Sept is National Emergency Preparedness month.
Colorado Hams Provide Disaster Communications.
On page 73 of the current QST magazine is this amazing story. You can read the original story in the Denver Post HERE.
The ham radio ATV stations gave fire fighters something they are not used to, views of the fire from front and back in real-time video!
AMAZING story of Ham Radio Operators at Ground Zero on the day the twin towers fell!
There are many excellent tips here on what to expect in a major disaster. The article is on page 77 of QST. You can read the long version on this website - www.w2ik.info
The Ultimate Disaster.
Imagine what it would be like to work a prolonged MAJOR disaster with no electricity, no running water, no gas,no cell phones and no internet. There is an excellent article on page 98 of the current issue of QST that discusses just such a scenario. The main point is to put together NOW what you need - before it is needed - and store it someplace safe.
As for training, while just having Amateur Radio operators available is an asset to public safety, you can increase your credibility by taking additional training such as the ARRL Amateur Radio Communication courses. HERE
You can also go online to FEMA, which has two types of FREE online training courses that you can take. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) courses, of which there are 16, can be found at www.fema.gov/emergency/nims.
Next is the FEMA Independent Study Program (ISP) courses of which there are over 100! There is an ISP course to fit your personal situation and needs at training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp.
All this additional training adds to your credibility as a disaster communications operator. The training will also help you to better understand what the police, fire or EMS needs, and why, during a disaster.
Do you know how to signal a helicopter for a safe landing? In most situations, when a medivac copter lands, it needs someone on the ground giving standard signals to indicate where to land safely.
Remember, if you fail to plan, you have planned to FAIL!
FINALLY, you should probably bookmark www.InciWeb.org. They have Incident Listings for every state for every type of disaster. Right now the majority of the listings relate to forest fires. This is one to check on a regular basis and certainly before deploying to see which roads are open and which are closed.
=====
N7OZH - 73
1 comment:
Post a Comment