DELARANEWS

ARES

Stan Broadway, N8BHL

Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator

Delaware County Emergency Coordinator

ARES Stays Relevant How do we stay relevant in Delaware County? We certainly have the heart to serve whenever called, and we have the dedication to help our neighbors whenever we can. But why should the EMA or Sheriff or any other agency call on us? The answer is: because we have skills that can be applied to help them achieve their mission. And we acquire those skills by continually training and proving our abilities. Operating in a disaster, a missing search, or even a public service event isn’t something you learn once and magically apply for the rest of our amateur career. It takes constant training, constant ‘thinking’ and practice! We aren’t going to be activated because we simply want to help. We’re going to be activated because we offer valued assistance- and our training does reflect that goal. So far this year, we’ve held training on our own operations manual, fldigi and data messaging, managing events, search and rescue, damage assessment and this month, WebEOC. Coming up we’ll be talking about preparation for the annual Simulated Emergency Test, handling messages, and probably a tabletop of some variety. All these skills are directly applicable to our primary partner agency, the EMA. They will also apply to the Red Cross, and other agencies as needed. Of course, the basics of becoming a member of ARES continue to be the NIMS ICS courses (100, 200, 700, 800) which provide an insight into the management of any emergency from small scale to nationwide. I recommend the new ARRL course EC-001, emergency communications. It’s free, available online, and a good foundation for how we operate as amateurs. Of ALL the courses, my highest recommendation goes to the Auxcomm course. It encompasses a lot- from basic concerns of a volunteer to functions of COML and other disciplines. If you have an idea for some training, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email! We can incorporate the ideas as we move along. Most of all, you are invited to participate in our training- second Thursday of every month at the ARC. On page 1 of the DELARA News is a wrapup of our activity for the Ironman competition held at the end of July. This was a a large activity, with plenty of briefings and planning beforehand. It is one event that is extremely professional in its management. Despite all the planning, accidents do occur…and amateur operators who kept their cool were a big asset in managing the incident. Thanks to all for your professionalism!

Amateur Radio is more than

a hobby- it becomes an

important service when

other forms of

communication fail. It’s up

to all of us to stay ready,

stay trained, and stay

available. We could be

required on a moment’s

notice.

Delaware County ARES is part of the national ARRL program. We rely on our volunteers. We operate during several large public events including the national-level Ironman competition. We hold a radio net on the 145.19 repeater (no tone) on the first Thursday of every month at 8PM. We hold a training meeting on the second Thursday of every month at 7:30 usually at the Red Cross building. All amateurs are invited! For information, contact Stan, N8BHL the Delaware County Emergency Coordinator, or Joe, K8MP or Craig, W8CR.

Ohio SEC Report

Vigilant Guard 2019 It was billed as a major, statewide joint disaster exercise involving the National Guard, Military Reserve, Ohio EMA, and counties everywhere. Here’s how WSYX covered the event: Early planning was a little bumpy for the multi-day exercise, but it boiled down to “throwing the book” at participants in such a large fashion that they would be forced to use alternate means to handle situations. In other words, all the ‘normal’ remedies were not available…so help from neighboring states, other resources and agencies would be required. Precipitated by cyber attacks the greater effect was the loss of power, water and other essential services affecting millions of people in Ohio. Of course, that eventually claimed the Internet, email, telephones and radios… except for amateur radio! For a four hour period, those that operated “The Sarge” expected to handle an onslaught of message traffic. Did that happen? Well, sort of. Honestly, the premise of losing phones and Internet from the Ohio EOC is not realistic- there are multiple carriers and direct satellite access, and the UPS backup power units are redundant. But it was interesting to see participants having to use actual paper forms for mission requests and communication. While The Sarge was able to prove itself on several levels (HF messaging, VHF repeater contact with Licking County, a major player, as well as simplex directly to the Incident Command there) the expected jump in messaging didn’t really happen. For some the reaction was, “What’s amateur radio?” and for others the full potential just wasn’t realized. On the plus side, we actually generated mission requests from the field (“Who are you and how did you get this request??”) and that smoothed out into a productive relationship with Intel that allowed us to work well together for the balance of the exercise. The Sarge received rave reviews from the Director, and proved itself to be a worthy component of the Ohio EOC. In the field, it was busy, realistic, and intense with actor-victims, multiple fires, aircraft coming and going, even dignitaries from other countries who were invited to watch. Licking County was the most active county, since a great deal of the exercise took place at the Ohio Fire Marshall’s Academy. In all, amateur radio was more recognized than ever before as the resource that will continue to function no matter what the conditions. Both government and military confidence in amateur radio was an integral part of the exercise, and ARES showed its stuff successfully!
DELARANews

ARES

Stan Broadway, N8BHL

Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator

Delaware County Emergency Coordinator

ARES Stays Relevant How do we stay relevant in Delaware County? We certainly have the heart to serve whenever called, and we have the dedication to help our neighbors whenever we can. But why should the EMA or Sheriff or any other agency call on us? The answer is: because we have skills that can be applied to help them achieve their mission. And we acquire those skills by continually training and proving our abilities. Operating in a disaster, a missing search, or even a public service event isn’t something you learn once and magically apply for the rest of our amateur career. It takes constant training, constant ‘thinking’ and practice! We aren’t going to be activated because we simply want to help. We’re going to be activated because we offer valued assistance- and our training does reflect that goal. So far this year, we’ve held training on our own operations manual, fldigi and data messaging, managing events, search and rescue, damage assessment and this month, WebEOC. Coming up we’ll be talking about preparation for the annual Simulated Emergency Test, handling messages, and probably a tabletop of some variety. All these skills are directly applicable to our primary partner agency, the EMA. They will also apply to the Red Cross, and other agencies as needed. Of course, the basics of becoming a member of ARES continue to be the NIMS ICS courses (100, 200, 700, 800) which provide an insight into the management of any emergency from small scale to nationwide. I recommend the new ARRL course EC- 001, emergency communications. It’s free, available online, and a good foundation for how we operate as amateurs. Of ALL the courses, my highest recommendation goes to the Auxcomm course. It encompasses a lot- from basic concerns of a volunteer to functions of COML and other disciplines. If you have an idea for some training, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email! We can incorporate the ideas as we move along. Most of all, you are invited to participate in our training- second Thursday of every month at the ARC. On page 1 of the DELARA News is a wrapup of our activity for the Ironman competition held at the end of July. This was a a large activity, with plenty of briefings and planning beforehand. It is one event that is extremely professional in its management. Despite all the planning, accidents do occur…and amateur operators who kept their cool were a big asset in managing the incident. Thanks to all for your professionalism!

ARES

Stan Broadway, N8BHL

Section Emergency Coordinator - Ohio Emergency Coordinator - Delaware County