On 10/24/11 3:39 PM, Dave Platt wrote:
In ,
Phil wrote:

Hurricane Katrina illustrated the frailty of
modern communications, but it also illustrated how things have changed
in the role of ham radio in disasters. We no longer are a significant
carrier of health and welfare traffic.

Or a backup for public safety or other "commercial" communications.

I think that depends, to a very significant degree, on how well
organized and trained we are, and how well integrated with the local
emergency-response community.

Agree completely. The "well integrated" part is especially important.
The relationships must be forged before the event.

I have the good fortune to live in a city (and county) which has some
very effective arrangements of that sort.

And I have the bad fortune to live in an area where the situation is
exactly the opposite. Perhaps I should be able to remedy this
situation, and I tried for a while but failed. I do not know whether
that failure is a result of my shortcomings, the local ham population,
or both.

We *have* been called out
by the county on at least one occasion in the past few years,

Our local emergency management people made a valiant effort to work with
the local radio club for several years, even to the point of holding
fundraisers to finance the local repeaters. Their thanks for that was a
failure to install the purchased gear and a lack of response when the
local club was called upon to assist with communications related to a
search operation. They learned; we taught them.

If hams want to be treated as being worthy of some special treatment,
then I believe that this must be earned, through practical
demonstration and through active cooperation and training. It *can*
be done, but it doesn't come for free.

Exactly. It takes good organizers and people who care. We are missing
one or both of those in this geographic area.

It's not the "ham radio" per se that's important (although the
privileges are very useful)... it's the fact that we're trained,
dependable communicators willing to serve.

One of the problems with the locals is that they expected exactly the
special treatment that they had not earned, acting like prima donnas.
They made it excruciatingly clear that the only task they would consider
was pure communications, and that it would be done on their terms.

73, Steve KB9X