ARES Letter for December 19, 2007

The ARES E-Letter
December 19, 2007
================= 

Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor

<http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=K1CE>,

===================================
ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial questions or
comments: <k1ce@arrl.net>;;; 
===================================

+ The View from Flagler County

SKYWARN Recognition Day (December 1) was a blast: I worked WX5NWC at
the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Norman, Oklahoma, and
WX4LWX (op Randy Sly, W4XJ) at the Sterling, Virginia NWS, both on
40-meter phone. WX4LWX is sponsored by the National Capital Area
SKYWARN Support Group, and WX5NWC by the National Weather Center ARC
in Norman. I listened to a lot of other RD activity, which was huge.
Congrats to the NWS and ARRL for co-sponsoring a fine event. SKYWARN
Recognition Day was developed in 1999 to celebrate the contributions
that volunteer SKYWARN radio operators make to the weather service.
During the day SKYWARN operators visit NWS offices and contact other
radio operators across the world.
<http://www.crh.noaa.gov/hamradio/index.php>
____

Looking for last-minute gifts, like me? I bought a Peet Brothers
Ultimeter 100 weather instrument set "for my wife." It features an
anemometer and vane, thermometer and as a holiday bonus, a free rain
gauge ($90 value), and is APRS-ready. Be able to put "measured" in
your wx reports to your local SKYWARN net or WXSpots program.
<http://www.peetbros.com/> These guys are frequent exhibitors at
hamfests, like the Orlando Hamcation, and advertise in QST.

Stalwart ARES E-Letter Contributor Les Rayburn, N1LF, found QLOCKs,
another great gift idea. See his review in this issue.

And finally, consider the ARRL's new Operating Manual, with a
completely re-worked chapter on Emergency Communications by yours
truly. If you want a signed copy, send the book to my home address
listed at QRZ.com, and I'll sign it with a personal note and return
it to you. Please include return postage.

--------
In This Issue:

+ The View from Flagler County
+ ARES Blotter
+ New Scout/Hams on SKYWARN Recognition Day in Alabama
+ LETTERS: More Training Opportunities
+ Last Minute Gift Idea: QLOCK
+ LETTERS: On CEM's Being Exempt from ARES/FEMA Training Requirements
+ Regional Coordination Function: The Major Disaster Emergency
Coordinator Proposal
+ Lessons Learned in Shelter Drill
+ LETTERS: A Space in California Call Sign Plates
+ LETTERS: Software for Tracking EmComm Resources Wanted
+ LETTERS: Follow-Up REACT Name
+ K1CE For A Final

--------

+ ARES Blotter

New Mexico Fires, November 19 -- A 7500 acre wildfire erupted on Ojo
Peak, part of the Manzano Mountains in the Cibola National Forest,
southeast of Albuquerque. Five New Mexico county ARES groups were
activated in support of the Torrance County Emergency Management
Agency. Hams provided support to Red Cross evacuation shelters,
Torrance County Dispatch and the County's fire units in the rugged
terrain. Torrance County Emergency Manager John Cordova, KE5RNB,
activated ARES, along with EC Darryl Clutter, NX5W. Socorro County
ARES provided their communications trailer and Sandoval County ARES
brought their mobile command unit. The Tapia Mesa, Sandoval County
and Upper Rio FM Society 2 meter repeaters were used for this event. 
 
In addition to providing emergency communications to Torrance County,
ARES personnel assisted a portable kitchen that was sent by a church
group to the American Red Cross evacuation center in Mountainair, 10
miles from the fire. 
_____
 
Pacific Northwest Storms -- ARES activated in Oregon and Washington
for severe early winter storms, resulting in Oregon Governor Ted
Kulongoski stating "I'm going to tell you who the heroes were from
the very beginning of this -- the ham radio operators. These people
just came in and actually provided a tremendous communication link to
us." The Oregon Office of Emergency Management said radio operators
were tireless in their efforts to keep systems connected. When even
state police had difficulty reaching some of their own troops, ham
radio worked, setting up networks so emergency officials could
communicate and relay lists of supplies needed in stricken areas. 
 
In Oregon, 60 ARES volunteers worked the storm, activating the
District One Emergency Radio Network, which serves the northwest
corner of the state. They worked with Red Cross as well as with major
hospitals, Heartnet radio network and district-wide emergency
managers, including the Oregon Office of Emergency Management in
Salem. DEC David Kidd, KA7OZO, said, "The Red Cross set up two
shelters in Tillamook County and four in Columbia County. The ham
station was operational at the Vernonia Fire Department and had
contact with Clatsop and Columbia Counties, relaying traffic as
needed and supporting the Red Cross re-supply operation." 
 
Sally Jones, Administrator for the Columbia 911 Communications
District, reported emergency phone calls were taken by Columbia 911
staff who relayed the information via Columbia and Clatsop County
ARES to police, fire, and emergency medical dispatchers in Clatsop
County. Clatsop County's 911 service had gone down in the storm.
 
Western Washington Section Manager Jim Pace, K7CEX, said that in
Pacific County ARES members staffed the County Emergency Operations
Center at South Bend "almost 24/7. Ham radio was the only reliable
means of communications in the county since the landline and cell
phones had been out of service." 
 
The Thurston County Department of Emergency Management activated ARES
to support flood evacuation operations in the southwest portion of
the county. The team staffed the County Emergency Operations Center's
radio room in Olympia and manned sites at the Rochester Fire Station,
various evacuation centers as well as landing zones for the
helicopter rescue teams. "They used Amateur Radio to coordinate
resources and limited tactical traffic between sites," Pace said.
"Hams were also primary operators on several county radio systems."
____ 

Heartland ice storms -- Officials in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma
declared states of emergency. Oklahoma DEC Mark Conklin, N7XYO,
reported ARES was activated to support local area hospitals: ARES ops
provided communications for one hospital, and received requests for
assistance from the Oklahoma State University Medical Center and
Tulsa Spine Hospital. ARES also worked with the local Medical
Emergency Response Center and the Tulsa Area Emergency Management
Agency. More than 30 shelters were opened across the area. 
 
+ New Scout/Hams on SKYWARN Recognition Day in Alabama

December 1 -- Scouts and parents from Boy Scout Troops 204 and 351 in
Madison, Alabama, took exams for their Technician class licenses,
culminating classes taught by scout leaders Monte Bateman, WB5RZX and
Steve Conklin, AI4QR. Immediately following the testing session, most
of the scouts visited the National Weather Service office in
Huntsville, Alabama. They were given a tour of the facility by Robert
Boyd, KC5ZJO, who demonstrated the WX4HUN station where SKYWARN
reports from radio amateurs are received. He explained the need to
have human observers to provide "ground truths" to back up radar and
instrumentation reports.

Also at the NWS office were Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, Alabama SM and
Southeastern Division Director-elect, and Doug Hilton, WD0UG, Alabama
District 6 EC. They gave the scouts a demonstration of various radio
equipment and explained the role that Amateur Radio operators fill in
emergencies and disasters. -- Steve Conklin, AI4QR, <ai4qr@arrl.net>;

+ LETTERS: More Training Opportunities

Re the comments of David Perryman, KG4YZI, on training programs in
the last issue, I also would like to point out other courses
available beyond the American Red Cross CPR/AED/First Aid. Perryman
mentions The American Heart Association and National Safety Council -
I add the American Safety and Health Institute. Its classes are based
on the same standards and are updated regularly. ARES members should
find a reliable, qualified instructor of one of these recognized
organizations in their area. Some of these organizations offer other
training such as OSHA safety topics, wilderness first aid, first
responder, etc. While these topics are not primary responsibilities
of ARES operators, knowledge of them will support our overall
understanding of disaster response. -- Mike Stern, KB7THL, ARECC III,
NREMT-P, Emergency Manager, RACES RO, ARES, Grand County, Colorado

+ Last Minute Gift Idea: QLOCK

Amateurs involved in emergency communication often work in county,
state or even federal EOC's. Usually along with a wall full of
television monitors, you'll find multiple clocks displaying various
time zones. Often these clocks are synchronized to Internet time
servers. The clocks are very useful tools and impressive to look at.
Unfortunately for hams wishing to configure their own stations into
"ham EOC's", these displays are also expensive. 
 
Instead, I'd like to recommend an affordable software solution,
called "Qlock." (Please note that I'm not connected to the company in
any way, just a satisfied customer). 
 
Qlock allows the user to display small clocks on their computer
monitor for one or more cities in either the US or the world. The
clocks can be customized, including shape, color, level of
transparency, etc. They each display the time, day, and date. They
can be set to automatically adjust for daylight savings time, and
have other handy features. They have alarms that can be set to remind
you of important events in each time zone, such as alerting you when
that net control station on the west coast is due for an operator
relief. You can also attach "sticky notes" to each time zone, or add
custom names for each clock. Instead of naming the clocks after
cities, you can, for example, name them using the call signs of the
net controls, locations of the stations, tactical names, etc. 
 
In their smallest size, they're still easily readable yet occupy very
little of the precious real estate on my monitors. And yes, they look
impressive. They have various versions ranging from the basic, yet
still useful freeware, to the "pro" version at only $15, and the
pricey but full featured "Gold" at $89. I recommend the pro version.
Right now, I have five clocks displayed on the shack computer: "UTC,"
NYC, Birmingham, and Los Angeles. Last night while standing by to
assist with traffic from the ice storms in Oklahoma, I quickly
changed one of the clocks to display the local time in the affected
area. Very useful tool. Download a trial at: <http://www.qlock.com/>
-- Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County, Alabama EC

+ LETTERS: On CEM's Being Exempt from ARES/FEMA Training Requirements

What is a requirement without controversy?

I must disagree with the comments of Certified Emergency Manager Tom
May, W6YXX, in the last issue to relieve Certified Emergency Managers
(CEM) from further FEMA training for ARES compliance. The CEM
designation is truly respectable in the emergency planning and
management profession, and I am working towards the goal in my own
career. (I do not know Tom, therefore this response is about the
concept, not about Tom.)
 
With 18 years in Fire and EMS, and ten years of active duty military
service, I have also taken many classes repetitively. These classes
are often only different in name or slight acronym changes. I do
agree that this redundancy can be time consuming and often annoying.
However, as the world of emergency response and management evolves,
we all need to keep in tune with changes. As professionals, we should
be continuously looking to improve, including through Continuing
Education. Often the Continuing Education is just a slightly new or
different way; often it is the way we did it many years ago with a
new name. If we are adverse to learning more or reviewing what we
think we know, how are we helping ourselves, let alone the served
agencies and citizens of our communities?
 
I am an Instructor of NIMS and ICS through FEMA and the State of
Colorado. Yet, I have attended ICS classes with the State EOC
Communications Unit to ensure I am on the same page as my ARES/RACES
colleagues when it comes to a response with them. No matter how
"standardized" or "comparable" another course is, the fact that every
Instructor teaches it slightly differently exists. This leads to
personnel understanding it slightly differently and every agency
doing it slightly differently. As an example, we just conducted a
Public Health Point of Dispensing exercise. (Note this definition of
POD versus the FEMA definition of Point of Distribution). Throughout
the exercise, I was at odds with the Public Health Evaluator due to
his use of Public Health terminology instead of NIMS terminology. I
know he has taken the courses, but he believes that Public Health is
different and an exception to the NIMS concept of "a consistent
nationwide approach for Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and
local governments." In order to truly overcome this dilemma, and to
improve ourselves, our agencies and teams, we must require, and
submit to, continuous training, exercising and reviews. -- Mike
Stern, KB7THL, ARECC-III, Emergency Manager, Grand County, Colorado

CEM's exempt? I don't think so. Many emergency managers, although
hams, are unaware of the breadth of ARES services. Many have been
supervisors for a long time, meaning that they have been away from
field work. They might not understand the basics of participating as
an emergency communicator as taught in ARRL EmComm I. It's like
asking a General Officer in the military if he's still proficient in
marksmanship and patrol skills. Chances are that the officer learned
these things in basic many years prior, but we all forget. I have
been a senior emergency manager for 20 years, and a ham for 25 years.
I'm trying to make some time to take EmComm I, as I know that I don't
know everything. No passes. Please. For the common good. -- Tom
Ciciora, KA9QPN, Illinois SM <ka9qpn@arrl.net>; 

+ Regional Coordination Function: The Major Disaster Emergency
Coordinator Proposal

[As part of a continuing series on recommendations by the former ARRL
National Emergency Response Planning Committee to the League's Board
of Directors last January, this month we'll look at the committee's
proposal in response to the post-Katrina problem of regional ARES
coordination transcending sectional boundaries - ed.]

The Major Disaster Emergency Coordinator (MDEC) is proposed to be an
appointed position that will be filled from applicants vetted by
their Section Manager/Section Emergency Coordinator. The MDEC will be
activated by ARRL Headquarters on an as-needed basis to be the head
of the Disaster Field Team (DFT). The DFT will be composed of
volunteers from the ARRL national ARES database and will be activated
to fill the emergency communications needs that are beyond the
capability of the affected Section or Sections. As soon as the DFT is
no longer needed, it will be disbanded. The MDEC and the DFT will
supplement and aid the Section. They are not intended to replace or
assume the authority of the Section staff.

The MDEC will be activated by and is responsible to the person
performing the function of ARRL Disaster Response Emergency Manager
(DREM) [presumably, at HQ] in response to disasters or large scale
exercises that overwhelm Section resources and require outside
resources from the national database.

The MDEC will implement and maintain emergency communications
services and systems to support served agency requests, with
coordination with the affected Section Manager(s) and Section
Emergency Coordinator(s).

The MDEC recruits, appoints, and supervises the DFT leadership to
administer the Field Organization's principal areas of responsibility
in the disaster zone: emergency communications, message traffic
relay, technical activity/problem solving, volunteer monitoring,
government relations, public relations in the general community,
information services for amateurs, and cooperation with served
agencies.

The MDEC maintains a close liaison with the Logistics Section of the
Unified Command, and also with the ARRL DREM; makes periodic reports
to the DREM regarding the status of disaster activities; receives
from the DREM information and guidance pertaining to matters of
mutual concern and interest. The MDEC is also responsible for a daily
status report, based on a daily log and input from served agencies
and a daily net conducted with the base and all field stations.

As for qualifications, the MDEC must be certified in First Aid and
CPR, and have completed all three levels of the ARRL Emergency
Communications courses, and the FEMA courses IS-100, IS-200, and
IS-700. Other courses are required, as appropriate.

[This recommendation, as well as others contained in the NERPC
report, are currently being considered by the ARRL HQ staff and the
Plans and Programs Committee of the ARRL Board of Directors. The
Board meets next month.]

+ LETTERS: Lessons Learned in Shelter Drill

On November 3, 2007, I helped provide communications support for our
local Arlington County, Virginia, Red Cross Chapter during their
Shelter Drill. I kept track of my mistakes so that others might learn
from them. The drill was successful and we did a good job, but here,
for the benefit of others, are the lessons that I learned:

1) If I did not use the "Information Needed Prior to Assignment"
checklist, I would fail to write down the check-in location and
travel instructions, and later find myself hunting for the shelter
and the correct entrance. 2) I learned that by not using the
"Incoming Personnel Briefing" checklist, I would forget to furnish my
replacement with a current situation assessment, and identification
of co-workers. 3) The local Red Cross Chapter volunteers need help in
understanding their role in internal shelter communications and the
operation of their own UHF hand held radios. 5) If I failed to read
the "Forget Me Not" tag on the radio bag, I would forget to bring
along a battery and a battery charger. 6) I learned that the radio
operators were not on the Red Cross Chapter alert call down list;
they were not part of the notification plan; there was no plan to
transport the radio equipment (Go Kart) to the shelter along with the
cots, blankets, etc. 7) Since I did not review the Red Cross Shelter
"Communications Checklist" during the drill I failed to set up an
inventory or tracking system to maintain oversight over the equipment
that we might issue. -- Jim Hastings, K9AUC, Alexandria, Virginia
 
+ LETTERS: A Space in California Call Sign Plates

The California DMV has a new policy of putting spaces in call signs
on ham license plates. A space in a call sign undermines its
integrity. When we have to cross a fire/police line, will the
gatekeeper police officer or firefighter recognize our call sign with
a space on our plates? The new policy is going to create confusion
and may delay us in getting across police and fire lines to help our
served agencies.

I've heard that DMV will issue a response letter to an unnamed ham
that will seek to justify adding the space. ARRL inquiries resulted
in DMV saying that federal law requires the space. ARRL General
Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, has 
responded that there is no such law. No other state puts in spaces.
-- Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., WW6CC, Los Angeles, California

+ LETTERS: Software for Tracking EmComm Resources Wanted

I'm involved in the Ventura County (California) RACES/ARES groups.
One issue we have is tracking members from the time they are notified
of an incident, when they leave home, arrive at an assignment, move
around at an assignment, leave for home and arrive at home. Also
having contact phone numbers, vehicle descriptions, etc are handy.
I've been trying to locate software that does this. The closest I've
found is the SKYWARN program, available for download at
<http://www.skywarn.org/>. This is an old, probably DOS, program that
does not work correctly on newer computers. Do any readers know of
any similar programs that are available? -- Rusty Hemenway, K1GGS,
Simi Valley, California <rhemen@roadrunner.com>;

+ LETTERS: Follow-Up REACT Name

In re the claims of Chuck Thompson, N5IAG, in the last issue
concerning the REACT name: Actually, the name, going back to the
1960's when Hallicrafters founded, and General Motors had direct
involvement/sponsorship, of REACT, was originally the "Radio
Emergency Associated Citizens Team." (Somewhere in a box of
memorabilia is the original brochure with the Hallicrafters logo on
it). I joined the REACT program while in high school and was licensed
as KBV-8850 on CB in about 1968, and got involved with Greater
Pittsburgh REACT. Interestingly, at that time, there were many hams
also licensed as CB'ers--the stigma didn't seem to exist as much when
CB required a license and was at least somewhat regulated.

REACT International occurred much later--kind of a shame they seem to
have forgotten their roots. -- Jim Reider, K0JWR, Public Information
Coordinator, Nebraska Section; Phelps, Gosper and Frontier Counties
Emergency Coordinator <k0jwr@charter.net>;

The comments by Chuck Thompson, KAD4253, N5IAG, in the last issue
took me by surprise. I started to form a REACT-chartered team in
2005, but didn't have enough interest to do so, in our small area. We
had the minimum three, but that was all. My point is that the
correspondence from REACT shows the source for the REACT acronym at
the bottom of the page as the name that was attempted to be "stomped
out" by Mr. Thompson: "Radio Emergency Associated Communications
Teams" founded 1962. This name appears frequently in the REACT
By-Laws. This may explain why he wasn't able to make the name "Radio
Emergency Associated Communications Teams" go away. -- John H. Moore,
KJI1544, K7NIA, Sequim, Washington

+ K1CE For a Final

As mentioned above, the ARRL Board of Directors meets in January. The
Board is the policymaking body of the ARRL, and receives input on
various issues from the membership (that's YOU). Emergency
communications is a major interest of the ARRL, its Board and staff.
The organization received a landmark report of its National Emergency
Response Planning Committee earlier this year. Make a New Year's
Resolution to inform your Division Director of your questions, issues
and answers on emcomm matters before the Board meeting. That way, you
will know that your elected policymaker will have the benefit of your
input when he sits down at the Board table to discuss and decide
critical ARRL emergency communications programs and policies. (Here
in the Southeastern Division, we are particularly fortunate to have
new Director-elect Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, who was a member of the
NERPC).

Happy Holidays from sunny Florida! I'll give you a report next month
on how my wife's "present" works out! 73, Rick K1CE