Welcome
Florida
ARES/RACES
Members
AGENDA
Emergency Communications Using Amateur
Radio in Florida
Saturday, June 11, 2004
10:00 – 10:30 Introduction, Welcome
10:30 – 11:30 State EOC Activities – 2004
11:30 – 12:00 State Liaison System
12:00 – 13:15 Lunch – On Your Own
13:15 – Introduction and Review of Plan
Balance – Discussion of Plan
NLT 15:30 – Wrap Up and Close
We’re
GLAD
You’re
Here!
Amateur Radio and
Emergency
Management –
Each Other’s Best
Friends During Times
of Disaster –
If they are talking to
each other.
Amateur Radio
and
Communications Blackouts
Not dependent upon infrastructure
Works without power lines, phone lines,
microwave, internet, towers, cell sites, etc.
Can Go Any Distance
Around the world, across the street, anywhere
in-between
Can Use Any Communications Method
Voice, Digital, Images, Video, Satellite
Has Vast Manpower and Skills Pool
43,407 in Florida, 733,248 Nationwide dedicated
and enthusiastic volunteers.
Moral of Story:
Amateur Radio Operators should be
involved and participate in the entire
planning process for emergency
communications and be included in
every test, drill and exercise of
emergency management functions and
responsibilities.
Emergency Management officials at the
City, County and State levels must be
aware of the capabilities of Amateur
Radio and recognize Amateur Radio as a
valuable member of the Emergency
Management team
My Favorite
Quote:
“Trying to organize
amateur radio
operators is a lot like
trying to herd cats”
J. Fleming, 1962
And here’s what
usually happens when I
try to herd cats
or
Then, sometimes I am the
cat
Moral of Story:
If Amateur Radio is going to be a
player in emergency communications,
do your organization, planning,
training and program development
before the fact.
The time to plan
is not during
the event.
Amateur Radio Resources
1. ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency
Services)
County Amateur Radio Emergency Coordinator
Local Amateur Radio Club
ARRL (American Radio Relay League)
County, District or Section Leadership
http://www.arrl.org
2. RACES (Radio Amateur Civil
Emergency Services)
Civil Defense Legacy, Some Active Groups,
County Emergency Management Agency
http://www.races.net/
ARES vs. RACES
ARES – Utilizes existing American
Radio Relay League (ARRL) membership
structure and organization, similar
policies and procedures nationwide,
strong leadership structure, all
volunteers, self-administered, 100’s of
groups statewide
RACES – Legacy program from cold war,
circa 1948, no longer supported by FEMA
or FCC, requires very strong leadership
from local groups and constant input by
local EMA, less than 10 groups active in
Florida
ARES vs. RACES
It’s up to you and your
local group which to
support and operate, some
communities have
supported both and some
have created their own
Auxiliary Communications
System
Emergency Managers:
Talk to your ARES Emergency Coordinator,
learn the capabilities of amateur radio and what
it can do to enhance your emergency
communications during times of disaster,
communications blackouts and special events.
Amateur Operators:
Talk to your local Emergency Management
Coordinator, get to know their requirements and
how you fit in the overall emergency
communications plans. Demonstrate what you
can do.
You are communicators.
COMMUNICATE !
Amateur Radio
and
Amateur Radio
Operators
America’s First
Emergency Responders
WEST PANHANDLE DISTRICT
CAPITAL DISTRICT
Gadsden
Washington
Calhoun
Leon
Bay
Liberty
Wakulla
EAST PANHANDLE DISTRICT
Gulf Franklin
NORTHERN FLORIDA SECTION
Jefferson
Hamilton
Madison
Suwannee
Taylor
Nassau
Baker
Duval
CROWN DISTRICT
Union
Clay
Bradford
Lafayette
StJohns
Franklin
Gilchrist
Alachua Putnam
Dixie
Flagler
SUWANNEE DISTRICT
Levy
WEST CENTRAL DISTRICT
Capital District - Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor,
Wakulla
EAST
Volusia CENTRAL
DISTRICT
Marion
Citrus
Hernando
Sumter
Holmes Jackson
Columbia
Santa
Rosa
Okaloosa
Escambia
Lake
Seminole
Orange
Brevard
Crown District - Bradford, Baker, Duval, Jax Beaches, Clay, Nassau, Putnam, St Johns Pasco
East Central District - Flagler, Lake, Orange, Seminole, Volusia
Osceola
Hillsborough
East Panhandle District - Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Washington
Pinellas
Polk
Suwannee District - Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee,
Indian River
Union
Manatee
Hardee OkeechobeeSt. Lucie
West Central District - Citrus, Hernando, Marion, Sumter
Highlands
West Panhandle District - Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton
Sarasota De Soto
Martin
West Central Florida Section
Charlotte Glades
Lee
Hendry
Collier
Southern Florida Section
Monroe
Palm Beach
Broward
Dade
Jackson
Taylor
Franklin
Amateur Radio
Activities
Duval
Baker
Union
Lafayette
Clay
Bradford
Gilchrist Alachua
Putnam
Dixie
Flagler
Levy
County
County Emergency
Emergency Operations
Operations
Centers
Centers
No
No Known
Known Activity
Activity
Partial
Partial or
or Temporary
Temporary Station
Station
Complete
Complete Permanent
Permanent Station
Station
Marion
Volusia
Citrus
Hernando
Lake
Seminole
Orange
Pasco
Manatee
Sarasota
Osceola
Brevard
Gulf
Suwannee
St. Johns
Liberty
Madison
Wakulla
Sumter
Leon
Bay
Nassau
Hamilton
Hillsborough
Gadsden
Columbia
Calhoun
Pinellas
Walton
Washington
Jefferson
Okaloosa
Santa Rosa
Escambia
Holmes
Polk
Indian
River
Hardee
DeSoto
Okeechobee
Highlands
St. Lucie
Martin
Charlotte Glades
Lee
Hendry
Collier
Palm Beach
Broward
Miani-Dade
Monroe
Amateur Radio
Activities
Charley – 29 Tracker Missions
Frances – 54 Tracker Missions
Ivan – 27 Tracker Missions
Jeanne – 9 Tracker Missions
TOTAL – 112 Tracker Missions
Amateur Radio
Activities
Deployed by/through State EOC:
Charley – 165 Operators
Frances – 194 Operators
Ivan – 20 Operators
Jeanne – 39 Operators
Amateur Radio
Activities
Unknown Numbers:
500 requested to ARRL by AE4MR
on 8/17 – Unknown Response
300 requested to media by AE4MR
on 8/20 – Unknown Response
Totally Unknown number of selfdeployed, local deployed or nonTracker deployed operators
Amateur Radio
Activities through SEOC
4 Storms Total:
44 Calendar Days
137 Storm Days
418 Volunteer Amateurs
17,498 Amateur Hours
Amateur Radio
Activities
Assets Deployed by/through State EOC:
17 Communications Vans/Trailers
6 Antenna Repair Crews
Some of the 1400 generators
deployed
Some of the 2500 radios deployed
3 Amateur Repeaters
Amateur Radio
Activities
Traffic Passed/Handled by SEOC
SEDAN - 42 Formal Messages, active in
28 EOC’s
APRS – State wide tracking of assets,
>100 assets monitored
HF – Monitoring of HWN, NHC, NFLARES,
SFLARES Nets whenever active
VHF – Local Repeaters Monitored during
all events, local coordination only
Lessons Learned
What did we do right?
Well, lets try to do it again !
What did we do wrong?
Lets not do that anymore !
Done Right:
•
No loss of communications to critical agencies
•
Magnificent Response from Amateur Community
•
Immediate and comprehensive mobilization
•
Technologically, everything worked
•
Provided needed and vital communications
•
Developed a system mid-Frances
•
No Responders Injured or Endangered
•
Provided immediate, accurate intelligence
•
Provided service to most agencies, functions
Done Wrong:
•
Accepted information from unreliable sources
•
Too slow to ‘spool-up’
•
Failed to commit maximum resources at onset
•
No central clearing house for amateur activities
•
Didn’t utilize or recognize depth of reserve forces
•
Allowed improper deployment of valuable resources
•
Non-amateurs involved in amateur decisions
•
Amateurs involved in non-amateur decisions
•
Amateurs assigned to non-communications functions
•
Initially “lost track” of deployed resources
•
Mutual Aid not invoked quickly enough (EMAC)
•
As communicators, we failed to communicate
Lessons Learned:
•
React Quicker for worst case scenario
•
Anticipate needs based on intelligence/forecasts
•
Organize response capabilities
•
Assign Central deployment authority at SEOC
•
Prioritize communications needs and requests
•
Minimum level of training, familiarity required
•
Amateur operators need to be in management loop
•
Standardized procedures, policies needed statewide
•
•
Paperwork, Forms, ID Badges
Florida is One State, not 3 ARRL Sections
Plan of Action:
Improve Training of Amateurs and non-Amateurs
ARRL EMCOMM Training to ALL ARES/RACES
FEMA NIMS Training to ARRL Leadership
FL DEM Tracker Training
Improve coordination between local amateurs/EM
Training for EM Professionals
Insure they talk to each other, know each
others capabilities, expectations, etc.
Update Emergency Plans at State Level, ARRL
Section Level and local levels
Recognize state requirements in section plans
Plan of Action:
Develop a “STATE-WIDE” Amateur Radio
Emergency Communications Plan or interface
the plans of the Northern Florida, West Central
Florida and Southern Florida Plans. It’s one
State, people, not 3 and Hurricanes don’t stop at
State or County lines or City Limits
Produce and participate in more realistic SET
and Field Day events
Endorse, recognize and/or fund only ARES/RACES
groups having NIMS and EMCOMM training
Research and distribute grant fund possibilities
for amateur radio groups, assist in grant
processes
EMCOMM and NIMS
The basis for all support, funding
and deployment of ARES/RACES
amateur radio assets and
resources by the Florida Division
of Emergency Management in
the future will be the acceptance
of and participation in the ARRL
EMCOMM Training and the FEMA
NIMS (ICS) Training, by the
deployed resource.
EMCOMM and NIMS
The Florida Division of Emergency
Management will support and endorse
NIMS and EMCOMM training for
ARRL SCM’s, ASCM’s, SEC’s, ASEC’s, DEC’s,
ARES EC’s, AEC’s and Members
RACES Radio Officers and RACES
Members
Training will be on-line, preferably, but onsite classroom training will be offered at
central locations and convenient times.
TRAINING
EMCOMM –
http://www.arrl.org/cce/
NIMS –
http://www.fema.gov/nims/
TRACKER
http://www.eoconline.org/welcome.nsf?Open
Tracker
Tracker is the system used by FDEM for all
mission assignments, messaging, reports,
purchasing, deployments and all actions and
activities relating to the incident. “If it ain’t in
Tracker, it didn’t happen”. Access to Tracker is
via local on-site terminals, through the web,
remote net or dial in, radio, satellite, cell phone
or PDA’s, etc.
Any emergency support group, including
amateur groups, can have full or limited access to
Tracker. It can be training intensive, however,
and steps are underway to simplify it for
occasional users.
Dr. Gray’s Hurricane
Forecast for 2005
(Revised 05/31/05)
ITEM
Named Storms
Hurricanes
2004
Actual
2005
Forecast
11
15
6
8
Major Hurricanes (Cat 3+)
4
Major Storm Landfill = 77% (100 year average = 52%)
Don’tcha think we oughtta
start planning?
Kudos To:
Rudy – WA4PUP
Randy – AG4UU
In
Memoriam
Dale – N4SGQ
James (Jim)
Goldsberry
Dave – AE4MR
KD4GR
Bill – WY8O
Bill – KI4HGK
Carlton – AG4UT
Nils Millergren
Kimo – K4IMO
WA4NDA
Brian – AI4AI
John – NZ4QJ
Bonnie – W4FFX
Tom and Glenda – KD4NWO and KD4MWO
Kudos To:
And the other, probably
3000 or more, amateur
operators who selflessly
volunteered their time,
resources and assets to
help their fellow
Floridians in time of need
Applicable State Statutes
G.S. 252.41
Emergency management support forces.
G. S. 768.1355
Florida Volunteer Protection Act.
G.S. 1768.28
Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort
actions.
KA4EOC at the Florida
Emergency Operations Center
Supporting Amateur Radio and
Amateur Radio Operators
WD4FFX, K4IMO, AI4AI, W4FFX,
KI4HGK, W4MNY, KF4KHI, KB4PNY,
AC4TO, K9RXG
Secondary Operating Positions