 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Chief Executive Officer
May 1, 2006
For the past eight months a debate has been raging about what went wrong during and after Hurricane Katrina. With ample warning that the storm was coming and with all the resources the United States has at its command, how is it possible that the response was so inadequate? How can we prevent such a tragedy from happening again?
Communications are often cited among the critical failures. The more heavily a society relies on technology, the greater the disruption when that technology suddenly is not available. So it was with Katrina. Cell phones didn't work -- and a month later, still didn't work in many areas. Most wired telephones didn't work, and if yours did you still couldn't reach a 911 call center. In New Orleans and the surrounding areas, 90% of the broadcast radio stations went off the air just when they were needed most, by people with battery-operated radio receivers and no access to television. Police, fire, and other emergency radio systems went down, and when substitute equipment arrived the different agencies using it couldn't talk to one another.
But in the midst of this massive validation of Murphy's Law, a few things went right. One of them was Amateur Radio.
In the words of the White House report, "The Federal Response to Katrina: Lessons Learned":
Amateur Radio Operators from both [sic] the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the American Radio Relay League, monitored distress calls and rerouted emergency requests for assistance throughout the U.S. until messages were received by emergency response personnel. A distress call made from a cell phone on a rooftop in New Orleans to Baton Rouge was relayed, via ham radio, from Louisiana to Oregon, then Utah, and finally back to emergency personnel in Louisiana, who rescued the 15 stranded victims. Ham radio operators voluntarily manned the amateur radio stations at sites such as the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Watch Net, Waterway Net, Skywarn and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network.
In the words of "A Failure of Initiative" -- the final report of the Select Bipartisan Committee of the US House of Representatives to investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina:
[T]he Shared Resources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES)...provides a single, interagency, voluntary message handling system using over 250 High Frequency (HF) radio frequencies when other communications are unavailable. A network of government, military, and Military Affiliate Radio Service (MARS) radio stations (an organized network of Amateur Radio stations affiliated with the different branches of the armed services to provide volunteer communications), and more than 90 federal, state, and private industry organizations participate in the SHARES program. Within days following Katrina's landfall...431 SHARES stations across the nation...assisted first responders conducting search and rescue missions by relaying information to appropriate government agencies; relayed logistical and operational information between FEMA's EOCs in Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana; relayed health and welfare messages between volunteer agencies in Georgia and the national headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington, DC; [and] established radio contact with deployed U.S. Navy ships detailed to New Orleans.... Nearly 1,000 Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) volunteers across the nation... served in the Katrina stricken area providing communications for government agencies, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Emergency communications were conducted not only by voice, but also by high-speed data transmissions using state-of-the art digital communications software known as WinLink. In Mississippi, FEMA dispatched Amateur Radio operators to hospitals, evacuation centers, and county EOCs to send emergency messaging 24 hours per day. According to Bay St. Louis Mayor Edward A. "Eddie" Favre, amateur radio operators were especially helpful in maintaining situational awareness and relaying Red Cross messages to and from the Hancock County EOC. At airports in Texas and Louisiana, radio amateurs tracked evacuees and notified families of their whereabouts. The Red Cross deployed amateur radio volunteers at its 250 shelter and feeding stations, principally in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The Salvation Army operates its own Amateur Radio communications system using Amateur radio volunteers, known as SATERN. During the Hurricane Katrina response and recovery effort, SATERN joined forces with the SHARES program and received over 48,000 requests for emergency communications assistance utilizing federal frequencies made available via the SHARES program.
These and countless other examples, chronicled in previous issues of QST and elsewhere, are a record to be proud of. But another hurricane season is coming. This is no time to rest on our laurels. We know we can do even better next time.
Working with the volunteer leaders in the Gulf area, ARRL officers and staff have conducted a comprehensive review of our role in Katrina -- what went wrong as well as what went right. A number of improvements are already in place, with others coming.
To carry the work even further, an ad-hoc ARRL National Emergency Response Planning Committee has been established in order to create a comprehensive recommendation for ARRL responses to large-scale regional, national and international disasters. The committee has been appointed by President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, and is hard at work under the able leadership of First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN. The committee's mandate is not limited to hurricanes, so its membership includes individuals with direct field experience in all aspects of emergency communications at various levels during disasters including earthquakes, wildfires, floods and terrorist activity.
You don't have to wait for the committee's report. There are things you can and should do, right now. We brag that radio amateurs can communicate anytime anywhere -- but if you had to, could you? Field Day is just a few weeks away; don't wait until the night before to make sure that your battery-operated equipment is working and your batteries are charged. Consider what other capabilities you should add to your station complement.
If you haven't done so already, take the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Courses offered by the ARRL. Sign up with your local ARES group -- ARECC certification is not a prerequisite, but you'll be a more valuable volunteer if you do.
Amateur Radio is fun, but it can also save lives. We will be called upon again -- it's simply a question of when and where. Let us -- every one of us -- be ready to answer the call.
