Oregon Gets it Right

The State of Oregon is supplying Winlink equipment and antennas to all of it's county Emergency Operating Centers.

FYI, Winlink is a way of connecting signals from Amateur Radio Equipment to the Internet. It allow Amateur Radio operators to use their radio equipment to send text and email to Internet connected recipients, and those recipients to send messages back to the radio operators.

In a communications emergency, Amateur operators can provide communications in areas where the communications systems are not functioning by using Winlink as well as other systems.


Governor's $250,000 Grant to Amateur Radio Goes Online as Oregon Hams Install New Winlink System

This month, Oregon ARES® members will complete the state-wide installation of Winlink, thanks to a $250,000 grant from Governor Ted Kulongoski. In 2007, the governor was impressed by the hams' ability to handle emergency communications when severe winter storms wreaked havoc on Oregon's North Coast and flooded the City of Vernonia, knocking out 911 services, Internet and phone service for an extended period of time. The Oregon Office of Emergency Management said that during the storms, the radio operators were "tireless in their efforts to keep the systems connected." When even state police had difficulty reaching some of their own troops, ham radio worked, setting up networks so emergency officials could communicate and relaying lists of supplies needed in stricken areas.

"I'm going to tell you who the heroes were from the very beginning of this...the ham radio operators," the governor said at the time. "These people just came in and actually provided a tremendous communication link to us." Because of the service rendered by Amateur Radio operators in providing communications support, the governor allocated funds for the installation of a Winlink system to integrate Amateur Radio with the Internet.

The equipment will be installed in the Emergency Operating Center in each of Oregon's 36 counties. Once the monies were distributed, ARES® members researched and purchased the equipment that would be needed, formalized and signed contracts between the state, counties and ARES®, and allocated space to install the antennas and equipment within each EOC. The project is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2009 ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) scheduled for October 3-4.

"Using Winlink equipment and other amateur equipment already in place at the EOCs, ARES® teams will have to quickly create a communications network, in some instances without depending on other infrastructure such as telephones or Internet," said ARRL Oregon Section Public Information Coordinator Steve Sanders, KE7JSS. "Many will not use commercial electric power. Despite these limitations, the ARES® teams should not only be able to quickly pass local messages, but also communicate with other regions of the country. The ability to pass information in and out of disaster areas is crucial to the effectiveness of emergency responders."

When Oregon's State Office of Emergency Management was activated on December 3, 2007, hams over the course of the next four days used Winlink to pass message traffic. "The Winlink system performed perfectly, and the ARES® team at the OEM was able to pass approximately 200 messages into and out of the State of Oregon Emergency Operations Center," said Marion County ARES Emergency Coordinator Dean Davis, N7XG. "The only mode of communications for several Oregon counties for the first two days of the storm was the Winlink system."

Los Angeles Station Fire - September, 2009

Many of us in the Los Angeles area who are trained and active in CERT were able to participate and help with the huge Station Fire. I spent most of one weekend helping out at the Fire Camp -- and incredible experience. Acres of Fire Engines. Thousands of firefighters. A Post office, laundry, two block of portable offices, a mobile mapping service, small engine repair (chain saws...), showers, air conditioned sleeping trailers, a massive catering operation, huge stores operation, fuel dump, diesel mechanics, LA County Sheriffs, Los Angeles Police, and on and on.

It was a massive response to a truly dangerous fire and the amount of resources the the Incident Commanders were able to throw at the fire saved thousands of homes. Paved roads and water hydrants and defensive landscaping in the Forest/Urban interface helped, too.

It's amazing how much good a few firefighters can do with the right equipment and good water pressure. And retardant dropping aircraft helped a lot, too.

Moderator

Thank you note from the LA County Sheriffs

As the Station Fire is winding down and our Department's Incident Management Team's start to hand over operations to local control. I would like to personally say THANK YOU!!! to all the kind hearted volunteers that have responded to the call to action.

Over 300 volunteers put in over 5000 hours working support operations for the command post at Hansen Dam for a community of over 5000 responders from all over the country. Volunteers provided much needed traffic control and arson watch patrol operations, and food and refreshments runs to personnel out on fixed posts.

Comments from the CAL Fire, the LASD Command Staff and members of the LASD Incident Management Teams that worked during the week were highly impressed and grateful for all the support and professional attitude of all the volunteers.

I was extremely proud to have worked with such an outstanding group of people, dedicated to service of others. This week also brought a loss to all of us, and Sheriff Volunteers, CERT Volunteers from LAFD, Burbank and Glendale stood in Honor of our fallen brothers from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Tonight we have moved the CERT/Volunteer Management Team Command Post to the National Guard Armory in Azusa and have some squads working through tomorrow and hope to completely wrap up our operation by noon.

Please share with us your thoughts, comments and suggestions so we can work to improve and provide a solid after action report that can be shared with other CERTs and Volunteer Law and Fire Agencies as part of the after action report. Comments left here on BigTent or Emailed to wtlee@lasd.org will be pasted within a section of the report.

A Special Thank You to Los Angeles City Fire Department CERT Program, Burbank Fire Department CERT Glendale Fire Department CERT, Claremont Police Department CERT, and the El Monte Police Department Volunteers Citizens On Patrol, without everyone coming together we would not have accomplished our mission. Our partnerships, networking was a testament to volunteer mutual aid efforts for others to follow.

Will keep everyone updated regarding AAR and future events!

Respectfully,

Wilson Lee, Deputy
CERT Coordinator