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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "ARRL "Hello" Campaign Video Now Available"){kind=small} Previous: ARRL "Hello" Campaign Video Now Available |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
 First responders on the mock disaster scene. |
 Queens County ARES EC Russ Logar, KC2LSB (left), and AEC Charlie Gallo, KG2V, at the American Red Cross shelter in Maspeth. |
 Queens County ARES AEC Charles Alfano, WA2GUG, in the Red Cross communications van. |
 SATERN Amateur Radio Liaison Officer Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, on The Salvation Army's communications van. |
 Mannequins and police academy recruits played the victims of Operation Trifecta. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 7, 2006--Members of the New York City District Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) team and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN) participated in a mass casualty disaster drill Sunday, March 26. Dubbed "Operation Trifecta," the exercise got under way with the mock explosion in Maspeth, Queens, of a chemical bomb aboard a freight train that occurred just as a commuter train was passing. The scenario called for 100 people dead or wounded. Police academy recruits covered in blood acted as victims. The elaborate simulation involved 1500 emergency workers. ARES supported the American Red Cross.
"We were an integral part of the Red Cross response, and the folks in charge were duly impressed with our capabilities and deeply grateful for our participation," said NYC ARES District Emergency Coordinator Mike Lisenco, N2YBB. ARES' role was to provide communication support for the Red Cross at its emergency operations center, its on-site command vehicle--making its inaugural run--and a shelter set up to care for area residents affected by the incident. ARES also maintained liaison with SATERN, Lisenco said, "and we had additional volunteers standing by had there been a request for more operators."
Operation Trifecta referred to the fact that, during the seven-hour drill, responders not only had to deal with the explosion and hazardous materials but potential saboteurs hiding in the railroad freight cars.
SATERN's Role
Roger Rischawy, who directs The Salvation Army's Greater New York Division-Emergency Disaster Services with assistance from Carlos Varon, K2LCV, reports the division assembled two canteen crews, three staff vehicles and a SATERN emergency communications van. SATERN Amateur Radio Liaison Officer Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, managed communication activities for The Salvation Army's response.
As the disaster scenario was getting under way, The Salvation Army's Bronx canteen crew was called to respond to an early morning three-alarm apartment building fire in Manhattan.
Desperately Needed Resource
Lisenco says New York City District ARES has become an integral part of New York City's emergency response plan. In the wake of Amateur Radio's emergency communication role following last summer's Gulf Coast hurricanes, emergency responders once again are looking to Amateur Radio volunteers as "a resource that is desperately needed in a disaster situation," he said. "To that end, the Red Cross here in New York City has redoubled its efforts to maintain a strong working relationship with ARES." He said NYC District ARES also has strengthened its relationship with The Salvation Army.
ARES Planning for Hurricane Drill
"We are now beginning to plan for our participation in an upcoming drill that is planned for NYC this summer," Lisenco noted. "The drill, now scheduled for sometime in July, will involve a hurricane scenario. This will be a very large scale, multi-agency effort, involving all five boroughs. For ARES, it will be an all-hands effort."
As in the September 11, 2001, response, it also will require participation by ARES volunteers from outside New York City, he pointed out.
"We have become an important cog in the response wheel, acting as the communications provider for our clients. That is what we train to do. Nothing more, nothing less. We are ready when all else fails."
In addition to Lisenco, eight other ARES volunteers took part in the mock disaster drill. At the Red Cross EOC were New York County EC John Healy, KA2ABV; AEC Richard Grover, W2RAG; David Ellenberg, WA2KWP, and Jeremy Carlo, N2ZLQ.
Aboard the Red Cross communications vehicle were Kings
County Official Emergency Station Stu Siet, WA2JNF, and Queens County AEC Charles
Alfano, WA2GUG. Staffing the shelter in Maspeth were Queens County EC Russ Logar,
KC2LSB, and AEC Charles Gallo, KG2V.
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