write it", "pause and drop carrier after every N
words", "don't editorialize", "think of what you're going to say
before you press PTT", and so forth don't come automatically,
and it's disturbingly easy to forget them when under pressure. I
believe that's just as true for "quarter century" hams as it is for
the newly licensed.

A message-net (formal or otherwise) with well-practiced operators can
be a joy to observe. Just one or two untrained or out-of-practice ops
can slow things to a crawl.

My own experience, after five years as a ham and after dozens of
training sessions and drills, is simply this: training and regular
practice makes a huge difference.

I remember reading a comment by Vladimir Horowitz, some years ago,
about his piano practice. He said something to the effect of "If I
skip my scales practice for a day, I can tell the difference in how
well I play. If I skip it for two days, my wife can tell. If I skip
it for three days, everybody can tell."

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:58:07 CST, "Ivor Jones"
wrote:

Besides, what training
is necessary to pass radio messages..? Don't we already know how to do
that..?

If "passing radio messages" was all that was required it wouldn't be a
problem.

I am a co-station-manager of an emergency radio unit at a major
medical center EOC served by the county ARES/RACES unit. Over the
five years there, we have had regular training exercises as well as
several actual call-outs. Our position handles three (yes, three)
voice circuits and two data (packet) circuits to two counties' EOCs
and to the regional hospital dispatch center. It involves handling
traffic in three different systems, using message forms particular to
those systems -- remember that we support them and their operations,
and do what they ask us to do for that support. Each operator (we
usually have two per shift) has to know the functioning of each
component of the EOC and how to navigate through them - they don't
have time to teach us when "things happen". We may also be called on
to operate the "regular" radio equipment that the med center uses on a
day-to-day basis, and we have trained and licensed some of the
emergency room support personnel to operate some ham radio equipment
located in the ER which is on a specific inter-hospital system. In
other words, we are an integral part of the EOC's operation.

You cannot drop an untrained "I know how to pass radio messages"
amateur operator into that mix and hope that it will function
properly. What we do with such volunteers is to direct them to a
resource net (the radio equivalent of the hospital's "labor pool"
assignment system) for placement in positions that do not require that
level of training.
--

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon

e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net