BASEHOR, Kan. - In these days of federal, state, and local public services funding cuts, there is a great deal of activity centered around citizens helping themselves during natural or man-made disasters. When public services fail, citizens must be prepared to "do it themselves."
When you mention emergency coordination for widespread disasters, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA usually come to mind. But there is another group of people with a long history of emergency service -- and one that predates DHS and FEMA by several decades. And that group is amateur radio operators.
In these days of instant, always-on communication, amateur radio seems quaint. The image of tottering old geezers sitting in their basements tinkering with tube radios is one of the more humorous stereotypes. Amateur radio is anything but. Consider the following:
- There are more than 728,000 radio amateurs in the U.S. who hold FCC licenses
- There are more than 7500 licensed radio amateurs in Kansas
- The largest number of licensees, and the largest growth area, is at the entry-level license category (Technician)
The steady increase in interest for amateur radio is manifold, but among the top reasons are dramatic reductions in cost of equipment, and the idea that relying on "the grid" isn't such a smart idea when the grid is vulnerable to tornado, hurricane, flood, fire, earthquake, or intentional destruction. To understand a bit more about why the grid is vulnerable, a little background in modern radio communications is in order.
We've all seen cell towers which dot the landscape every few miles. The towers contain very high frequency (VHF) antennas and receivers which receive the signal, and transmitters which amplify and pass on the cell phone's weak radio signal so that another tower a few miles farther away can repeat the whole process. In fact, that's another name for this equipment: a repeater. These signals are "line of sight," which means that, if you want the signal to carry very far, you must do those two things: amplify the signal, and retransmit it to the next tower which might be below the next horizon due to the curvature of the earth. Cell phones are low-power, hand-held radios which transmit and receive.
So far, so good. But the problem here is twofold:
1.Modern emergency communications used by police, fire, etc. (in addition to cell phones) rely almost totally on equipment which is on cell towers. If the power is gone, or the tower goes down, then communication is disrupted or terminated.
2.The FM radio signals use VHF and ultra high frequency (UHF) as their means of transmission. That makes for radio signals with great clarity, reliability, and absence of static, but VHF and UHF signals won't travel far without...repeaters which amplify and retransmit the signal. That's a grossly simplified explanation, but it will do for now.
Enter the radio amateurs, whose equipment not only transmits on VHF and UHF, but also the old reliable HF (high frequency) AM signals. Amateur radio operators provide a valuable national service, and the FCC recognizes that service by providing a defined radio spectrum for use only by amateurs. Amateurs are tinkerers by nature, with many people constructing and testing their own antennas, transmitters, receivers, and experimenting with novel ways to use radio waves. Amateurs take great pride in being able to "get the signal out" in difficult, dirty, dangerous conditions by setting up their portable equipment and portable antennas, and helping to coordinate communications.
As a result, there is a strong and growing interest in amateur radio licensing from hospitals, police, fire, and Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) because they also realize that, in the event the grid goes down, they must have a backup means of coordinating communications. That interest extends to the installation of ham radio equipment that can be used on a moment's notice when needed.
The National Weather Service's Kansas City Skywarn organization, for example, is made up of over 20 volunteer organizations consisting of amateur radio operators, emergency management volunteers, and civil air patrol members in 15 counties in eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. The coordination of the Skywarn program is done through the Metropolitan Emergency Coordinating Council (MECC), created by all of the groups to provide a better service to the community and to allow for coordination among groups.
The MECC volunteer contingent is made up of amateur radio emergency organizations such as ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) and RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service). These groups provide emergency communications to local, state, and federal agencies, as well as to private organizations like the American Red Cross and Salvation Army in Kansas City and surrounding areas.
The purpose of the MECC is to remove city, county, and state boundaries that often make communications more difficult during a disaster, since disasters don't acknowledge such boundaries and bureaucracies. The MECC allows for organizations such as the National Weather Service and Skywarn to work with one organized body rather than numerous groups, each with their own plan.
The MECC provides a managing committee, technical expertise, and the manpower needed for Skywarn, and to assist in weather-related disasters. Each local radio organization is represented on the committee. Through Skywarn, for example, continuous communication is possible with the Pleasant Hill NWS office, and a team of well-trained amateur radio operators are on call 365 days a year.
There is a myriad of ways that citizens can get involved in helping themselves and their neighborhoods and communities when "official" help is unavailable. We'll look at some of the other ways, including DHS and FEMA initiatives, in future posts.
Thanks, Richard, for the interesting description of Amateur Radio operators and their service to all communities. We owe every one of them a great debt of gratitude. I know some who spent long hours without rest or breaks in situations where there was widespread power outages.