CITY OF BURLINGTON

RED CROSS

 

 

 

 

 

 

CITY OF BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
PLAN FOR UTILIZING
AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICES

FOREWORD

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is composed of licensed Amateur Radio operators who volunteer their time and equipment in the public service at no cost to the public.  A primary responsibility of the Amateur Radio Service, as established by Part 97 of the Federal Communications Commission’s regulations, is the rendering of public service communication for the general public, particularly in times of emergency, when normal communications are not available.  ARES volunteers provide a pool of trained communicators and equipment for a variety of communications needs.  In most North Carolina counties, ARES members are also registered as Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) operators in case of declared national emergencies.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to define the methods of cooperation, activation, and responsibilities of ARES in providing emergency communications for the City of Burlington, North Carolina.  The contents are based on the MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BEWTEEN THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC-SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICIALS - INTERNATIONAL, INC., AND THE AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE, dated October, 1996.

DEFINITION OF DISASTER

A disaster is either a natural of man-made occurrence that causes human suffering or human needs that the victims cannot alleviate without assistance and which rapidly depletes the resources of the responding agencies involved.

It will be understood and agreed that members of ARES will neither seek nor accept duties other than Amateur Radio communications, and that ARES members do not have, nor can exercise, the authorities granted to public safety officials.

METHOD OF COOPERATION

A.      The ARES Alamance County Emergency Coordinator (EC) will provide Police, Fire, Emergency Management and other officials, as requested, a periodically-updated list of ARES members and contact information for key individuals.  In addition, the EC will also provide lists of pertinent frequencies used by ARES and Skywarn.


B.      ARES members will maintain a general knowledge of the communications environment and needs of served agencies.  As appropriate and necessary, they will undergo training in communications-related activities (e.g., weather spotting and damage assessment).  ARES representatives will be available, if possible, to participate in planning activities which may involve communications needs.

C.      ARES representatives are available to give presentations on capabilities and facilities as requested for information to official agencies.

D.      ARES will provide radio operators at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during emergencies and drills to assist in any reasonable capacity as assigned by public officials.  ARES will also provide radio operators, when requested, for the Mobile Command Center when it is dispatched to the field.

E.      When a disaster occurs requiring the use of Amateur Radio communications facilities, ARES assistance may include, but is not limited to, the following:

     1)      The establishment and maintenance of fixed, mobile, and portable station emergency communication facilities for local radio coverage and point-to-point contact between public safety officials and locations, as required.

2)              Maintenance of the continuity of communications for the duration of the emergency period or until normal communications channels are substantially restored.

3)               Providing information from the Skywarn weather spotting network.

4)               Providing communications for damage assessment reports.

5)               Providing communications from designated centers for 911 reports in case of telephone system failures.

6)               Providing communications with shelters or other designated public gathering places.

7)               Providing communications for fire, police, or other emergency response vehicles in case of city or county radio system failures.




ACTIVATION OF ARES

All ARES members are listed in a database with an attendant calling tree which has contact information for each member.  The EC and Assistant EC’s are listed at the base of the calling tree. Officials are provided with periodic updates of this contact list by the Alamance County ARES EC.  In case of an emergency, a public official may activate ARES by contacting any ARES member, with preference for the EC and AEC’s  at the base of the calling tree.  In addition, ARES members have instructions to check into a prearranged radio net in case of an emergency to receive instructions.

FACILITIES AND FREQUENCIES

In Alamance County, VHF and UHF repeaters are located so as to provide, in general, county-wide coverage between base stations, mobiles, and portable stations.  These repeaters may be monitored on 146.67 MHz (the primary repeater for emergency traffic), 147.375 MHz (the primary repeater for Skywarn operations),  and 443.725 MHz (for overflow traffic and linking with counties spanning Guilford to Wake); these repeaters are all equipped with emergency power.  In addition, a repeater on 145.49 MHz is available, and 146.55 MHz is the designated simplex frequency if repeaters have failed or if it is needed.



ARES Plan For Alamance County Red Cross

 

Introduction

The Alamance County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is composed of FCC-licensed Amateur Radio operators who have voluntarily registered their capabilities and equipment for public service communications duty. Under Federal regulations, Amateur Radio public service communications are furnished without compensation of any kind. The Alamance County ARES functions under this emergency plan under direction of the Alamance County Emergency Coordinator (EC), who is appointed by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Section Emergency Coordinator in consultation with the District Emergency Coordinator. The EC may appoint assistant EC's as needed for the ARES to function efficiently.

Organization

The Alamance County ARES organization is shown in Attachment 1. This attachment, which may be updated periodically, is a telephone-calling tree depicting the name, call sign, home telephone, and work telephone of each ARES member.

Operation

In an emergency, and depending upon the area affected, the Alamance County ARES will establish communications facilities at locations selected by the served agencies (with base operations normally expected to be at the Alamance County Emergency Operations Center, Red Cross Headquarters, and/or the Alamance County Civil Preparedness Building). ARES activation is accomplished by notification by a Red Cross official to any individual on the calling tree (Attachment 1), with preference for the EC staff toward the front of the tree. Unless specifically trained for and assigned other duties, ARES members functions are limited to communications services, using proven and established standard operating procedures. These procedures include establishing and managing local to nation-wide communications networks, and providing a message origination/delivery interface with the served agencies. Attachment 2 shows the standard formal message format. The served agency provides the recipient information (name, address, telephone number), message text, and originator's signature. The ARES radio operator provides all other information which constitutes message trace ability. Note that formal messages always carry the originating signature of a served agency official, rather than the ARES radio operator. The message format also permits maintaining a record of all communications conducted by radio. Attachment 3 is a list of common disaster-related message texts which may be used by originators to expedite communications. The interface described permits efficient communications without generally requiring radio operators to understand details of served agency procedures or served agencies to understand the communications network or procedures.

Services

The Alamance County ARES may provide any or all of the Red Cross communications needs, as required by a specific disaster situation, including the following:

A) Communication of official messages between Red Cross personnel;
B) Communication of messages between, or providing liaison with, the Red Cross and other official agencies;
C) Passing incoming and outgoing health and/or welfare messages for the public; in particular, establishing communications facilities at public shelters for such radio traffic;
D) Providing communications for damage assessment in the field;
E) Providing communications for Red Cross teams in the field.

The above services are those commonly provided in past emergencies. Other communications services may be provided as identified by the Red Cross. The types of communication outlets which may be expected include local intra- and inter-agency messages (usually via one or more Very High Frequency repeaters which provide county-wide coverage), state- and nation-wide messages (via wide-area repeaters or High Frequency radio networks), and (where equipped) local telephone autopatch connections via amateur radio repeaters.

Planning and Training

As requested by Red Cross officials, the Alamance County EC will assist in developing the communications aspects of disaster plans. The Alamance County ARES will participate, as requested, in periodic disaster exercises conducted by the Red Cross. ARES may take advantage of such opportunities to conduct its own periodic Section Emergency Tests. The Red Cross may provide its standard disaster training courses to ARES members to increase the awareness of Amateur Radio operators to Red Cross needs. If requested by the Red Cross, the Alamance County ARES will provide additional information or programs about emergency communications.