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 Previous: Alinco Shifts North American Distribution, Service to Ohio Firm |  Next: The DXCC Challenge |
By Russ Read, N7HOV
May 8, 2001
When a US Coast Guard emergency communications building is evacuated because of an earthquake, where do you go to send emergency traffic? Why, 2 meters, of course.
In the United States Coast Guard our motto is Semper Paratus (Always Ready)--a motto similar to that of the Boy Scouts of America (Be Prepared). In the case of Amateur Radio Emergency Services, the motto Semper Paratus describes our mission.
I have been the Coast Guard's representative to King County, Washington, ARES for two years and have been active in the Pacific Northwest Area Committee's Communications Workgroup. I have managed to promote an excellent working relationship between the local ARES members and the USCG in preparation for a time such as this.
On February 28, 2001, at 10:55 AM, I had the opportunity to combine my love of Amateur Radio with my job as the Communications Officer for Marine Safety, Office Puget Sound. I was Semper Paratus.
After the world around me stopped moving, and all the furniture stopped flying around the room, I managed to extricate myself from my fifth-floor office and head immediately for my car, and more importantly my trusty 2-meter rig. We had just experienced a magnitude 6.8 earthquake!
 Vessel Traffic Service Office after the magnitude 6.8 earthquake. [N7HOV photo] |
Immediately following the earthquake, everyone--including USCG Vessel Traffic Service--had to evacuate the building until an inspector could determine that it was safe to reenter the building. The Vessel Traffic Service is a cooperative arrangement between the United States and Canadian Coast Guards to manage vessel traffic in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. In short, this is the Coast Guard's equivalent to air traffic control, making sure no ships run into each other or aground. Its mission is to prevent another Exxon Valdez from occurring, plot the course of some 2500 vessels in transit and assure the safety of passengers of the Washington State Ferry System.
As soon as we evacuated our building, the US part of the VTS was off line, and there was no way to tell our Canadian counterparts that we were out of operation. Cellular telephones and conventional telephone circuits all were overloaded within minutes. The immediate need was to perform a quick damage assessment of the port and to tell the Canadians that the US VTS would be down indefinitely.
Within minutes of the quake, Rick Hodges, KB7TBF, had the King County ARES damage assessment net up and running. I joined the net 10 minutes after the 'quake. It quickly became apparent that the only way we could get a message to the Canadians was to pass official messages using Amateur Radio.
Fifteen minutes after the quake, using the Mike and Key Club's K7LED repeater, we sent our first Coast Guard message to the Canadian Coast Guard notifying them the VTS was down. Bob Knight, W7MZO, in Kirkland, Washington, was kind enough to relay the message to the Washington State Department of Emergency Management. Rick Hodges, KB7TBF, relayed the first message to the Canadian Coast Guard in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hodges sent a second message to all vessels preparing to tie up to piers in Seattle and Tacoma, saying that they should go to anchor until damage to the piers could be assessed.
Although the Coast Guard has systems in place to provide communications in emergencies, all of those systems were in the building we had evacuated! The Vessel Traffic Service was eventually relocated to the US Coast Guard Cutter Midget. Communication was restored on a limited capacity more than an hour after the earthquake. It was only then that the earlier messages were passed through "official" Coast Guard systems.
As both an Amateur Radio operator and as a Coast Guard Officer, I was gratified to know that information could be passed so efficiently via Amateur Radio. The Amateur Radio traffic system achieved in 15 minutes what it took the Coast Guard more than an hour to accomplish. When my Commanding Officer asked, "How did you do that?" it was with great pride that I was able to say I was "Semper Paratus." And I had used the resources of Amateur Radio in a real-life emergency event.
The USCG Marine Safety Office Puget Sound gives special thanks to Rick Hodges, KB7TBF, for running the damage assessment net for King County and for staying on the air long into the evening. Thanks also to Bob Knight, W7MZO, for passing the messages on to the Washington State EOC and to Thomas Warren, KD7CSO, for taking American Red Cross health-and-welfare messages for families of our "Coasties."
It also was comforting for friends and family to know that there were no injuries or deaths of Coast Guard personnel. As we say in the Coast Guard, Bravo Zulu for a job well done!
Editor's note: Russ Read, N7HOV, is a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard, stationed at the office of The Captain of the Port, Washington Marine Safety Office, Puget Sound, Washington.
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