Mahoning County ARES ® ARES® Informational Overview Wes Boyd W8IZC Mahoning County ARRL® Emergency Coordinator Assistant Emergency Coordinators Dave Brett

Mahoning County ARES®

ARES® Informational OverviewWes Boyd W8IZC

Mahoning County ARRL® Emergency CoordinatorAssistant Emergency Coordinators

Dave Brett KD8NZF (Training)Dotti O’Neil-Meleski KC8SYF (Planning)Frank Sole WB8YHD (Ops & Logistics)Robert Webster KD8OXJ (Ops & Logistics)

2013


FEMA – NIMS Incident Command

04/21/23 Version V1 - KD8OXJ 2


Amateur Radio Emergency Service® StructureLevel Role

Mahoning County

Emergency CoordinatorWes Boyd W8IZC

Assistant Emergency CoordinatorsTraining Dave Brett (KD8NFZ)Planning Dotti O’Neil-Meleski (KC8SYF)Operations and Logistics Frank Sole (WB8YHD)

Robert Webster (KD8OXJ)

04/21/23 Version V1 - KD8OXJ

Ohio

Ohio

MultipleCounties

County

County

3



2013 Mahoning County ARES® Operational Objectives

100% of registered Mahoning County ARES® volunteers• Trained and proficient in clear, effective, and professional emergency communications network operations• Successfully deploy to emergency or disaster scenes within timeframes specified in Memos of Agreements with served agencies• Trained and proficient in the use of radio equipment using VHF repeaters or simplex frequencies (including simplex relay)

30% of registered Mahoning County ARES® volunteers •Trained and proficient in the use of FLDIGI on HF and VHF frequencies

25% of registered Mahoning County ARES® volunteers• Trained and proficient in the role of Net Control and Net Logger

4



Primary Mission: Emergency Communications

in support of and in collaboration with served agencies

ARES® is: An organization chartered by the American Radio Relay League® (ARRL) that includes all licensed Amateur Radio Operators who are willing to serve our communities with emergency communications

ARES® serves: Government agencies, & disaster relief groups in emergencies and disasters, and our community at public service events as chartered by the FCC (CFR 97.1)

ARES® members: Receive training in message handling, communications technologies, administrative procedures and disaster preparedness

Who We Are

5


• No DUES or Membership fees

• Learn Emergency Communications skills

• Learn different modes of communications

• Learn “Message handling” skills

• Fellowship with other Amateurs

• Learn from each other and improve our skills

• Participate in drills and public service events.

USE YOUR AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY !



We are called AMATEURS because FEDERAL (FCC) REGULATIONS mandate we receive NO payment for use of our skill and equipment!

When an emergency occurs and:• Telephone land line & cell phone systems are overloaded or out of service• Commercial electric power is not available due to mass outages • Cable television and internet providers are inoperative

What Can We In Amateur Radio Do?Provide emergency communications & needed skills




The Mahoning County EMA

We also serve:• Local fire and emergency services agencies• Local disaster relief organizations (public and private)

ARES® – Who We Serve

8


Amateur Radio’s Role

Amateur radio provides important communications when normal public service systems are overloaded !

We don’t provide first aid We don’t transport We don’t provide traffic control

We don’t provide any function normally provided by public safety

We support the emergency management community



We do not self-deploy ! There are no exceptions !!

.

Self-deployed volunteers become part of the problem and not part of the solution

Self-deployment only adds unnecessary stress to an already chaotic incident and drains allocated resources.

Volunteers should be proactive and contact their Emergency Coordinator to confirm and verify they have the correct contact information for you.

If volunteers are needed the EMA or a “served agency” will contact ARES which in turn contacts the volunteers which are trained, prepared and available for the situation.

Volunteers should inventory their Basic Deployment Equipment Checklist, and be prepared for Extended (72-Hour) Deployment

REMEMBER: Legal & safety risks exist with self deployment




Protecting Yourself As An ARES® VolunteerRay Fallen (ND8L) – Insurance and an ARES® Volunteer

Ray has been a State Farm Agent in Hubbard, Ohio since February 1988. Ray’s call is ND8L. He has been a ham since 1964 and an Extra since 1983. He is a member of the North Coast Contesters and the K8AZ Multi-Op team. Ray is a “confirmed appliance operator”, contester and DX’er, he has earned 5 BDXCC and DXCC Honor Roll (Mixed).

You can contact Ray at his office in Hubbard on 330.534.8600 or by E-mail at [email protected] • See Ray’s most recent article in QST February 2009: Homeowners Insurance and Your Antenna System

11



Average volunteers with local – non ICS training

12


Rapid Response Team # 1 • Should be prepared to be activated on short notice• Be available “on site” ASAP, typically 30 to 60 minutes• Be prepared to operate upwards of 24 hours• Will most likely be older, retired, and capable volunteers

Rapid Response Team # 2 (will when necessary) • Relieve TEAM # 1 • Be prepared for extended operations of as much as 72 hours

Team members will have a minimum of NIMS 100 and 700, (ARRL EC 001 is suggested)

Recruitment of team members will be a shared duty of the Mahoning County ARES® Planning Committee, and Mahoning County ARES® designated OES station(s) or operators




W8QLY 146.745PL 110.9

KD8DWV 145.270PL 110.9

W8IZC 146.910No PL

N8GO 147.000No PL

W8GMM 146.775 No PL


Systematic methods for handling messaging

Two objectives•Rapid and accurate movement of messages

•Training amateurs to handle written traffic through participation in nets

NTS (National traffic System)



Challenges For Amateurs When An Emergency Is Declared

• Activation with little or no prior warning

• Supporting several key organizations simultaneously

• Dealing with multiple nets and a limited time frame

• Portability and ability to be operational in a short amount of time

• Identify / look for specific stations to contact NOW to pass traffic

• Operations that could continue for days

• Situations that happen in real time

• Ability to work with amateurs and non-amateurs

• Need to improvise / think “on your feet”



Primary responsibility for an event or emergency situation

• Amateurs are there to help, that is the reason ARES exists

Incident Command System• Model for operations • Standardized structure

Responsibility for Public Information• Never make a statement to the media or public about an emergency• Rather – refer to Public Information Officer – PIO• If pressed, you can talk about amateur radio and its role



What Is an Incident?

An incident is . . .an event, natural or human-caused, that requires a response to protect life or property.

West, TEXAS



Beaver Valley Nuclear Facility


Ice Storms and Other Weather Events

Recognized Potential Incident “Sources”

Massive Regional PowerGrid Outages May 31st, 1985

Niles, Oh

19


If this is what we see from a volunteer…the volunteer will be asked to leave & return home

This IS NOT the image ARES wants to show the public!



Essentials Amateur Radio license (COPY), Personal medications

Radio Related Hand-held radio (dual-band preferred), Mobile Radio (if needed), Small Power Supply (for Mobile Radio), Spare Batteries and charger, Headset / Speaker Mic, Mag-mount antenna & ground plane, Coax jumpers and connectors, Assorted adapters (coax / power), Message forms

“Site” Related Folding chair – small table

Computer Related Laptop computer (with FLDIGI), “FLASH” drive, Electrical extension cord(s), (AC and DC), Electrical “power strip”, Small DC to AC inverter

Personal Needs Duct tape and trash bags, Notebook, pen – pencil, Watch or clock, Light – Flashlight, Small toolkit, Maps, Compass / GPS, Food, water (and a thermos), Clothing (jacket, hat, rain gear), Safety Vest - Extra socks, Blanket and tarp, Toilet tissue, Soap, Personal grooming items

Equipment Checklist



EMERGENCY OPERATIONS

SMALL to LARGE



ARES® Informational OverviewWes Boyd W8IZC

Mahoning County ARRL® Emergency CoordinatorAssistant Emergency Coordinators

Dave Brett KD8NZF (Training)Dotti O’Neil-Meleski KC8SYF (Planning)Frank Sole WB8YHD (Ops & Logistics)Robert Webster KD8OXJ (Ops & Logistics)

2013

Documents

Mahoning County ARES ® ARES® Informational Overview Wes Boyd W8IZC Mahoning County ARRL® Emergency Coordinator Assistant Emergency Coordinators Dave Brett