Cell phones fail during disasters

Those who rely on cellular technology for communication during disasters may be dangerously disappointed:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-17/phones-fail-in-california-fires-highlighting-vulnerability?fbclid=IwAR2sgDbSoW0abUS4mBHXGiOHaVbaeXZOH8xh6OoHh8CRKUCJLFqzaKVmz8Y

Moderator

159 YEARS AGO THE 'VICTORIAN INTERNET' CAUGHT FIRE.

Can you imagine the damage it would cause today?  It would take years, possibly decades, to repair.

Moderator

159 YEARS AGO, A GEOMAGNETIC MEGA-STORM: Picture this: A billion-ton coronal mass ejection (CME) slams into Earth's magnetic field. Campers in the Rocky Mountains wake up in the middle of the night, thinking that the glow they see is sunrise. No, it's the Northern Lights. People in Cuba read their morning paper by the red illumination of aurora borealis. Earth is peppered by particles so energetic, they alter the chemistry of polar ice.

Hard to believe? It really happened--exactly 159 years ago.

Aurora map here:  http://spaceweather.com/images2018/01sep18/auroramap.jpg

As the day unfolded, the gathering storm electrified telegraph lines, shocking technicians and setting their telegraph papers on fire. The "Victorian Internet" was knocked offline. Magnetometers around the world recorded strong disturbances in the planetary magnetic field for more than a week.

The cause of all this was an extraordinary solar flare witnessed the day before by British astronomer Richard Carrington. His sighting on Sept. 1, 1859, marked the discovery of solar flares and foreshadowed a new field of study: space weather. According to a NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences, if a similar "Carrington Event" occurred today, it could cause substantial damage to society's high-tech infrastructure and require years for complete recovery.

Could it happen again? Almost certainly. In a paper published just a few months ago, researchers from the University of Birmingham used Extreme Value Theory to estimate the average time between "Carrington-like flares." Their best answer: ~100 years. In other words, we may be overdue for a really big storm.

Read their original research here: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017SW001727

Reviving this Blog?

It's been a while since I've posted on this Blog.  I've had several jobs out of town and other responsibilities and just haven't kept it up.  But I'm retired now and will hopefully have more time.  I have also transferred my ACS-CERT Liaison position to another LAFD Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) member and he may be interested in helping me maintain this.

Lots of thing have happened in the Emergency Communications / First Responder area in the past few years.  There seems to be much more interest in emergency preparation and emergency communications -- probably because of the recent hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico.  BTW, Amateur Radio continued to work in both of the devastated areas.  In fact, Amateur Radio was the only thing that worked reliably for several weeks in Puerto Rico.

Another factor is an influx of inexpensive Chinese made radios -- both Amateur Radio and FRS/GMRS radios, which makes it easier own your first radio and have something  to practice with.  The first Chinese radios imported were awkward and difficult to program, but they worked.  I bought one of the first Wouxun radios available, and although I know others have had problems with them, mine still works fine.  But it's still difficult to program.

And another reason is the increasing popularity of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs being taught all over the country.  You'll learn how to take care of yourself and your family and your neighbors for the first 3 to 10 days you may be without help in a regional or major disaster.  Another good class being taught is "Stop the Bleed" -- how to prevent someone from bleeding out before the professional responders arrive.

So lets see if we can get a revival going here.

Moderator

Loss of Communications causes problems

Here's what happens when a group of communities loses communications.

 http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2017/08/09/gatlinburg-wildfire-records-tell-story-chaos-confusion/548412001/

Moderator

The CPR We Don't See on TV

From:  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/the-cpr-we-dont-see-on-tv/ July 18, 2014

The first time I saw a patient who had received CPR, the experience wasn’t what I expected.

Sure, I thought she wouldn’t look well. After all, her heart had just stopped beating. But I wasn’t prepared for the scene before me: a frail woman in her mid-80s, barely conscious, vomiting, with broken ribs and a bruised lung. Her stomach was bloated and her chest was bleeding. She looked more like a survivor of CPR than of cardiac arrest, I thought to myself. When she died a few days later, I couldn’t help wondering if she really knew what she was getting herself into.

At most hospitals, it’s routine to ask patients about their resuscitation preferences when they’re admitted, regardless of how healthy they are. “In the event your heart stops beating…” and “If you are unable to breathe on your own…” are commonly used (though probably not the most helpful) phrases introducing these discussions.

In conversations I’ve had with patients, I’ve encountered a variety of responses. One patient — young and relatively healthy — became tearful, assuming that I was asking because of his imminent demise. Some have avoided the discussion because they didn’t think it was likely or, maybe, didn’t want to think it was likely. Most have thoughtfully grappled with the issue. But consistently, most of the patients I talk to don’t understand what exactly CPR is, what it’s for, and what its risks and benefits are.

The origins of cardiopulmonary resuscitation date back centuries. The 16th-century physician Andreas Vesalius wrote, “But that life may…be restored to the animal, an opening must be attempted in the trunk of the trachea…you will then blow into this, so that the lung may rise.” Two centuries later, the Scottish surgeon William Tossach described performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a coal miner: “I applied my mouth close to his, and blowed my breath as strong as I could.”

But it wasn’t until the 1960s that CPR in its current form was introduced into American medicine, initially as a treatment for sudden cardiac arrest after heart attacks, drowning, drug overdoses and other potentially reversible conditions. By 1974, it was so widely used that the American Medical Association issued a recommendation that patients’ preferences be documented in their medical records. Since then, the use of CPR has continued to grow, and millions of people around the globe have been trained to perform it.

Experts say CPR is a lifesaver, and with good reason. Each year, more than 350,000 people in the United States — one every 90 seconds — experience cardiac arrest. The vast majority of these do not occur at a hospital, and those who receive CPR from a bystander are up to three times more likely to survive than someone who doesn’t receive such assistance.

But CPR is not without its drawbacks, especially for patients with chronic conditions and terminal illnesses. Patients who receive CPR may sustain not only a number of immediate complications like rib fractures, damaged airways and internal bleeding, but also serious long-term consequences like brain damage resulting from extended oxygen deprivation. Some argue that in patients with very low likelihood of returning to a reasonable quality of life, CPR leads to an unnecessarily prolonged and painful death.

Precise survival rates after receiving CPR are tough to come by and vary according to patients’ underlying health status. Research generally suggests that about 40 percent of patients who receive CPR after experiencing cardiac arrest in a hospital survive immediately after being resuscitated, and only 10 to 20 percent survive long enough to be discharged. Research also suggests that patients significantly overestimate the likelihood of success. A recent study of older patients found that 81 percent believe their chances of leaving the hospital after CPR are greater than 50 percent, and almost a quarter believe their chances are higher than 90 percent. This discrepancy is important because patients’ preferences for CPR are strongly related to their perception of how likely it is to be successful: Older adult patients are half as likely to want CPR near the end of life when they are told the true probability of survival.

Some have suggested that misrepresentations of CPR on television may lead patients to have unrealistic expectations of what the procedure entails and the likelihood of success. Survival rates for patients receiving CPR on popular, prime-time medical TV shows have traditionally been much higher than in the real world. One study found that 75 percent of TV patients who receive CPR are alive immediately after, and 67 percent of patients survive in the long term. Other research has shown that though recent shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” have more accurate immediate survival rates, they are still misleading. TV portrayals of CPR are mostly binary—full recovery or death—with little attention given to survival to discharge or long-term disability. TV patients also tend to be younger and experience cardiac arrests because of trauma, unlike real-world CPR recipients, who tend to be older and have longstanding heart and lung disease.

It’s not unreasonable to think that news media representations of CPR are shaping patients’ views of the procedure. Many older adult patients report TV as a primary source of health care information, and a study of adolescents found that those who watched more medical dramas have significantly higher estimates of CPR survival rates. Other work suggests that almost all people have unrealistic expectations of CPR, but those who use TV as a source of information have the highest survival estimates.

None of this means that CPR isn’t effective in many situations or that it should be performed less frequently. But it does mean that there’s a lot to clarify. CPR is one of the few treatments that patients must expressly opt out of instead of opting in to and as such carries a special burden of explanation. Preserving patients’ autonomy and assuring their true desires are reflected require that they have an accurate understanding of CPR. In the end, we are all potentially providers and recipients of CPR, and we should know what we’re getting in to.

Photo

Dhruv Khullar, MD, MPP is a resident physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Follow him on Twitter: @DhruvKhullar. 

Moderator:

One think to keep in mind.  If you come upon someone who is non-responsive, is not breathing, and has no pulse, they are already dead.  You can not possibly hurt a dead person by using CPR but you just might save them.  If there is no brain matter visible and no massively traumatic injuries that preclude it, I suggest considering CPR.  As Dr. Khuller says, the survival statistics aren't great, but CPR DOES work and it CAN save people who might otherwise stay dead -- especially those who are younger and otherwise healthy.  I have seen it work.  If you find a victim, especially a child, drowned in cold water start CPR immediately.  Cold water drownings can be reversible even after considerable time under the water.

Disaster Reporter for CERT

From the ARRL E-Letter for June 18, 2014 Disaster Reporter

 

A message from FEMA: A picture is worth a thousand words. As we kick off the 2014 Hurricane Season, help us highlight the CERT [Community Emergency Response Team] program and demonstrate your capacity as citizens and trained volunteers to provide accurate, on-the-ground situational awareness and augment the capabilities of professional responders during disasters.

As a CERT volunteer, you play an integral role in disaster reporting in your community. Administrator Fugate is calling upon CERT volunteers throughout the country, including you, to download the FEMA mobile app, which includes Disaster Reporter. Why should you use Disaster Reporter? Here are our top four reasons.

1. It provides FEMA responders, local emergency managers, CERT volunteers, and the public with greater visibility into disaster situations across the United States. This can help expedite emergency response efforts.

2. It provides a reliable source for viewing disaster events around the country.

3. It's a great free resource to download straight to your mobile phone.

4. Your support efforts in an impacted area will be displayed publicly on an online map.

Learn more about Disaster Reporter at http://www.fema.gov/disaster-reporter and http://www.fema.gov/disaster-reporter-terms-conditions. To download the FEMA app, please visit http://www.fema.gov/smartphone-app.

In addition to the Disaster Reporter tool, the FEMA App also has preparedness tips, an interactive emergency kit checklist, recovery safety tips, open Red Cross Shelters, open FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers, and FEMA blog posts. The app is available for Android, Apple, and Blackberry. Don't forget to check the latest CERT newsletter for other great resources and stories. The latest edition is available at http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-team-national-newsletter.

DHS "Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide (AUXFOG)"

The ARES E-Letter newsletter tells of an interesting resource document for emergency radio communications.

From:  http://www.publicsafetytools.info/auxfog/start_auxfog_info.php

"The Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide (AUXFOG) is a reference for auxiliary communicators who directly support backup emergency communications for State/local public safety entities or for an amateur radio organization supporting public safety.

This reference guide contains information about AuxComm best practices, frequently used radio frequencies, Mutual Aid channels as well as tips and suggestions about auxiliary emergency communicators integrating into a NIMS ICS environment to support communications for planned events or incidents. It can serve as a reference both for auxiliary emergency communicators and public safety communications professionals. You can download the AUXFOG by clicking on the hyperlink to the left and save it to your own storage device. It will only download as a PDF.

While printed copies are not available from DHS, you may download an electronic copy to print as many hard copies as desired. Please note that if you modify the document in any way, such as by adding information specific to your organization or area, you must remove the DHS seal unless you receive permission from the DHS Office of Public affairs to use it."

Copies can be downloaded from:

http://www.publicsafetytools.info/view_files/view_file.php?fileName=AUXFOG_21_November_2013.pdf

Moderator

The Death of the Traditional Telephone System?

Here's the information:

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/01/the-telephone-network-is-obsolete-get-ready-for-the-all-ip-telco/

I'd be very interested to hear what those of you who know the existing phone system have to say.

Many of us keep copper pair connections POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) connections at additional expense as they are believed to be more reliable that either Cellular or Internet connections.  When we get the Big One, there is a chance at least some of the POTS will survive -- at least until the battery runs out. 

The chances of the cell network or Internet surviving are slim...

US Fire Administration Releases Civilian Fire Fatility Report

Here's a link to the US Fire Administration /FEMA Civilian Fire Fatalities in Residential Buildings (2008-2010) Report.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/media/press/2012releases/031412.shtm

It's pretty much what you would expect, but there are some interesting facts included. According to the report:

Ninety-two percent of all civilian fatalities in residential building fires involve thermal burns and smoke inhalation.

The leading specific location where civilian fire fatalities occur in residential buildings is the bedroom (55 percent).

Fifty percent of civilian fire fatalities in residential buildings occur between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This period also accounts for 47 percent of fatal fires.

Thirty-six percent of fire victims in residential buildings were trying to escape at the time of their deaths; an additional 35 percent were sleeping.

"Other unintentionally set, careless" actions and "smoking" (each accounting for 16 percent) are the leading causes of fatal residential building fires.

Approximately 44 percent of civilian fatalities in residential building fires are between the ages of 40 and 69. Thirteen percent of the fire fatalities in residential buildings were less than 10 years old.

Two interesting facts that seem to be missing --

How many fatalities were in structures that had working smoke alarms? My guess is not very many. Smoke alarms usually give occupants enough warning to wake up and get out of the structure safely.

How many fatalities were in structures that had working fire sprinklers? My guess is none. Other than a firefighter that was killed by a structural collapse caused by water loading while fighting a fire, I don't recall every hearing of a fatality in a dwelling what was equipped with fire sprinklers.

Moderator

Firefighters Rescue Female Trapped in Burning Van Nuys Apartment

This is how it's supposed to work. Fortunately, it did this time.

Moderator

From: lafd listmaster

1. Firefighters Rescue Female Trapped in Burning Van Nuys Apartment

Posted by: "lafd listmaster" lafdlistmaster@lacity.org losangelesfiredepartment

Sat Mar 3, 2012 5:50 pm (PST)

For Updated Information Please Refer to http://www.lafd. org/blog. htm

Greater Alarm Fire
15440 W Sherman Wy
Van Nuys
Saturday, March 3, 2012
TIME: 4:56 AM
INCIDENT #: 0193

VAN NUYS - Just before 5 AM on Saturday March, 3rd, 2012, Los Angeles Firefighters rescued a 19 year-old female trapped in a bathroom, inside her burning apartment.

Firefighters rushed with lights and sirens to 15440 West Sherman Way, where they found a large three-story apartment building with smoke beginning to pour out from one unit on the second floor.

Meanwhile a young college student, who described herself as a, "deep sleeper", curtly awoke to the sound of smoke alarms echoing, alerting her of a fire. When she instinctively opened her bedroom door to the living room, she said it was, "ablaze". Using her cell phone, she immediately dialed 9-1-1. The call was received at LAFD's new Metro Fire Communications where a scared woman was heard stating, "smoke is flooding my bedroom and I can't get out!" After determining her address, where she was inside the residence, and that she was unable to get to a window, the 9-1-1 Firefighter/ Dispatcher instructed her to close the door, and get away from the fire. Over the next few minutes, life saving advice was provided.

Unable to escape, it was determined that a bathroom connected to her bedroom was the safest place to find shelter. As black smoke rapidly crept in, she was instructed to place wet towels around the door and in the cracks, to diminish it's deadly threat. Shortly thereafter, through sporadic coughing, and smoke stung eyes, she confided in the dispatcher, "Oh my God, I'm terrified". The dispatcher reassured her that firefighters were outside and running to her apartment, then stated, "I'm going to stay on the phone with you until they find you." She was then instructed to place a wet towel over her nose and face to filter smoke and lay flat on the ground to find clean air.

Concurrently, firefighters rushing to her aid were notified exactly where the trapped victim was located, expediting her rescue. A drop bag operation was swiftly executed to bring hose-lines to the second story. Firefighters then broke through the front door, battled the intense flamesand performed an immediate search of the 1,000 square-foot apartment, and rescued the woman in a matter of minutes. She stated, "They were wearing masks and had flashlights. It was like a movie."

She was safely rushed outside and compassionately treated by Firefighter/Paramedics, then transported to Valley Presbyterian Hospital as a precaution. Later that day she was without injury or medical complaint and stated, "I'm so happy to be alive".

Under the command of Battalion Chief Hayden,75 firefighters fully extinguished the blaze in just 22 minutes. The bulk of the fire was in the living room and kitchen. The cause of this early morning blaze, is undetermined, possibly electrical in nature. The dollar loss is estimated at $40,000 ($20,000 structure and $15,000 contents).

Due to the amount smoke and fire, the woman would not have survived if it were not for three important things:

1) Functional smoke alarms providing early fire detection, and time to call 9-1-1.
2) Listening to the 9-1-1 Firefighter/ Dispatcher' s lifesaving instructions.
3) The outstanding work of trained Los Angeles firefighters.

The young woman's first name is, Blessing.

Submitted by Erik Scott , Spokesman Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
500 E. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 485-5162

Emergency Public Information (EPI) Center

*"Serving with Courage, Integrity and Pride"

*Home Page: *LAFD.org * News & Info:
LAFD.org/blog
* *

LAFD Deployment Statistics

I apologize for the delay in posting new information to this blog, but I've been working out of town for most of the past few months and very busy, fortunately.

Here's the latest statistics (civilian, not official...) regarding the Los Angeles Fire Department Response times after the first few rounds of cost cutting. As the article points out, these statistics do NOT reflect any changes since the massive redeployment plan of last June 2011. But the trend is in place.

As if we didn't know...

This is not a condemnation of the efforts of the LAFD. I appreciate their efforts and know that they are doing absolutely the best they can. I also know that these cuts are cost driven and being imposed on the LAFD by our government officials.

Here's the link:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/03/la_fire_department_emergency_response_times_increase.php

Your Moderator

How to Lose Your Volunteer Support

This is from the ARES E-Letter for April 20, 2011. It specifically talks about how to damage volunteer support for an ARES program, but it applies to all volunteer groups.

Moderator

Sure-Fire Ways to Kill Your ARES® Program,
by David Coursey, N5FDL

Last month, I offered what I believe are ten ways to grow an ARES® or EMCOMM program. This month, I'll offer a list of ways to do just the opposite. Most are related to leadership.

Politics - If you've been around a while, you've experienced the evil of Amateur Radio politics, often made worse because we're a passionate bunch and nobody really has an important (job, money, family) stake in the debate. ARES® is different. We have a public safety mission and people count on us. We do not have time for politics.

A commitment to community service and mission can fill the vacuum politics would otherwise be drawn into. Before you "start something" or play someone else's games, ask yourself, "Is this really worth it?" Sometimes you'll say "yes," but "no" is often a wiser, long-term decision. The best way to avoid politics is honesty and obvious goodwill.

Failure to communicate and delegate - This is absolutely key. One of the best ways to keep volunteers - arguably the only way - is to give the ones who want something to do a task they can do and want to do. You need to match the task to the volunteer and be careful to match the task and deadline to the volunteer's reliability. Getting others involved is the key to your group's success. Train these people to become your leaders.

Obviously, you need people to know what your plans are, what you need, and what progress is being made. A weekly e-mail is a good way to accomplish this. Monthly is probably too infrequent. If you can't fill at least a short weekly newsletter, you probably are not doing enough to be an active group.

Not loving your volunteers - Hot news: As a leader, you can't accomplish very much working alone. Your job is creating excellent volunteer experiences and keeping your volunteers involved, fulfilled, and happy. If you don't really love your volunteers, not merely respect or like them, but love them, you will fail. Think of your volunteers as an extended family and get them to think of each other the same way. Be the example.

Forgetting to say "Thanks!" - A wise manager once told me that there is really only one thing you can tell a volunteer - "Thanks" - because you can't force them to do anything. Remind your people constantly that their effort are (1) important, (2) make a difference and (3) are appreciated. You need to concentrate on all three.

Failure to apologize - As a leader, you're going to make mistakes. Decisions you make are sometimes going to make people unhappy. You must always weigh the gains made by doing something against the people it will upset and that potential loss. I generally find myself "doing something" while remaining sensitive to the people those actions might upset.

If you follow the adage, "it's easier to apologize than to get permission" then apologies really, really matter. And, you must be successful in the task for this strategy to work. Yet you still risk making permanent enemies.

In general: Apologize - sincerely - early, often, and sometimes even when you might not be wrong. But you must be sincere or this will totally backfire.

Misunderstanding served agencies - This is a topic for an ARRL Handbook-sized essay, but if you don't understand what your agencies need and want, how they function, and what they value, you will not have a good relationship with them. That could be your undoing. Work with multiple agencies to reduce the potential downside.

Not investing in growth - This is absolutely key. I don't care how you do it, but you need to constantly work to sign up and train new members. I am a big fan of ARES® groups and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) working together. See my article in May, 2011 QST for more on that. Do what works in your area, but you may be better off creating new hams than re-recruiting the burnout cases.

Last month, I recommended one-day HamCram licensing events as a growth tool. Not everyone agreed, so here is my response to a HamCram critic. How to do a HamCram? Click here.

Not investing in relationships - The primary job of ARES® leaders isn't radio, it's relationships -- with volunteers, agencies, one another, allied groups, etc. If you put your time and effort into building relationships among people, your communications capabilities will improve by multiples.

Personal burnout - Leaders need to look after one another as well as themselves. If you need help, support, or cheering up, ask for it, especially from the leaders you have created. You can always drop me a note, too.

I'd like to tell you I am an expert at all these things, but it would be a lie. Still, these are what I try to focus on: Excellent volunteer and program management. Members make the ARES® world go 'round. - David Coursey, N5FDL, Contributing Editor (visit his blog http://n5fdl.com/)

"Personal Radio" information

The following link is a good explanation of Citizen's Band Radio, Family Service Radio, and the General Mobile Radio Services -- the three FCC "Personal Radio" services. The emphasis is on CB radio.

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/dashboarding/cb-radios.htm

Thanks to Bill Whitney for forwarding the link to me.

Moderator

Letter to Congressman Burman re: AB 607

The following is my letter to my congressman, Howard L. Berman regarding AB 607

February 24, 2011

The Honorable Howard L. Berman
United States House of Representatives
2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

RE: HR 607

Dear Representative Berman:

I am a registered voter in your district, an Amateur Operator K6JGZ, and an active volunteer for the Los Angeles Fire Department Auxiliary Communications Service. The LAFD ACS provides emergency communications for the LAFD and the City of Los Angeles and your district and is administered by the LAFD. We use the 2 meter and 420 – 440 MHz spectrum to do so. H.R. 607 would take the 420-220 mHz frequencies away from us to be sold for commercial use.

H.R. 607 provides for the reallocation of other spectrum for auction to commercial users in order to offset the loss of revenue anticipated by the auction of the D-Block, including the 420-440 MHz spectrum (the UHF 70-cm band) as part of a frequency swap and auction. We’re already using this portion of the Amateur spectrum for emergency communications. We have our own money invested in emergency communications 420-440 MHz spectrum radios and even more invested in mountaintop repeater systems. Our emergency communication plans use these frequencies and we are trained and prepared to use them whenever necessary. We are already sharing parts of the 440 MHz band with the Federal government for critical defense purposes, including Pave Paws radars for detecting surface-launched missiles aimed at the United States, and for airborne radars used for drug interdiction. The Amateur Service carefully coordinates its uses of this band to insure compatibility. The two services have a very good record of sharing this spectrum successfully, putting it to good use for both military and civilian purposes in the national interest. There is no reason to take this band from us for commercial operators – they have plenty of spectrum, but of course they are lobbying heavily for more so they can charge us to use it.

As a voter in your district, an active emergency communications volunteer, and as one of the nearly 700,000 federally licensed Amateur Radio operators across the nation, I ask that you oppose H.R. 607, the "Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011" in its current form. H.R. 607 was introduced by Congressman Peter King (R-NY) and referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

H.R. 607 proposes to allocate the "D-Block" of frequencies (frequencies previously occupied by analog television) to be developed into an interoperable Public Safety wireless network. Earlier, it had been expected that the D-Block would be auctioned by the FCC for commercial use, but there is now substantial support for the allocation of the D-Block to Public Safety. H.R. 607 also provides for the reallocation of other spectrum for auction to commercial users, in order to offset the loss of revenue anticipated by the auction of the D-Block.

While I strongly support the work of the Public Safety officials who put their lives on the line for our safety, my opposition to the bill stems from the inclusion of the 420-440 MHz spectrum (the UHF 70-cm band) as part of a frequency swap and auction. Very little of this spectrum is allocated to Public Safety, and only in very limited areas. Rather, it is allocated to government radiolocation services on a primary basis, with Amateur Radio allocated on a secondary basis..

Amateur radio emergency communications rely heavily on our limited frequency allocations in the VHF and UHF radio bands. The loss of access to the 420-440 MHz spectrum would make it very difficult for us to maintain this capability and would mean we could no longer use numerous systems that have been constructed on our own time and at personal expense to provide this important communications support.

Amateur Radio operators across the country repeatedly demonstrate our commitment to public service and emergency communications. Through our work with FEMA and other Homeland Security activities, state and local Emergency Management offices, and numerous charitable relief agencies, volunteer Amateur Radio operators assist the first responders, doing so at no cost to the agencies we support. The role of the Amateur Radio Service as a partner to Public Safety in providing supporting public service and emergency communications necessitates our retention of full access to the entire 70-cm band.

We understand and support that Public Safety officials must have the spectrum they need to do their jobs. However, it is not necessary to do so in the ill-conceived manner proposed in this bill. Other pending legislation provides for this important goal to be realized without the proposed reallocation of non-Public Safety spectrum for commercial auction that is included in H.R. 607.

I’m sure you are already aware that the chances of the “Big One” or other natural or manmade disaster disrupting normal communications in the Los Angeles area is highly likely. We stand by ready to help, as we can, with our totally self sufficient battery operated emcomm equipment and we train continuously to provide the best service possible. I urge you to oppose H.R. 607 in its current form.

Thank you for your consideration.


Jonathan G. Zimmerman
K6JGZ / WQKX334
Los Angeles Fire Department Auxiliary Communications Service
LAFD Battalion 14 Communications Group Leader
LAFD ACS – CERT Liaison
Los Angeles Fire Department Community Emergency Response Team Member

AB 607 - Save the 420 - 440 MHz radio spectdrum for Amageur Radio

Once again, commercial interests have prompted a congressman to make an attempt to strip Amateur Radio frequencies way from Amateur Radio Operators and sell them to commercial resellers. Please take a moment to read this, and if you would like to support the effort to save the frequencies for Amateur Emergency Communications use, click on the ARRL link below for further instructions.

Moderator

From the ARRL http://www.arrl.org/hr-607

HR 607

On February 10, 2011, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced H.R. 607, the “Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011,” which has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee (which handles telecommunications legislation). The bill addresses certain spectrum management issues including the creation and maintenance of a nationwide Public Safety broadband network.

As part of that network, the Bill provides for the allocation of the so-called “D-Block” of spectrum in the 700 MHz range for Public Safety use.HR 607 uniquely, provides for the reallocation of other spectrum for auction to commercial users, in order to offset the loss of revenue that would occur as the result of the allocation of the D-Block to Public Safety instead of commercial auction. H.R. 607 lists, among the bands to be reallocated for commercial auction within ten years of the passage of the Bill, the paired bands 420-440 MHz and 450-470 MHz.

The inclusion of most of the Amateur 70-cm spectrum as one of the replacement bands is a major problem. The 420-440 MHz band is not Public Safety spectrum and should not be included in any spectrum swap of Public Safety allocations

While the ARRL and all Amateurs support the work of Public Safety and recognize their need for dedicated spectrum which would promote interoperability, the ARRL vigorously opposes HR 607 in its present form. HR 607 is a direct threat is a direct threat to our limited spectrum and the ARRL encourages all amateurs to appropriately voice their opposition to this bill.

Urban Search and Rescue for CERT and ARES - Stockton, CA

From the ARES E-Letter February 16, 2011

Urban Search for CERT and ARES®

Amateur Radio operators and CERT members can help save lives by learning how to search for missing children and at-risk adults during a one-day training event to be held Saturday, March 19, in Stockton, California.

The "Urban Search for CERT and ARES®" workshop will kickoff creation of a new rapid-response program using Amateur Radio operators and Community Emergency Response Team members as searchers. Volunteers attending the class will become the program's first members.

Taught by leaders of the Alameda County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team, the class will give volunteers the basic skills necessary to safely look for missing kids and at-risk adults in the urban or suburban environment.

The event will be held at the San Joaquin County Agricultural Center, 2105 E. Earhart Ave., Stockton, California, adjacent to the Stockton airport. The event runs from 8 AM until 4 PM. It is sponsored by the Amateur Radio Emergency Service of San Joaquin County. The workshop is open to anyone interested; however, seating is limited and priority will be given to current ARES® and CERT members. You need not be a San Joaquin County resident to attend. There is no fee for the class, although donations will be accepted to support the event and search program.

The workshop marks the second anniversary of the search for Sandra Cantu, an 8-year-old Tracy girl who was abducted near her home on March 27, 2009. Her body was discovered just over a week later. The organizers and instructors were involved in the search for Sandra. While later investigation found the child was likely deceased even before she was noticed to be missing, San Joaquin ARES® hopes this program will make a difference in the lives of children in the future.

Elders with dementia or other cognitive disorders are a second focus of the program. Statistics show that many of these patients will wander from facilities and caregivers. If not found quickly, a significant number will eventually be discovered deceased.

The goal of the program is to, in cooperation with law enforcement, get 10 two-searcher teams on-scene within one hour of notification. Such a response would dramatically increase the resources available to search for the missing person. For additional information, please contact David Coursey, N5FDL, ARES® Emergency Coordinator, San Joaquin County, California

CERT Communications Plan

For the past year your Moderator has been working on a Radio Communications Plan for the Los Angeles Fire Department Community Emergency Response Teams (LAFD-CERT) here in Los Angeles. The plan is now finished and tested and available for distribution.

The LAFD-CERT Radio Communications Plan and related informative materials is available here:

http://www.cert-la.com/radio/commplan.htm

If you or your Emergency Response organization would like to use these materials, please let me know. If you do use the plan and you are in or near the Los Angeles or Southern California area, we would ask that you do not use the frequencies we have chosen for our area.

If you have any questions or comments or suggestions for this plan, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Your Moderator
Jonathan Zimmerman K6JGZ

FCC Modifies Amateur Rules to Allow Participation in Disaster and Emergency Drills on Behalf of an Employer without a Waiver

Here, hopefully, is the last word on the subject. Amateur Radio Operators who use their Amateur skills to practice emergency communications during drills and exercises are now allowed to do so -- even if they are paid employees of the organization, like a hospital or government, that may benefit.

From ARRL.org 07/16/2010

In a Report and Order (R&O) released Wednesday, July 14, the FCC amended Part 97.113 to allow amateurs to participate without an FCC waiver in government-sponsored disaster preparedness drills on behalf of their employers participating in the exercise. The FCC also has amended the rules to allow employees to participate in non-government drills and exercises up to one hour per week and up to two 72-hour periods during the year.

“Experience has shown that amateur operations can and have played an essential role in protecting the safety of life and property during emergency situations and disaster situations,” the FCC noted in the R&O. “Moreover, the current Amateur Radio Service rules, which permit participation in such drills and tests by volunteers (ie, non-employees of participating entities), reflect the critical role Amateur Radio serves in such situations. However, as evidenced by recent waiver requests, state and local government public safety agencies, hospitals and other entities concerned with the health and safety of citizens appear to be limited in their ability to conduct disaster and emergency preparedness drills, because of the employee status of Amateur Radio licensees involved in the training exercises. We therefore amend our rules to permit amateur radio operators to participate in government-sponsored emergency and disaster preparedness drills and tests, regardless of whether the operators are employees of the entities participating in the drill or test. We find that extending authority to operate amateur stations during such drills will enhance emergency preparedness and response and thus serve the public interest.”

In order to allow participation in non-governmental disaster drills -- such as those sponsored by ARES® or private hospitals -- the FCC will now allow amateurs employed by an agency participating in such a drill to participate up to one hour per week. In addition, they may also participate in up to two exercises in any calendar year, each for a time period not to exceed 72 hours. “This time limitation, which is consistent with the timeframes contained in the waiver requests filed with the Commission, should serve to further ensure the use of Amateur Radio for bona fide emergency testing,” the R&O stated. “We emphasize that the purpose for any drills we authorize herein must be related to emergency and disaster preparedness. By limiting the purpose in this manner, we further ensure that such drills will be appropriately limited.”

In amending the Amateur Radio rules, the FCC reiterated that it does not intend to disturb the core principle of the Amateur Radio Service “as a voluntary, non-commercial communication service carried out by duly authorized persons interested in radio technique with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. Rather, we believe that the public interest will be served by establishing a narrow exception to the prohibition on transmitting amateur communications in which the station control operator has a pecuniary interest or employment relationship, and that such an exception is consistent with the intent of the Amateur Radio Service rules.”

The effective date of the R&O is to be determined and will be at some time after its publication in the Federal Register. A more detailed story will be forthcoming from the ARRL.

Dangerous "Pop Bottle" Bombs made from common household chemicals

"Pop Bottle" bombs are appearing that can seriously hurt and maim those who disturb them. These are similar to the 'dry ice' type of plastic soda bottle bombs that have been found in the past, but are potentially much more dangerous due the caustic nature of the chemicals.

See: http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/bottlebomb.asp

Jonathan
K6JGZ
Moderator

FCC Proposed Rulmaking re "Employees" during Emergency Communications Drills

Read all about it here:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-45A1.doc

Moderator

Drop, Cover, Hold On

DATE: 04/05/2010

MESSAGE: Recently, I have received several emails from people asking if, when there is an earthquake, they should stand or lie down near a sofa or get underneath a doorway.

Official rescue teams from the U.S. and other countries who have searched for trapped people in collapsed structures around the world, as well as emergency managers, researchers, and school safety advocates, all agree that "Drop, Cover, and Hold On" is the appropriate action to reduce injury and death during earthquakes.

Methods like standing in a doorway, running outside, and "triangle of life" method are considered dangerous and are not recommended.

See http://www.dropcoverholdon.org/ and http://www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/step5.html

Please share this information with your families, friends, neighborhoods and businesses.

Also, go to http://www.shakeout.org/ and sign up for the Great California ShakeOut on October 21 at 10:21 a.m.

Linda Underwood for www.cert-la.com

Engineering Lessons Learned from the Chile Earthquake

The New York Times
March 28, 2010
Op-Ed Contributor


Shake, Rattle, Seattle
By PETER YANEV

AS an engineer who advises companies on how to make their buildings survive earthquakes, I have visited the aftermath of nearly every key quake since 1970, observing how new and old buildings have performed when the ground shook beneath them. I try to learn from each new disaster how to change our design techniques, construction practices and building codes to reduce future losses of life and damage. From my perspective, the shock that hit Chile in February was the most important earthquake of the last 100 years.

It was the first mega-quake, its magnitude near 9, to strike a developed country with rigorous building codes. Modern cities full of state-of-the-art buildings were tested by intense ground-shaking that lasted about 120 seconds — compared to about 40 seconds for the 1906 and 20 seconds for the 1989 San Francisco earthquakes, which had magnitudes of 7.9 and 6.9, respectively. Despite Chile’s exacting construction codes, which often exceed those of California and Japan, the performance of numerous high-rise buildings was worryingly poor.

We engineers and seismologists need to gather and study as much data as we can from Chile’s quake. But one thing is already clear: based on the kind of damage that buildings suffered in Chile, tall structures in the earthquake zones of the United States appear to be at much higher risk than we thought. This lesson should be of obvious concern to San Francisco and Los Angeles. But it is actually the Pacific Northwest that is most vulnerable to a mega-quake like Chile’s.

Just off Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia sits the 600-mile-long Cascadia fault. Like the Nazca tectonic plate that caused the quake and tsunami in Chile, Cascadia can produce temblors with magnitudes of 9 or greater, more powerful than anything we’ve experienced or expect from California’s famous San Andreas fault.

Cascadia’s last mega-quake, in January 1700, was approximately as large as Chile’s; it caused a tsunami that pummeled Japan. Many seismologists believe the Pacific Northwest is overdue for another mega-quake. Yet in cities like Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, Ore., hardly any building is designed to withstand such a huge jolt.

That is precisely why it is so important to understand what happened in Chile, which has a history of huge earthquakes. The previous one, in 1960, had a magnitude of 9.5 and caused widespread destruction. Chileans responded with better construction codes, better structural and earthquake engineering; buildings were made with massive reinforced concrete frames and backed by numerous reinforced concrete walls, called shear walls. However, over the last decade, more fanciful architecture and financial pressure to reduce costs have resulted in new buildings with fewer and more slender shear walls.

In Concepción, an industrial city closer to the epicenter, those terrifying two minutes left 20 percent of buildings 15 or more stories tall damaged beyond repair. Most of the failed buildings were new; several were still for sale. These buildings had fewer shear walls than older Chilean structures, but they were still stiffer and stronger than many buildings in California.

Another major lesson comes out of Santiago, an area of relatively weak shaking. There, a large, high-end office development called Ciudad Empresarial was still under construction when the quake hit. Again, the buildings of Ciudad Empresarial were a lot like trendy offices in Silicon Valley, cheaper and more flexible than the structural designs usually found in Chile.

The buildings themselves were largely undamaged, or suffered only moderate damage. But many of the interior architectural features — suspended ceilings, expensive finishes, interior partitions, heating and ventilating equipment, air-conditioning ducts and some of the water piping — were utterly destroyed. If the earthquake had occurred during the workday, the damage would have caused many casualties.

Construction codes are based on the probability of earthquakes striking a region. That means Seattle’s buildings, for example, are designed for roughly half of the earthquake loads of buildings in San Francisco or Los Angeles, because earthquakes occur roughly half as often in Seattle as in California’s cities. But the result is that Pacific Northwest cities are full of buildings with slender structural frames and fewer and smaller shear walls. In a mega-quake, many of the region’s iconic tall buildings would probably collapse. The loss of life and property from such a disaster would be far worse than the damage and death suffered in Chile.

It is only a matter of time before a quake like the one in 1700 happens again in the Pacific Northwest — perhaps tomorrow, or not for 20, 50, 100 years. We do not know that precisely. But we do know that the earthquake will happen. Are we ready? No, we are not. Not in California, and definitely not in the Pacific Northwest.

Peter Yanev, the author of “Peace of Mind in Earthquake Country,” runs a structural engineering and earthquake consulting firm.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Proposed New FCC Rules-Amateurs During Disasters

Amateur operators need to guard their frequencies from commercial use or we will lose them to commercial interests with vastly more lobbying money than we have. But the following proposed rule changes could be a good thing.

Under current rules Amateur Operators who happen to work for a commercial operation like a hospital or a city or a fire department can not legally use their amateur operating skills or equipment in any operation that furthers the interest of that organization -- even in a communications emergency. For instance, an Amateur operator who is an administrator for a hospital could not legally pass emergency traffic for the hospital on the amateur bands during a disaster, when any other Amateur could. This rule deserves a new look.

Moderator

From the ARRL Letter for March 25, 2010

FCC News: FCC Issues Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Government Disaster Drills and Amateur Radio

On March 24, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposing to amend the Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules "with respect to Amateur Radio operations during government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster readiness drills and tests." While current rules provide for Amateur Radio use during emergencies, the rules prohibit communications where the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. In October 2009, the FCC released a Public Notice clarifying the Commission's rules relating to the use of Amateur Radio by licensed amateurs participating in drills and exercises on behalf of their employers. To date, the FCC has granted several dozen waivers under this new policy.

The FCC notes that while there are some exceptions to this prohibition, "there is none that would permit amateur station control operators who are employees of public safety agencies and other entities, such as hospitals, to participate in drills and tests in preparation for such emergency situations and transmit messages on behalf of their employers during such drills and tests." Based on that, the Commission proposes to amend the rules to provide that, under certain limited conditions, Amateur Radio operators may transmit messages during emergency and disaster preparedness drills, regardless of whether the operators are employees of entities participating in the drill. Read more here.

ACS-CERT Communications Plan

Over the past year, at the request of the Los Angeles Fire Department CERT administrator, a number us us, with guidance of LAFD ACS Administrator and City Radio Officer Capt. Nida have developed a ACS-CERT Communications Plan. The plan is currently in the testing stage and, so far, seems to be working will. As the plan progresses, I will keep those of you who read this blog informe and hope to include the plan here for your comments.

Moderator

Appropriate Use of Amateur Radio

It Seems to Us: Appropriate Use: Guidelines and Waivers

Original text at: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2009/12/01/11193/

By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Chief Executive Officer

December 01, 2009

For the final time this year, we again take up the issue of the appropriate use of Amateur Radio: the extent to which radio amateurs may (and should) provide communications on behalf of others, particularly their employers.

The Amateur Radio Service has a well-deserved reputation for taking the FCC rules seriously, so it is not surprising that the subject of "pecuniary interest" has attracted a lot of attention and discussion. The relevant rules have not changed since 1993, but recent years have seen growing interest in the use of Amateur Radio as an alternative, supplemental, or backup communications medium by commercial, non-profit and government entities. When those rules changes were adopted, that was not the expectation.

In 1993 the FCC concluded that, while it is important to avoid exploitation of the amateur service, "[t]he capabilities of modern mobile communication services have all but eliminated the incentive to use the amateur service instead of those services." The Commission found that the rules then in effect "hamper amateur operators from serving the public as well as diminish the value of the amateur service in satisfying personal communication needs." Accordingly, the rules were amended to give amateur licensees greater flexibility. The FCC declined the ARRL's request for anecdotal examples of permitted and prohibited communications, preferring to "rely on the amateur service's traditions of self-regulation and cooperation between licensees, the cornerstone of the amateur service, to determine whether specific communications should be transmitted on amateur service frequencies."

In September 1993 we editorialized that the rules changes "remove the ambiguities that have plagued public-service communications for the past two decades and have generated endless hair-splitting discussions about whether particular communications were permitted." That proved to be the case for a decade and a half until -- in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina -- Amateur Radio came to be viewed as a communications solution by a growing number of businesses and other organizations. On this page in April we noted that "there are limits to what an amateur can do on behalf of his or her employer" but did not go into detail since the rules seemed rather clear, as did the FCC's desire not to answer questions about exactly what is permitted and what is not.

By the time of the July 2009 meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors, the FCC had been asked enough questions by amateurs -- and had given answers that apparently were unexpected -- that quite a controversy was developing about the appropriate uses of Amateur Radio. As explained on this page in September, an ad-hoc committee was put to work to develop suggested guidelines. The committee delivered the guidelines and recommendations for further ARRL action to the ARRL Executive Committee, which made some edits and scheduled a conference call of Board members to discuss the nine-page document. By subsequent mail vote the Board adopted the guidelines and recommendations and approved the release of the document, which was put on the ARRL Web site on September 25 (see www.arrl.org/news/files/ARRL_AppropriateUseGuidelines.pdf).

The main purpose of the document, entitled Commercialization of Amateur Radio: The Rules, The Risks, The Issues, is to educate amateurs and the organizations we serve about what the FCC rules permit us to do and to assist amateurs in making reasoned decisions about the appropriateness of services we may offer to organizations in our communities. While there are only two narrow exceptions to the "no communications on behalf of an employer" rule, neither of which applies to disaster relief, the guidelines note that "paid emergency personnel who are licensed amateurs and who find themselves needing to use Amateur Radio in disaster relief operations can rely on the Commission's statements that they may do so." However, this applies only to actual disaster relief operations and not to training exercises or drills.

On the subject of what communications are appropriate for volunteers to provide on behalf of businesses and other organizations, the guidelines note that such communications by volunteers are legal as long as they are not conducted on a regular basis and otherwise comply with the rules. Organizations that envision using Amateur Radio volunteers on a regular basis should be referred instead to other radio services and communications systems. A good rule of thumb for other requests is, "Who benefits?" If the public is the principal beneficiary, then the basis and purpose of the Amateur Radio Service is being fulfilled. If the entity itself and not the general public is the principal beneficiary, then the use of other services should be encouraged.

In introducing the guidelines, ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN -- who chaired the ad-hoc committee -- observed that they "are not intended to be the last word on the subject, and surely will not be." Little more than three weeks later the FCC fulfilled that prophecy by issuing a Public Notice, DA 09-2259, to emphasize that the rules prohibiting communications on behalf of an employer apply to emergency preparedness and disaster drills. The Public Notice entertains waiver requests from government entities (and only government entities) conducting such drills. The requests must be in writing and must include the information listed in the article on page 59 of this issue. Use the following address: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, 445 12th St SW, Washington, DC 20554, Attn: Scot Stone. The government entity may send a copy of its request by e-mail to Scot.Stone@fcc.gov, but we have been advised that this is not a substitute for submission of the waiver request on paper.

We understand there are petitions for rulemaking being drafted to address perceived shortcomings in the existing rules. The ARRL Board has taken no position on possible rules changes, but the subject is likely to occupy the Board's attention between now and its January 2010 meeting. As always, your own Division Director (see page 15) will be interested in your thoughts.

ARRL Appropriate Use Guidelines

Here's the ARRL's response to the current debate on the appropriate use of Amateur Radio Frequencies.


http://www.arrl.org/news/files/ARRL_AppropriateUseGuidelines.pdf

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday: Emergency Operations

From Nonbovine Ruminations by Kelly Martin

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Mayday, mayday, mayday: Emergency operations

Quite a lot of people get into amateur radio for the purpose of emergency communications. There are two meanings to that phrase, too, and it's important to keep them straight. The first, "emergency communications", is the provision of communication assistance during an "emergency"; that is, responding to a station in distress and, based on the ensuing communication, providing assistance directly or dispatching others to provide assistance. The second is more strictly a "communications emergency", which is when an emergency situation cause (or is likely to cause) a failure or breakdown of ordinary communications systems. Amateur radio operators have specific powers and duties in both of these situations. Providing emergency communication is one of the declared purposes of the amateur radio service, so hams should have some understanding of these powers and responsibilities.

Amateurs are, generally speaking, not permitted to communicate with stations in other services using their amateur radio station. This includes the licensed-by-rule Family Radio, General Mobile Radio, Citizen's Band, or Multi-Use Radio services. Even though all of these services are available to anyone (other than a representative of a foreign country) who possesses the appropriate equipment, hams are not exempted from the requirements in these services to use type-accepted equipment and hams who wish to operate in these services must ordinarily meet these same equipment limitations and requirements as any non-ham would. Nor may a ham use his or her equipment to communicate with public safety entities. There are, of course, exceptions to this general rule, almost entirely for emergency situations.

There are three major exceptions for "emergency" situations: First, an amateur may use any means of radiocommunication at his or her disposal in order to provide essential communications needs during an emergency which immediately threatens human life or property, when other forms of communication are unavailable or disrupted. Second, an amateur station which is actually in distress ("distress" also being a term of art which in this case means "in immediate threat of loss of life or serious permanent injury") may use any means at its disposal to attract attention and obtain assistance. Third, an amateur station who is aware of a station in distress may respond to that station in distress or make any other communications necessary to obtain assistance for that station in distress, even if that would involve transmitting to stations outside the amateur service or using frequencies not authorized to the amateur.

These exceptions are to be construed very narrowly, in practice. The communications must be "essential", the threat to life or property must be "immediate", and other forms of communication must be "unavailable". Don't use this one lightly; if you have a choice between running next door to use their phone to call 911 or transmitting on the local fire department's general frequency, please go next door and call 911. This is intended as an absolute last resort "when all else fails", not an option to used when other options are merely inconvenient. Similarly, if you are monitoring, say, the marine HF bands and you hear a Mayday call, do not immediately respond; you might interfere with other ships or the Coast Guard responding. Only if you do not hear a response, or if the calling station repeats the call (instead of responding to a response to their Mayday call) should you "unlock" your gear and respond to the calling station, or relay the call.

In addition, the FCC may declare a "communications emergency" when a disaster causes the loss of normal communications in an area. During such a declaration, amateurs must refrain from using any frequencies designated in the disaster declaration unless they are actively involved in providing assistance. Such declarations are common during major disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, which tend to disrupt normal communications. The FCC may also authorize amateurs involved in providing assistance to use frequencies other than those which are normally available to amateurs, or to communicate with stations not in the amateur service, during a communications emergency; amateurs are required to comply with the directions of the FCC and its Field Engineers in such situations.

Outside of an FCC declaration of an emergency, no frequencies are reserved for emergency communication; there is no amateur equivalent of CB channel 9 or marine channel 16. In general, the best frequencies to use for declaring an emergency in the amateur bands would be the various national calling frequencies, because there's a better chance that someone will be listening on one of these. However, emergency traffic always takes priority over non-emergency traffic, on all frequencies and at all times.

It should go without saying that if you hear a station calling with an emergency (for which the most proper method to call "Mayday" three times, followed by identification) any non-emergency communications on the same frequency must immediately suspend until the emergency is resolved. At the very least, do not interfere with emergency communications, and to the extent that you are able, you should assist the station in distress. (But avoid creating confusion; listen closely and think before you transmit.) You should always assume that a declaration of emergency is real; if it's not, the station calling the emergency is the one on the hook for making a false distress call. In the United States, making a false distress call is a federal felony; offenders will almost certainly lose their FCC licenses, and will face stiff fines (in one recent instance, $45,000) and even the possibility of prison time, so don't do that.

This post has been brought to you by pool questions T1C03, T8A01, T8A02, T8A03, T8A04, T8A06, T8A08, T8A09, T8A10, T8A11, T8A12, T8B08, T8B11, and T8C01.

More on the Who is Broadcasting For Hire Issue

FCC Issues First Waiver for Government-Sponsored Disaster Drill

From the ARRL Amateur Radio News, October 28, 2009


On Tuesday October 27, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) granted the first waiver that allows amateurs who participate in a government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster drill to communicate on behalf of their employers during the drill. The waiver request was made on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That state will be conducting a full-scale exercise on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 from 8 AM-5 PM (EDT) to test their emergency response to the possible release of chemical agents at Blue Grass Army Depot, located near Richmond, Kentucky.

"The waiver request was what could almost be termed a 'textbook example' of the process," said ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. "The waiver request met all of the criteria outlined in the Commission's recent Public Notice DA 09-2259: A government-sponsored drill, the specifics of when and where the event would happen, the identification of the amateur licensees that would be providing communications on behalf of their employers, the identification of the employers and a brief description of the drill. With all of the requirements in order, the WTB was able to turn the waiver around promptly, allowing the amateurs involved to participate in the exercise."

It is important to note that while this particular waiver -- the first issued under the new guidelines -- could be readily handled within the short time frame, Henderson suggests that government agencies wishing to request similar waivers in the future provide sufficient lead-time for their requests. "I wouldn't recommend that a waiver request be filed at the last minute," he said. "The Kentucky waiver had the benefit of being the first one -- meaning there was no lag time in processing. It also had the advantage of easily meeting all of the requirements, making it an easier decision. I would encourage government agencies to file the waiver request as soon as they know which amateurs will need to be included in the waiver. This will allow the FCC as much lead time as possible. I am not certain they will be in a position to expedite last-minute requests."

More information on Public Notice DA 09-2259 can be found on the ARRL Web site.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Greater Than Originally Thought

The following was sent to ACS members from ACS Member Marty Woll N6VI. Very interesting material and I suggest you also view the video link.

Moderator

To all ACS members:

The October 6 issue of Tech Beat from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reports on a study suggesting that carbon monoxide poisoning from power-generator exhaust is much greater than previously thought. The report recommends increasing the generator-to-dwelling distance to as much as 25 feet and being alert to such factors as air circulation patterns, wind direction and points of ingress into the dwelling unit (which could be a tent or RV as well as a house). Here's the link

http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2009_1006.htm#generator

Please read this article and keep its safety principles in mind.

73,

Marty

Marty Woll N6VI
Vice-Director, ARRL Southwestern Division
Ass't DEC, ARESLAX
BCUL 15 & Training Officer, LAFD ACS
CERT III

AMATEUR SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS DURING GOVERNMENT DISASTER DRILLS

Well, this explains it -- sort of.

Moderator

PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications
Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
News Media Information: 202-418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
DA 09-2259

Released: October 20, 2009

AMATEUR SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS DURING GOVERNMENT DISASTER DRILLS

Transmissions by amateur stations participating in government disaster drills must comply with all applicable amateur service rules. While the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communications service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications, is one of the underlying principles of the amateur service,

1 the amateur service is not an emergency radio service. Rather, it is a voluntary, non-commercial communication service authorized for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by licensed persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.

2 State and local government public safety agencies occasionally conduct emergency preparedness or disaster drills that include amateur operations. Some entities, such as hospitals, emergency operations centers, and police, fire, and emergency medical service stations, have expressed interest in having their employees who are amateur station operators participate in these drills by transmitting messages on the entity’s behalf. The Commission’s Rules, however, specifically prohibit amateur stations from transmitting communications “in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer.”

3 Given the public interest in facilitating government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster drills, we take this opportunity to provide a clear process for requesting a waiver, and the information that we require in order to consider granting such a request.

4 Waiver requests should be submitted to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau by the government entity
conducting the drill, and must provide the following information:

(1) when and where the drill will take place;

(2) identification of the amateur licensees expected to transmit amateur communications on behalf of their employers;

(3) identification of the employers on whose behalf they will be transmitting; and

(4) a brief description of the drill. We emphasize that the filing of a waiver request does not excuse compliance with the rules while that request is pending. The waiver must be requested prior to the drill, and employees may not transmit amateur communications on their employer’s behalf unless the waiver request has been granted.

In an actual emergency, the Commission’s Rules provide that an amateur station may use any means of radio communication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection

1 See 47 C.F.R. § 97.1(a). See also Recommendations of the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks, Order, EB Docket No. 06-119; WC Docket No. 06-63, 22 FCC Rcd 10541, 10576 ¶ 111 (2007) (noting that the amateur radio community played an important role in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters).

2 See 47 C.F.R. § 97.3(a)(4).

3 See 47 C.F.R. § 97.113(a)(

Who can operate an Amateur Radio?

There has been some confusion recently on who is legally authorized to operate an Amateur Radio, and when others can use one in an emergency. Here's a link from the American Radio Relay League that explains it.

http://www.arrl.org/news/files/ARRL_AppropriateUseGuidelines.pdf

Moderator