By J.M. Rowe, N5XFW - Arkansas Section Manager
Hello all:
I have a new resource that was made public this last week. Tom K5WTH developed a list of EMCOMM nets by state. It was hard for me to believe that such a list did not already exist! Thanks to Tom for the work in gathering and verifying that information, and thanks to John KE5NZY for getting it on the internet in an indexed document and a PDF. http://www.arkansas-aresraces.org/NARRLEFL.htm
Several of you were at the Arkansas Interoperable Communications Conference a couple of weeks ago, and I am sure you remember that Tony Hayes of Cambridge Wireless Communications gave away a Kenwood portable for AWIN in a drawing. Edwin Lyons was the winner of the drawing, and then he gave the radio to Arkansas ARES/RACES! The radio has been programmed with the Command and Control template. John W5JLG, the SEC, will have the radio, and it will be used to help maintain situational awareness. This makes the second AWIN radio for us; the ADEM ARES/RACES Officer is issued one. Thanks to Roger N5QS for his part in getting this done.
I am sure most of you have heard we are going to have a DEC/EC meeting on Sunday November 14 at ADEM to discuss the National Level Exercise in May. Ken Gibson, the Information Technology division chief at ADEM, will give us an overview of what is expected of ham radio in the event of an earthquake on the New Madrid Seismic Zone. May seems like a long way off, but it will be here before we know it! As of today, 46 counties are participating, and I am not sure how many non-governmental organizations will be involved. If you are coming to the meeting, please be familiar with the Arkansas Plan http://www.arkansas-aresraces.org/AresRaces/aresracesplanarkansas.pdf and the Standard Operating Procedures http://www.arkansas-aresraces.org/aresracessop.pdf . For your information, the message standards have changed due to ADEM moving to WebEOC, and that will be reflected in both the plan and SOP as soon as possible
I hear the Stuttgart Pumpkin Patrol went well, and Bill W5WPN reports another successful race in Cross County! I think that’s great!
This is from N5JFD:
NEARC will hold its fall Tailgate swap meet Nov. 20th. From 9-12 am. The location is Trinity Church 701 E. Highland Drive, Jonesboro, AR. 72401. Testing will be at 10 am for all classes. We will be giving away an antenna book, no purchase needed (Thanks to ARRL for donation of antenna book). Talk in will be on 443.150, any info needed contact Travis Williams 870-931-8743 or email n5jfd@arrl.net
As always, I am happy to publicize ham radio events, so let me know about them!
That’s all for now.
Thanks and 73,
J.M.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
"Pumpkin Patrol" Help Police in Stuttgart
Leigh Kreimeier of the Daily Leader reported that The Grand Prairie Amateur Radio Club took on a new role on the night of Saturday, October 30. They attached lighted pumpkins to their vehicles and took to the streets to help out the local community, calling themselves The Pumpkin Patrol.
Read the entire story online at the URL below:
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/x294035991/Pumpkin-Patrol-help-out-police
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/x294035991/Pumpkin-Patrol-help-out-police
Monday, October 25, 2010
AICC, VOAD, and the NLE11
By J.M. Rowe, N5XFW - Section Manager
Hello all:
Last week was a very busy time for me! I attended the two and a half day Arkansas Interoperable Communications Conference (AICC), and the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) meeting. Luckily the AICC was ending just as the VOAD was begininng, and I had to drive fast from West Little Rock to Camp Robinson to make it on time.
There were several workshops and presentations at the AICC, and I got to sit on a panel discussing the response to the Albert Pike Flood. The people involved in the discussion all had good things to say about the capabilities of ham radio, as well as the hams themselves. One comment in particular struck me: it was brought out how flexible hams are; from problem solving to being a net control to joining a search team that otherwise would not have had external communications. What a compliment!
The main topic of discussion at the VOAD meeting was the upcoming exercise. The National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE11), as you know, will be about the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This is a big deal, with 8 states in 4 different FEMA Areas participating. We are understanding the scenario calls for a total systems failure for at least the first 24 hours. Did I mention this exercise is going to be done in real time? And it's May 16-20, so in reality we have little time to get all the ducks lined up.
So, we need to restart the face-to-face DEC meetings to do some exercise-specific planning. DEC's and EC's will be receiving some messages from the SEC shortly about this topic. I can pass on that the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management is very interested in their ham radio capabilities, and in our ability to get messages to and from local authorities. Think about doing that for 24 hours straight! Net Managers will have to line up shifts of Net Controllers, for instance.
Any volunteer must see to the health and safety of their family before responding, and in this case it is easy to see this would be a long and difficult recovery. Plan now for your and your families' personal preparedness.
That's all I have for now.
73, and good luck.
J.M.
Hello all:
Last week was a very busy time for me! I attended the two and a half day Arkansas Interoperable Communications Conference (AICC), and the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) meeting. Luckily the AICC was ending just as the VOAD was begininng, and I had to drive fast from West Little Rock to Camp Robinson to make it on time.
There were several workshops and presentations at the AICC, and I got to sit on a panel discussing the response to the Albert Pike Flood. The people involved in the discussion all had good things to say about the capabilities of ham radio, as well as the hams themselves. One comment in particular struck me: it was brought out how flexible hams are; from problem solving to being a net control to joining a search team that otherwise would not have had external communications. What a compliment!
The main topic of discussion at the VOAD meeting was the upcoming exercise. The National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE11), as you know, will be about the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This is a big deal, with 8 states in 4 different FEMA Areas participating. We are understanding the scenario calls for a total systems failure for at least the first 24 hours. Did I mention this exercise is going to be done in real time? And it's May 16-20, so in reality we have little time to get all the ducks lined up.
So, we need to restart the face-to-face DEC meetings to do some exercise-specific planning. DEC's and EC's will be receiving some messages from the SEC shortly about this topic. I can pass on that the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management is very interested in their ham radio capabilities, and in our ability to get messages to and from local authorities. Think about doing that for 24 hours straight! Net Managers will have to line up shifts of Net Controllers, for instance.
Any volunteer must see to the health and safety of their family before responding, and in this case it is easy to see this would be a long and difficult recovery. Plan now for your and your families' personal preparedness.
That's all I have for now.
73, and good luck.
J.M.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Basic Emotional First Aid Offering
By J.M. Rowe, N5XFW - Arkansas Section Manager
I have been asked to pass this on to the hams (or other volunteers) that might respond to any sort of emergency. This is an educational offering called "Basic Emotional First Aid". It will be offered in three seperate areas of the state. There is a cost associated.
http://www.arkhospitals.org/calendarpdf/Basic%20Emotional%20First%20Aid%202010-2011.pdf
Critical Incident Stress causes a lot of people to quit or at least have some sort of inappropriate response. All of us have seen that, so maybe this course is something each of us should give serious consideration.
I have been asked to pass this on to the hams (or other volunteers) that might respond to any sort of emergency. This is an educational offering called "Basic Emotional First Aid". It will be offered in three seperate areas of the state. There is a cost associated.
http://www.arkhospitals.org/calendarpdf/Basic%20Emotional%20First%20Aid%202010-2011.pdf
Critical Incident Stress causes a lot of people to quit or at least have some sort of inappropriate response. All of us have seen that, so maybe this course is something each of us should give serious consideration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
