Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Thought for the day...
Making disaster plans doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. As tennis great Arthur Ashe once said, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." He was probably talking about tennis, but it relates to disaster planning too, yes?
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Is the use of Ham Radio still viable?
From Emergency Management Online Magazine
Amateur radio plays important role in Boston Bombing
By Gerald Baron
I reconnected with Mark Challender, a former employee back in my business magazine publishing days, and discovered his passion for amateur radio, particularly in supporting emergency management. I confessed to him I didn't see that much of a role for it given all the other options. He soundly corrected me and I asked him to inform the rest of you as he did me. Thanks Mark! Here is his guest post:
Is Use of Amateur Radio in an Emergency Still Valid?
The answer is YES, amateur radio can make your communications better during a crisis when “normal” modes of communication have failed.
There are many articles showing successful use of “amateurs” in crisis situations – just search “ham radio use in emergencies.” One recent example is the role of amateur radio during the Boston Marathon……..after the bombs went off and cell phone and other traditional modes of communication failed due to saturation of the network, amateur radio worked and worked well.
Amateur Radio Operators were already on site providing communications for the Marathon (something they have done for years.) When the bombs went off they were asked to perform other tasks and, from all reports they performed well.
Amateur radio can transmit email using their radios even if local internet, cell phones, and social media is completely down, and they can get that email to the Internet (perhaps a nearby city or even across the country) by using other radio operators to relay the data. They can also keep certain details of your scene secure using this method (maybe you do not want the number of victims transmitted over voice communications, for example.)
While amateur radio frequencies can be scanned and their voice communications heard on the scanners their digital communications described above cannot easily be intercepted.
Our amateur radio organization (an ARES – Amateur Radio Emergency Service – group) has used digital modes to send names and conditions of “victims” during drills. We are able to send that information from the field to a central location and we can set up relays “on the fly” to get the message to the intended recipient.
Amateur radio operators can bring their own antennas, deploy those antennas and can communicate to stations hundreds, if not thousands of miles away and help you get more assistance. Radio Operators can even build an antenna, with wire and other common, easy to find materials so they can get their signal out.
Amateur radio can operate from any 12 volt battery (Got a spare vehicle that runs? They can use that vehicle to charge the battery and can connect their equipment to that vehicle’s battery and run as long as there is fuel available to run the vehicle and keep the battery charged) Amateur radio operators are innovative and flexible and they can communicate for hours, if not days, getting the signal out for you and your team.
Amateur radio operators are self-contained and can deploy their own vehicles or their group’s communication vehicles when requested by a local DEM or law enforcement or government agency. Amateur radio operators in the field can be supported by radio operators at their homes, in an EOC, or even miles away from your “crisis” location. Amateur radio operators are flexible, innovative and solve communications problems through their knowledge of their equipment and their experience.
Amateur radio operators affiliated with ARES or other groups have undergone a clearance process with their local law enforcement and emergency management agency, have ICS training from FEMA, have first responder training, understand the incident command structure and are your communicators when on site during your emergency. They log their communications, create clear and concise messages, transmit those messages and make those messages available to your organizational structure.
Amateur radio operators understand they are not your PIO. They do not talk to the media or the general public. They understand the importance of maintaining radio silence and communicating only when necessary and they know they work for you not the other way around.
Amateur radio operators are amateurs only by definition, and because the FCC licenses them on the amateur radio frequencies. But, amateur radio operators can operate on your frequencies when authorized and, in fact, many of them have purchased and programmed commercial radios with your frequencies on them just in case they are needed by you. They are your communications link when everything else has failed.
Amateur radio operators plan for failure, drill for success and are ready to be called out when needed.
So, is there still a valid need for amateur radio in your crisis? Yes, if your power is out, your radios don’t work, you are disconnected from the internet, your cell phones don’t work and/or your SMS is failing and you need a team of “professionals” who can help you communicate to your teams…..
See an FCC article here on the use of amateur radio in emergency management.
Connect with your local amateur radio operators, look for ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) and go to one of their meetings, ask to see their capabilities, look at their equipment bays and their radio rooms and present them with a scenario. They will rise to the challenge and surprise you.
By
Mark Challender
NG2G, Whatcom County, WA ARES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cowlitz County has some of the best Ham Radio/ARES/RACES operators that you will ever find! We love our Hams!
Amateur radio plays important role in Boston Bombing
By Gerald Baron
I reconnected with Mark Challender, a former employee back in my business magazine publishing days, and discovered his passion for amateur radio, particularly in supporting emergency management. I confessed to him I didn't see that much of a role for it given all the other options. He soundly corrected me and I asked him to inform the rest of you as he did me. Thanks Mark! Here is his guest post:
Is Use of Amateur Radio in an Emergency Still Valid?
The answer is YES, amateur radio can make your communications better during a crisis when “normal” modes of communication have failed.
There are many articles showing successful use of “amateurs” in crisis situations – just search “ham radio use in emergencies.” One recent example is the role of amateur radio during the Boston Marathon……..after the bombs went off and cell phone and other traditional modes of communication failed due to saturation of the network, amateur radio worked and worked well.
Amateur Radio Operators were already on site providing communications for the Marathon (something they have done for years.) When the bombs went off they were asked to perform other tasks and, from all reports they performed well.
Amateur radio can transmit email using their radios even if local internet, cell phones, and social media is completely down, and they can get that email to the Internet (perhaps a nearby city or even across the country) by using other radio operators to relay the data. They can also keep certain details of your scene secure using this method (maybe you do not want the number of victims transmitted over voice communications, for example.)
While amateur radio frequencies can be scanned and their voice communications heard on the scanners their digital communications described above cannot easily be intercepted.
Our amateur radio organization (an ARES – Amateur Radio Emergency Service – group) has used digital modes to send names and conditions of “victims” during drills. We are able to send that information from the field to a central location and we can set up relays “on the fly” to get the message to the intended recipient.
Amateur radio operators can bring their own antennas, deploy those antennas and can communicate to stations hundreds, if not thousands of miles away and help you get more assistance. Radio Operators can even build an antenna, with wire and other common, easy to find materials so they can get their signal out.
Amateur radio can operate from any 12 volt battery (Got a spare vehicle that runs? They can use that vehicle to charge the battery and can connect their equipment to that vehicle’s battery and run as long as there is fuel available to run the vehicle and keep the battery charged) Amateur radio operators are innovative and flexible and they can communicate for hours, if not days, getting the signal out for you and your team.
Amateur radio operators are self-contained and can deploy their own vehicles or their group’s communication vehicles when requested by a local DEM or law enforcement or government agency. Amateur radio operators in the field can be supported by radio operators at their homes, in an EOC, or even miles away from your “crisis” location. Amateur radio operators are flexible, innovative and solve communications problems through their knowledge of their equipment and their experience.
Amateur radio operators affiliated with ARES or other groups have undergone a clearance process with their local law enforcement and emergency management agency, have ICS training from FEMA, have first responder training, understand the incident command structure and are your communicators when on site during your emergency. They log their communications, create clear and concise messages, transmit those messages and make those messages available to your organizational structure.
Amateur radio operators understand they are not your PIO. They do not talk to the media or the general public. They understand the importance of maintaining radio silence and communicating only when necessary and they know they work for you not the other way around.
Amateur radio operators are amateurs only by definition, and because the FCC licenses them on the amateur radio frequencies. But, amateur radio operators can operate on your frequencies when authorized and, in fact, many of them have purchased and programmed commercial radios with your frequencies on them just in case they are needed by you. They are your communications link when everything else has failed.
Amateur radio operators plan for failure, drill for success and are ready to be called out when needed.
So, is there still a valid need for amateur radio in your crisis? Yes, if your power is out, your radios don’t work, you are disconnected from the internet, your cell phones don’t work and/or your SMS is failing and you need a team of “professionals” who can help you communicate to your teams…..
See an FCC article here on the use of amateur radio in emergency management.
Connect with your local amateur radio operators, look for ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) and go to one of their meetings, ask to see their capabilities, look at their equipment bays and their radio rooms and present them with a scenario. They will rise to the challenge and surprise you.
By
Mark Challender
NG2G, Whatcom County, WA ARES
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cowlitz County has some of the best Ham Radio/ARES/RACES operators that you will ever find! We love our Hams!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
6 Tips for Dealing with Disaster
Here are 6 easy tips from Popular Mechanics on how to plan for and recover from a disaster:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/survival/tips/6-tips-for-dealing-with-disaster#slide-1
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/survival/tips/6-tips-for-dealing-with-disaster#slide-1
Do Your Kids Know Their Address?
From our friends at Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency:
This time of year marks a spike in community events, and here at CRESA, we are always happy to share important information in regards to better preparing for emergencies or what you need to know when you have to call 9-1-1. Over the past couple weeks, CRESA Public Educators have been out in full force, as we share information during our partners Open House events.
At one of these events I recently worked, I had the opportunity of chatting with a couple hundred young kids. As I shared 9-1-1 stickers, temporary firetruck tattoos and coloring pages, I would ask them the question, "What number do you call in an emergency if you need help?" Almost all of them knew the answer of "9-1-1." This usually would be followed by, "Do you know your address?" Sometimes I would get a shrug of the shoulders or a nodding of the head, sometimes "yes", sometimes "no." I had several parents urge their kids, asking them, to tell me if they knew. As they would respond, I would hear telephone numbers rattled off or perhaps a house number, but very few times did I hear a complete address. During our little discussions in the few minutes I had before their attention was distracted by a shiny fire truck or the Law Enforcement K-9's, I would share why it was important for them to know their address, and the importance this plays in helping 9-1-1 dispatcher's know where to send the help!
As the day went on, it got me thinking. Little things like learning our phone number and address easily slip through the cracks with all the technology we have at our fingertips. I can tell you from personal experience, there are very few phone numbers I honestly still have memorized. They are all conveniently stored in my smartphone. To this day, I still glance each time I give out my work cell number. Its just one of those numbers I take for granted. Yet if you ask me my childhood phone number or address, I can rattle them, along with my grandparents numbers off with ease. No matter where we keep these important pieces of information, to have them handy, nothing replaces having them stored to memory when you need them. For me learning needs to be interesting and fun. Doing a little research, I found some great fun ideas for you to use with your child in helping them learn their address. I hope the following ideas are useful in teaching your child important information that could be invaluable in an emergency. I know I may practice a couple of these myself.
Step 1
Point out the numbers on the side of your home and the street signs in your neighborhood. Say your address so that your child hears it and sees the street name and numbers together.
Step 2
Cut out a house shape from a piece of paper. Write the address in large print so it's easy to read. Hang the house picture in your child's room so he sees it every day and becomes familiar with it.
Step 3
Hand your preschooler a stack of envelopes so he can practice writing his address. Writing down the information may help it stick because he gets the repetition along with the visual of the numbers. If your economy friendly side cringes at using all that paper, laminate an envelope and use a dry erase marker so he can write, erase and repeat.
Step 4
Rhyme the address to make it easier to remember. For example, for the address 321 May St., say, "I have fun at 321; I play all day on a street called May." The rhyme doesn't have to make sense as long as it gets your child excited about learning his address.
Step 5
Belt out a tune about your address. Like rhymes, songs make it easier to commit the address to memory. Make up your own tune, or use your child's favorite song. Don't worry if you're off key. Your preschooler won't notice, but he will have an easier time learning his address.
References
The Bump Blog "How to Teach a Child Their Address."
International Reading Association: Learning Your Address and Phone Number
DLTK: Address Practice Craft
Nickelodeon Parents Connect: Child Safety: "Phone Number and Address" Song
This time of year marks a spike in community events, and here at CRESA, we are always happy to share important information in regards to better preparing for emergencies or what you need to know when you have to call 9-1-1. Over the past couple weeks, CRESA Public Educators have been out in full force, as we share information during our partners Open House events.
At one of these events I recently worked, I had the opportunity of chatting with a couple hundred young kids. As I shared 9-1-1 stickers, temporary firetruck tattoos and coloring pages, I would ask them the question, "What number do you call in an emergency if you need help?" Almost all of them knew the answer of "9-1-1." This usually would be followed by, "Do you know your address?" Sometimes I would get a shrug of the shoulders or a nodding of the head, sometimes "yes", sometimes "no." I had several parents urge their kids, asking them, to tell me if they knew. As they would respond, I would hear telephone numbers rattled off or perhaps a house number, but very few times did I hear a complete address. During our little discussions in the few minutes I had before their attention was distracted by a shiny fire truck or the Law Enforcement K-9's, I would share why it was important for them to know their address, and the importance this plays in helping 9-1-1 dispatcher's know where to send the help!
As the day went on, it got me thinking. Little things like learning our phone number and address easily slip through the cracks with all the technology we have at our fingertips. I can tell you from personal experience, there are very few phone numbers I honestly still have memorized. They are all conveniently stored in my smartphone. To this day, I still glance each time I give out my work cell number. Its just one of those numbers I take for granted. Yet if you ask me my childhood phone number or address, I can rattle them, along with my grandparents numbers off with ease. No matter where we keep these important pieces of information, to have them handy, nothing replaces having them stored to memory when you need them. For me learning needs to be interesting and fun. Doing a little research, I found some great fun ideas for you to use with your child in helping them learn their address. I hope the following ideas are useful in teaching your child important information that could be invaluable in an emergency. I know I may practice a couple of these myself.
Step 1
Point out the numbers on the side of your home and the street signs in your neighborhood. Say your address so that your child hears it and sees the street name and numbers together.
Step 2
Cut out a house shape from a piece of paper. Write the address in large print so it's easy to read. Hang the house picture in your child's room so he sees it every day and becomes familiar with it.
Step 3
Hand your preschooler a stack of envelopes so he can practice writing his address. Writing down the information may help it stick because he gets the repetition along with the visual of the numbers. If your economy friendly side cringes at using all that paper, laminate an envelope and use a dry erase marker so he can write, erase and repeat.
Step 4
Rhyme the address to make it easier to remember. For example, for the address 321 May St., say, "I have fun at 321; I play all day on a street called May." The rhyme doesn't have to make sense as long as it gets your child excited about learning his address.
Step 5
Belt out a tune about your address. Like rhymes, songs make it easier to commit the address to memory. Make up your own tune, or use your child's favorite song. Don't worry if you're off key. Your preschooler won't notice, but he will have an easier time learning his address.
References
The Bump Blog "How to Teach a Child Their Address."
International Reading Association: Learning Your Address and Phone Number
DLTK: Address Practice Craft
Nickelodeon Parents Connect: Child Safety: "Phone Number and Address" Song
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
How Social Media is Changing Disaster Response
I just finished reading an interesting article from Scientific American about how revolutionary the advent of social media has been in responding to disasters. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Is it just another thing? Check it out here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-social-media-is-changing-disaster-response
Monday, June 10, 2013
Tips & Tricks
The link below has tips that are meant for camping, but would also come in handy for disaster preparedness. See, life after a disaster is just like camping, only unplanned!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Good weekend to stay local!
Info courtesy of KLOG
The Department of Transportation has some work planned on I-5 over the next few days, working both north and south of the Kelso-Longview area. Today, a series of single and double-lane closures are planned on I-5 northbound near Castle Rock, as pavement repairs are done. WashDOT officials say that they need to grind and repave a portion of the freeway that’s sagging. From noon to 3, the right lane will be closed, from 3 to 7 pm, the left lane will be closed, and from 7 to 10 pm, the left and center lanes will be closed. Delays are expected, so use alternate routes or budget extra time to get through this area.
The really big deal starts tomorrow night at the north end of Vancouver, when I-5 will be completely shut down for girder placement at the Salmon Creek interchange. The freeway will close at 11 pm tomorrow night, and will be shut down until 5 am on Monday morning. Massive backups are possible as traffic is shunted onto I-205 and SR 500 in Vancouver. Use alternate routes to avoid delays.
On Monday, rehab work on I-205 between SR 14 and I-5 gets under way. A WashDOT contractor will start work on repair and replacement of damaged concrete panels through that stretch of freeway; they’ll also be restoring the asphalt shoulders, along with striping work. Overnight lane closures will begin at 10 pm Monday night, and the speed limit will also be reduced from 60 to 50 mph. This project is expected to extend into September. Get more details by contacting the Washington Department of Transportation.
The Department of Transportation has some work planned on I-5 over the next few days, working both north and south of the Kelso-Longview area. Today, a series of single and double-lane closures are planned on I-5 northbound near Castle Rock, as pavement repairs are done. WashDOT officials say that they need to grind and repave a portion of the freeway that’s sagging. From noon to 3, the right lane will be closed, from 3 to 7 pm, the left lane will be closed, and from 7 to 10 pm, the left and center lanes will be closed. Delays are expected, so use alternate routes or budget extra time to get through this area.
The really big deal starts tomorrow night at the north end of Vancouver, when I-5 will be completely shut down for girder placement at the Salmon Creek interchange. The freeway will close at 11 pm tomorrow night, and will be shut down until 5 am on Monday morning. Massive backups are possible as traffic is shunted onto I-205 and SR 500 in Vancouver. Use alternate routes to avoid delays.
On Monday, rehab work on I-205 between SR 14 and I-5 gets under way. A WashDOT contractor will start work on repair and replacement of damaged concrete panels through that stretch of freeway; they’ll also be restoring the asphalt shoulders, along with striping work. Overnight lane closures will begin at 10 pm Monday night, and the speed limit will also be reduced from 60 to 50 mph. This project is expected to extend into September. Get more details by contacting the Washington Department of Transportation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)