ARES Letter for March 15, 2006

The ARES E-Letter
March 15, 2006
=================                                          

Rick Palm, K1CE, Editor

<http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=K1CE>,
<http://www.iaru-r2emcor.net/>

===================================
ARES reports, other related contributions, editorial questions or
comments: <k1ce@arrl.net>; 
===================================

+ The View from Flagler County

Fulfilling part of my promise in last month's issue, I managed to
take and pass IS-100, FEMA's on-line course on the Incident Command
System. A pleasant surprise was the handsome certificate from FEMA
that arrived in the mail a few days later. The course, while perhaps
a bit dry and bureaucratic, is exceptionally well done, and would
serve as a good model for the League's EmComm courses currently under
revision. The content of the IS-100 course is essential for every
ARES member, as the ICS has become the standard grid for disaster and
emergency response, and even for public event management. I am going
to take the NIMS course next.

Look at FEMA Emergency Management Institute additional offerings:
many other courses would make any ARES operator a greater asset in
the next incident. See
<http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIweb/IS/crslist.asp>
______________

Here in the county, the last ARES meeting at the firehouse featured
two Katrina deployees. AEC Jim Billings, KB8LXC, was there and had
this to say:

"We all talk the talk of emergency communications and many of us walk
the walk as well. We had a special presentation from Ray Crepeau,
K1HG, and Daisy Crepeau, KT4KW, about their experiences in
Mississippi during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  They brought
slides and a wealth of knowledge gained through first hand
experience.  Their photos were not the typical ones everyone saw on
the news; instead, they imaged the working conditions faced by
emergency response personnel and volunteers on the ground. Their
message was clear: We must train together as a team on basic
emergency management procedures related to communications. During the
Katrina response, those without training were liabilities instead of
assets, often passing erroneous and inaccurate messages.

"Another lesson I took away from their presentation is that an
emergency communication environment has no place for egos, so leave
them at home. Last but not least, if you are picked for deployment,
you have no idea of what conditions you are going to walk into, so be
ready for anything." 

Billings, by the way, is one of the great assets here in Flagler
county, having served as President of the Flagler-Palm Coast ARC, the
ARRL-affiliated general interest club, and now as an officer of the
ARRL-affiliated Flagler Emergency Communications Association (FECA),
which serves as a platform for our ARES program with critical assets
such as repeaters and expertise. Thanks for your service, Jim. - K1CE

=========================
In This Issue:

+ The View from Flagler County
+ American Red Cross HQ Staff Meet With ARRL/ARES Counterparts in
Newington
+ New Jersey and Connecticut Host Terrorist Scenario Drill
+ ARRL "HAM AID" Kits Ready for Next Disaster
+ Federal Reports Laud Amateur Radio in Katrina Response
+ National Emergency Response Panel Named, Work Commences
+ Letters: Fleming's North Carolina Legacy
+ Letters: ARES Volunteers and NIMS Compliance
+ ARES Marketplace
+ Check Out IEEE Communications January Issue
+ Airline Concessions to Amateur Radio EmComms?
+ Opinion: Red Cross Should Pay Hams for Services
+ Opinion: End-Of-Transmission Tones Would Help In Poor Conditions
+ Opinion: Stigma of "Amateur"
+ Op-Ed: Limit After-Action Debriefings to Players Only
+ Letters: 800 MHz Trunked Systems Redux
+ Revised ITU Recommendation On Use Of Amateur Radio In Disasters In
Effect
+ Tip: Use Newspaper Plastic Bag as HT Protector
+ Special Event: Celebrate 30th Anniversary of NWS/ARES Relationship
+ Letters: Post Information on ARRL Section Web Sites
+ K1CE for a Final
=========================

+ American Red Cross HQ Staff Meet With ARRL/ARES Counterparts in
Newington 

On March 8, a hurricane season review meeting with American Red Cross
reps was held at ARRL headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. In
attendance were American Red Cross personnel Gayle Guildford, J.J.
Sheppard, David Craig and Mike Mitchell. ARRL COO Harold Kramer,
WJ1B, Alabama Section Manager Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, and Field and
Educational Services Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, represented ARRL. 
Patton reported that the participants came away with greater empathy
for each organization's work and struggles.  He added that he was
very impressed with the amount of, and wide-range of, preparation the
Red Cross has undertaken across the country to increase readiness.

The conferees reviewed lessons learned during the nation's largest
deployment of ARES in history.  Discussions of how the American Red
Cross and ARRL conducted their activities and how to strengthen the
partnership for the future dominated the meeting. The day started
with a tour of each Headquarters department, meeting personnel and
reviewing how the department assisted the field operation during the
relief effort. 

The meeting was productive and many ideas were generated of how we
can better work together in the future.  We learned about each
organization's operations and practices. Three of the American Red
Cross visitors are radio amateurs, which aided their understanding of
the ARRL. We inspected the ARRL "go kits" and the new D-STAR
equipment recently installed in W1AW. I was proud to be a part of
this important meeting. -- Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, Alabama Section
Manager

[Editor's note: Greg also participated in the FCC's "Independent
Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications
Networks." He presented his testimony to a 25 member panel, FCC
Chairman Kevin J. Martin, FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate and
several other FCC members. The panel is made up of a cross section of
communications industry and public service professionals. The
presenters represented volunteers, public service, health, medical,
broadcast and communications industry entities.

The panel and FCC have their work cut out for them.  There were many
hours of testimony and the recurring themes during the two-day
session were operability, interoperability, credentialing and Amateur
Radio.  Our radio service received positive mentions several times
during the presentations and discussions. The hearings were audio,
video and type recorded and will be made available for public record
on the FCC web site: <http://www.fcc.gov/eb/hkip/>]

+ New Jersey and Connecticut Host Terrorist Scenario Drill

Simulating a terrorist attack, "TOPOFF 3" was the largest disaster
drill ever to take place in the United States. TOPOFF 3 was held
simultaneously in New Jersey and Connecticut. Connecticut ARES was
asked to provide communications support for the American Red Cross,
and to provide backup communications to the Connecticut Office of
Emergency Management (OEM). ARES was determined to show the value of
Amateur Radio communications in a large-scale disaster. Hank Wolcott,
KA1WTS, DEC for CT OEM Area 4 and Wayne Gronlund, N1CLV, Assistant
DEC for CT OEM Area 4 South were pivotal to our success in this
operation. The rest of the ARES and Section Leadership teams played
important roles in many ways, as discussed in a lengthy report.

A drill provides certain advantages over a real event, but TOPOFF 3
also had some disadvantages. On the plus side was the ability to
pre-schedule and pre-plan to some extent. On the negative side the
drill was held on a weekday with some workers who could not get time
off to participate. Others were required to take vacation time to
participate.  The drill went 36 hours straight in the beginning,
which also provided a number of challenges.  The after action report
for TOPOFF 3 is now available on the CT ARES web page at
<http://www.ctares.org/>. We hope it will be helpful to others who may
face a drill or actual mobilization of this nature in the future. --
Chuck Rexroad, AB1CR, Connecticut ARES

+ ARRL "HAM AID" Kits Ready for Next Disaster

When another major incident occurs, the League will be able to deploy
"ham gear ready to go," thanks to manufacturers' donations of
equipment, ARRL members' generous monetary contributions and a
federal grant. The ARRL Ham Aid-sponsored "Go Kits" now being
assembled at Headquarters are the third leg of a program that's
already reimbursed certain out-of-pocket expenses for ham radio
hurricane zone volunteers and helped restore Amateur Radio backbone
infrastructure along the US Gulf Coast.

The League will loan out needed equipment on a moment's notice.
Emergency Communications Specialist Harry Abery, AB1ER, has been
stowing various equipment complements in rugged, waterproof Pelican
containers.

The "HF Kit" contains a 100-W HF transceiver, a microphone and a
power supply. The "VHF/UHF Kit" includes a dualband mobile
transceiver, power supply, headset, 10 handheld transceivers and a
supply of alkaline batteries. In the "Handheld Transceiver Kit" are
eight dualband handheld transceivers and antennas plus a stock of
extra batteries. The "Support Kit" includes a length of BuryFlex 213
coaxial cable, rope, 15-foot jumper cables with battery clamps at one
end and an Anderson Powerpole on the other. 
 
+ Federal Reports Laud Amateur Radio in Katrina Response

US Congressional reports complimented ARES in "A Failure of
Initiative"--the final report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to
investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina
(see <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/02/17/2/>).

From the report: ". . . the National Communications System (NCS)
coordinated the frequencies used by the nearly 1000 Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers across the nation who 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." 

The report further noted, "In Mississippi, FEMA dispatched Amateur
Radio operators to hospitals, evacuation centers, and county EOCs to
send emergency messaging 24 hours per day. Cited were comments by Bay
St Louis Mayor Eddie Favre that Amateur Radio volunteers "were
especially helpful in maintaining situational awareness and relaying
Red Cross messages to and from the Hancock County EOC."

According to the report, radio amateurs at airports in Texas and
Louisiana "tracked evacuees and notified families of their
whereabouts," while the Red Cross "deployed Amateur Radio volunteers
at its 250 shelters and feeding stations, principally in Mississippi,
Alabama and Florida." 

["A Failure of Initiative" addressed failures of governmental
response, which have been iterated enough, and I won't re-hash them
here. The White House report, "The Federal Response to Hurricane
Katrina: Lessons Learned"
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned.pdf> also
cited Amateur Radio as an example of "What Went Right:" "Amateur
Radio operators from ARES monitored distress calls and rerouted
emergency requests for assistance throughout the US until messages
were received by emergency response personnel," the report said.
-ed.]

+ National Emergency Response Panel Named, Work Commences

One of the first actions of new ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN,
was to appoint 13 to serve on the ARRL National Emergency Response
Planning Committee. The League's Board created the committee in
January "to appropriately prepare for future large-scale disasters."
The committee will develop a comprehensive recommendation for ARRL
responses to regional, national and international disasters.

ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, will chair the ad hoc
committee. Appointed to serve on the committee were: Delta Division
Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q, (Programs and Services Committee
liaison); Pacific Division Vice Director Andy Oppel, N6AJO; Atlantic
Division Vice Director Tom Abernethy, W3TOM; Alabama Section Manager
Greg Sarratt, W4OZK; Western Washington Section Manager Ed Bruette,
N7NVP; South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Jerry Reimer, KK5CA;
Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Jeff Beals, WA4AW;
NYC-Long Island Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D;
Mississippi Section District Emergency Coordinator Karl Bullock,
WA5TMC; Colorado Net Manager/State Government Liaison Gene McGahey,
AL7GQ; IARU Region 2 Emergency Coordinator Rick Palm, K1CE, (IARU
liaison) and ARRL Field and Educational Services Manager Dave Patton,
NN1N (ARRL staff liaison).

ARES E-Letter readers will recognize several of the names from the
Katrina response articles published in previous issues. 

Mrs. Craigie said one of the committee's principal tasks is to help
"ARES evolve to be able to respond effectively to disasters that
overwhelm the resources of a single Section." Currently, ARES is
structured along Section lines; there is no ARES structure beyond the
Section level at this time.

[A note about ARRL HQ's response: Readers should not get the idea
that Newington's Katrina response was somehow inadequate. On the
contrary, it was the best response I've ever seen from the staff.
They took a number of unprecedented steps that we, back in the old
days of the Communications Department and Field Services Department,
never took despite being involved in some major scenarios such as
Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew. Can they do better? Can't we all? And
they're working on it. - ed.]

+ Letters: Fleming's North Carolina Legacy

In re your comments about Florida's John Fleming, WD4FFX, in the last
issue, he was instrumental in getting ham radio into the Iredell
County (North Carolina) Emergency Communications Center back in the
mid '70s. Fleming also got permission for the Statesville 2 meter
repeater to get space in the courthouse and the antenna hung on the
county tower there. Florida's gain sure was North Carolina's loss. --
Lou Burgess, WB4WRR/EI2JE

+ Letters: ARES Volunteers and NIMS Compliance

Are volunteers required to be National Incident Management System
(NIMS) compliant?  I decided to ask FEMA for clarification. Their
answer: "Thank you for contacting the NIMS Integration Center. The
short answer is: Yes. In a response scenario that extends beyond
local government, there needs to be common terminology and doctrine
that everyone can follow so that personnel and resources are
feathered in a seamless manner. This is especially true for radio
communications. Radio operators need to understand what is being said
and asked of them during an incident so that they can convey this
information effectively and efficiently. Please let me know if I can
provide further assistance. Regards, Paul F. Ganem, NIMS Integration
Center"

We need to push NIMS and ICS training as hard as we can. If you know
of a forum where these issues are being discussed, I would be very
interested in participating. -- Ron Breitwisch, KC0OX, District
Emergency Coordinator, Iowa District 6 West, Emergency Preparedness
Director, <http://ares.rf.org/linn/kc0ox.htm>
 
+ ARES Marketplace

ARES Commemorative Brass Belt Buckle with your call letters cast--not
engraved--in solid brass. A great gift for yourself! See
<http://www.ItsUrCall.com/> (ARRL has a marketing agreement with the
company).

+ Check Out IEEE Communications January Issue

The January 2006 issue of IEEE Communications <http://www.comsoc.org/>
is all about Public Safety Communications. High-level stuff, but of
interest to the technical side of emcomm. -- Ward Silver, N0AX

+ Airline Concessions to Amateur Radio EmComms?

Thinking forward to future needs for ARES mutual aid, I'd like to
know whether ARRL has made any arrangements with the major commercial
air carriers to waive the size and weight limits and/or associated
fees for checked baggage for ARES members traveling to assist in
emergencies or to participate in preparatory or training exercises. 
Two key pieces of equipment come to mind: deep-cycle batteries and
solar panels.
 
Gelled-electrolyte and absorbed-glass-mat sealed lead-acid deep-cycle
batteries are safe cargo for air transport, but they can easily
exceed the weight limits for checked baggage, which now run from 50
to 70 pounds per piece.  Commercial-grade solar panels are typically
around 4 feet long and 2 feet wide before protective packing.  When
packed, they exceed the dimensional limits for no-charge checked
pieces.  An ARES member traveling to a disaster or preparatory or
training exercise with one or more solar panels and batteries could
be faced with substantial overweight and oversize charges.  Having an
official mechanism by which these fees could be waived would help
reduce the financial burden on those already volunteering their time
and resources for public benefit. -- Marty Woll, N6VI, Los Angeles
ARES

+ Opinion: Red Cross Should Pay Hams for Services

As a former Red Crosser, I traveled on the company dime, with the
American Red Cross providing both travel and room-and-board expenses
on national jobs. All of their national responders are compensated.
Some get a monetary stipend as well. If the ARC wants ham radio
volunteers, why don't they pay for ham radio volunteers? I think it's
because the League provides them for free, which means hams pay their
own way while ARC volunteers don't have to. It seems that if hams are
working for Red Cross, then the Red Cross should sign them up and pay
their way, as they do their own communications volunteers (who are
also hams). ARC might also underwrite some of the League's cost of
providing these volunteers, as well as whatever volunteer
reimbursement program we offer. I am not saying that hams should
charge for our services, just that the Red Cross should treat us just
as it does its own volunteers. 

There is no reason that hams cannot pay their own way if they want
to, but that limits the response to those who can afford to and
probably puts a financial hardship on some responders.

Put another way: If you want to make a donation to a relief effort,
write a check. But, if you are working at the disaster, you should be
treated like the other workers. Giving your time, talent, and use of
your equipment should be enough. That's how they treat their own
volunteers and that's how hams should be treated, too. -- David
Coursey, N5FDL, EC, San Joaquin County

+ Opinion: End-Of-Transmission Tones Would Help In Poor Conditions

Amateurs engaged in ARES/RACES voice communications on HF should
consider adding end of transmission tones (EOT) to their radios to
aid traffic flow in poor conditions. I realize that within the
amateur community, EOTs have been associated with the CB mentality.
But within the public safety community and most military voice
communication circuits, EOTs are used routinely. 

During Katrina, I personally experienced numerous situations where
two stations were attempting to pass traffic via voice on HF under
weak signal conditions. Often one station would not hear the "over"
phrase and would wait a long time before asking for a repeat. Often
stations would transmit at the same time in this event (double), and
chaos would rein. 

EOT sounders can be a real aid in weak signal conditions. While I
would not support their use in daily communications, I think that in
emergency conditions we should consider them as another tool in our
inventory. I'm curious about what others whose primary interest is
ARES/RACES think about this suggestion. -- Les Rayburn, N1LF, ARES,
SHARES, SKYWARN, ARRL EmComm Level 3 Certified Official Emergency
Station

+ Opinion: Stigma of "Amateur"

As EC of Leake County, Mississippi, I find my biggest problem is
overcoming the stigma of our name: "amateur" is an almost
insurmountable challenge. When I introduced myself to our local
Emergency Response Coordinator his first response was to tell me that
all of his people were professionals and that he had no room in his
organization for amateurs. It seems that there is a perception among
the "professionals" that because we are not paid and are "amateurs,"
we are somehow less capable, less trained and less reliable.

His next response was that he could not afford the risk involved in
having "amateurs" involved in his operation because we were not
covered under the State's insurance. He did not want to be held
responsible if "one of your amateurs" gets himself injured, or held
liable if "one of your amateurs screws something up and hurts
someone." He further stated that he didn't want "a bunch of yahoos
with walkie talkies" running around, getting in his way. [Ouch, that
one really hurt-ed.]

I don't know the answer but I don't think I'm alone, based on my
conversations with other ECs. It is my perception that this is a
commonly held opinion among the "Professional Radio" community. --
John Pinkard, KD5KXJ, EC, Leake County, Mississippi

+ Op-Ed: Limit After-Action Debriefings to Players Only

[In a recent issue, we discussed after-action debriefings and how to
maximize their utility. Here's an analogy to the medical
profession-ed.]

I thought about all the CPCs (Clinical-Pathological Conferences) I
attended in 35 years of medical practice, and how they changed and
became less useful over time.

When I started in medical school a famous cardiologist (and the
sharpest knife in the drawer) often ran the conferences at our
medical school hospital.  At the end of the interrogation of the
treating doctors, and discussion by the rest of the staff, attendees
had to choose either: 1) Error in diagnosis, 2) Error in treatment,
or 3) Error in technique. The point was that no matter how hopeless
the case itself might have been, if the patient died, there must have
been an error made.

If "we did everything right but the patient just died because it was
his time" was an option, the temptation would have been to choose
that option as often as possible, and our natural disinclination to
be critical of our friends and colleagues would have ruled our
judgments.  In that sense the valuable lessons to be learned from the
death of each patient would have been lost; their dying to that
extent, wasted.

Making the assumption that an error had occurred assured that every
single little decision by the treatment team would be scrutinized and
any small, even insignificant, mistakes illuminated and brought to
the attention of doctors who might be facing similar situations later
that very day or week. The process worked and people were
scrupulously honest about their own mistakes. Only other staff
physicians were present, and at the beginning of the meeting the
moderator would scan the room and ask "visitors" to leave.

In later years, "Political Correctness" called for "Patient
Advocates," often former patients, to be included on all hospital
committees. That ruined the candidness and consequently the teaching
value of our meetings.

The point: The "unvarnished truth" should be told only among
ourselves, and not in any forum to which potential adversaries are
invited. In a mixed forum there needs to be a moderator to insist
upon civility being maintained and mutual respect accorded one to the
other. And there should be an agreement not to take "ammunition" from
the room to be used in potential battle. No minutes should be kept.
-- Denis (Doc) Franklin, W6EW

+ Letters: 800 MHz Trunked Systems Redux

Rick, greetings from just down the road.  Please don't feel that you
have to apologize for or back down from your previous comments
regarding Flagler County's new 800 MHz trunked radio system. Your
comments about the unreliability of trunked radio systems are
absolutely correct, even if based only upon the very nature of these
(relatively speaking) more complex radio systems.

Ever since trunked radio systems have been peddled to public safety
end-users, I have observed that those who continue to perpetrate
untruths--including various half-truths--about the alleged benefits
of such systems, always have either a political or commercial axe to
grind. As an expert on this subject who is in a position to be
unbiased--being retired from both government and from that
industry--I can vouch for the accuracy of your aforementioned
comments. So please continue to stand tall. -- Kind regards, Alan
Dixon, N3HOE, Contributing Editor, Popular Communications Magazine,
Melbourne, Brevard County, Florida <WPUC720@juno.com>;,
<http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=N3HOE>

+ Revised ITU Recommendation On Use Of Amateur Radio In Disasters In
Effect

A revised International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) Recommendation is now in
force to promote "effective utilization of the amateur services in
disaster mitigation and relief operations." Initially developed in
2001, the document, known as Recommendation ITU-D 13, was brought up
to date last year through the efforts of an ITU-D study group and
circulated to administrations around the globe for adoption.

"This is an updated version of a Recommendation that administrations
include the amateur services in their national disaster plans, reduce
barriers to effective use of the amateur services for disaster
communications, and develop memoranda of understanding with amateur
and disaster relief organizations," explained ARRL CEO David Sumner,
K1ZZ. ITU-D 13 further advises cooperation among all parties in
making available model agreements and "best practices" in disaster
telecommunications.

The revised Recommendation ITU-D 13 is expected to be available
soon--in several languages and in MS-Word and PDF formats--from the
ITU Web site <http://www.itu.int/>.

+ Tip: Use Newspaper Plastic Bag as HT Protector

Save the plastic bags that the newspaper carrier delivers your daily
newspapers in: They make perfect HT covers for bad weather operating.
Slip it over the HT, tie a knot in the bottom and voila, a water
resistant HT. The bags are thin and flexible so you can operate the
controls and speak through the bag. Our ARES/RACES group recently
worked a special event marathon in the pouring rain for 6 hours and
the people that used the bags kept their equipment dry. -- Ed
McGinley, W5ETM, Tarrant County, Texas, RACES/ARES
 
+ Special Event: Celebrate 30th Anniversary of NWS/ARES Relationship

A special operating event will be held March 25 to commemorate the
30th anniversary of the partnership between Amateur Radio and the
National Weather Service for severe storm spotting. Details: March
25, 1200Z-2400Z, Fort Worth, Texas. Tarrant County RACES, N5W. 30th
Anniversary of NWS and Amateur Radio partnership. 14.265 MHz, and
7.240 MHz. QSL via Ed McGinley, W5ETM, Tarrant County RACES/ARES, PO
Box 6251, Fort Worth, TX 76115 Please see
<http://www.tarrantraces.org/n5w.htm> 

+ Letters: Post Information on ARRL Section Web Sites

In your last newsletter, you had a submission entitled:
"Collaboration, not Control: An 'Outsider's' Perspective on Katrina
Operations." It got me thinking that it might be very useful for each
ARRL section to post their basic ARES operating information (leader
contact info, planned repeaters/frequencies) at some Web site,
perhaps the ARRL Web site. In that way, outsiders requested to go to
emergency areas could look up this info and know who to look for and
where, when they arrived at the emergency site. This might avoid
potential problems with outsiders fitting into the plans of locals.
-- Ralph Milnes, KC2RLM, Chatham NJ ARES 

+ K1CE for a Final

Eagle-eye observers may notice the dearth of reports of actual ARES
activations in this issue. That is because we at the executive
editorial office suite on the top floor of the ARES E-Letter campus
main building here in Flagler county have not received any reports.

Please, send in your after-action reports. I, for one, would like to
hear of some activations that don't involve the "H-word" types of
disasters for a change. I suspect readers might agree. Thanks!

See you next month! - 73, Rick, K1CE