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Michael Coslo wrote: The major downside of all this is that as Emergency ops move toward this mode, the question arises of why they would be using amateur radio to perform the function at all - they might as well have their own system on their own frequencies, that they alone use. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - One of the REAL Reasons that Amateur Radio can play a part in Emergency Comms, is really very simple, and usually not thought of, in many Govt. EMS/Enforcment Groups. What happenes when the Repeaters, and or Remote Bases, are lost due to Power Loss, FIRE, or EarthQuake, at the High Point Remote Locations that the EMS/Enforcment System uses, or secondly, what happens when the Telco Links from the EMS/Enforcment Comms Center fail, due to these same situations and the CommCenter can work the Repeaters and Remote Bases via RF Links but can't communicate with the next higher Govt entity? Cases on Point here. World Trade Center Collapse. All local South Mannhatten VHF and UHF Remote Base and Repeaters for New York, as well as most of the other Govt. Frequencies were installed on Top of the WTC. When it collapsed, they lost 95% of their Repeated, and Remote Base Comms, and couldn't talk to each other except on one or two simplex Emergency Backup Freqs, that weren't common to ALL the EMS People from ALL the Mutual Aid Responders. LA Fire a couple of years ago. Again, 90% of the local Camms were taken out when one of the MAIN Remote Base and Repeater Location up on the Rim of the World Highway was caught in a Flashover during a major fire. None of the equipment, that was inside the building was damaged, but ALL the Coax, and most of the Antennas were destroyed by the heat of the fire, causing these systems to be OFFLine from that point, untill MONTHS later when the tower was rebuilt. Our EMS People depend on their Comms to work, and work reliably, in oreder to be effective in thier jobs. when these systems fail, they can still work their individual jobs, but their effectivness as a EMS System is greatly reduced. A good Emergency Plan, with TRAINED Volenteers, and Backup Equipment, and Frequencies, can help keep these EMS folks effective. How many EMS Systems have a Backup, Mobile, EMS RemoteBase and Repeater Comm Infostructure, ready to deploy, should the fixed Infostructure Fail? Is there an Backup EMS/Enforcment Comms Policy, inplace, that sets the rules for use of the minimal Simplex Frequencies that will be common to ALL Mutual Aid Responders, for a given Massive Comms Failure, and who is in charge of that traffic, and getting the traffic to the right places. The Feds have been trying to deal with these senerios since 9/11, and are just NOW, starting to get a handle on SOME of the problems, and solutions, that will be involved. We see the RED Cross, starting to require their volenteers to be Credentialed. I understand that SOME of the Enforcment folks are issuing Limited Credentials to Trained Ham Club folks that they have used before, and incorporate into their Backup Emeregency Comms Policies and Proceedures. All this is just for local EMS/Enforcment Comms, but who can provide the Long Distance Comms, to the higher Govt. Entities, when the longlines are out. This was a MAJOR problem in the Post Katrina New Orleans Senerio. The National Guard usually HAS the equuipment, and MAY have the personnel, but are they ready on a moments notice, or does it take Days to ManUp and Deploy. Wouldn't it be nice if the Hams via their own Club System, could have a BackUp Emergency Comms Plan and Policy to provide such Systems from Local to County, and County to State, should their be an urgent need, should disaster, of these magnitudes, happen. Bruce in alaska just one of many, who actually Think about such stuff...... -- add path before @ |
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