I agree -- training kicks in when the chips are down. If you are comfortable
with your radio and with net discipline then it will be easier when things are
hot and heavy. If you have the comfort of the routine nature of a net, then
your stress goes down.

The routine and less than dire emergency IS training. It is different running
to train for the marathon that it is to run in the marathon.

You have to establish trust first. That means handling the non critical
communications for these groups.

Ham radio is part of our local MMRS - a very big part. We cover 20 sites over 7
counties. The hospitals love us, we are trained in using their radios as well
so use us more than others. But we always drill as if we are the only game in
town. Even when the drill was to test the new 800 mhz system, we responded and
we were used. It isn't what the drill is testing, it is what WE are tesing.
Hospitals will not only fax their info, but hand it to the hams to be relayed to
the EOC. It is the procedure. Our drills will routinely stop use of cell phones
and or landlines.

When the MMR system was activated to activated when we received Katrina
evacuee's, our MMRS chair person later told me when she saw the hams arrive at
the shelter, a weight came off her shoulders. She knew she would have
communications. The Red Cross person couldn't figure out why we were there as
they had communications. That was until her cell phone didn't work in side the
shelter.

You can't force your served agency to use you for anything they don't want to.
But doing what the ask and treating it like it is the most important thing you
will ever do, will go a long way towards them using you more and more. The
question then is... will you be ready when they do ask?




---- Henry T Sahler III <n9nox@...> wrote:
> Hi All
> Again here the point is being missed communicating with a served agency in all
of these other activities, which are non-emergency in nature, will make
communication in an emergency seem like every day, normal, (I hate to say it but
) routine stuff. Because there is and are different stresses in these
activities, stress is stress and if one learns to control it when the chips are
not down, when they are its not a problem.
> Henry
> N9NOX / WQDB217
> RED #4813
> Pleasant Prairie WI.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ron Dodson
> To: NRCEV@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 3:43 PM
> Subject: RE: [NRCEV] We DO have jobs to do
>
>
>
> Joe Moell K0OV wrote: I disagree. With a little effort, hams COULD have
important jobs to
> do on a week-to-week basis.
>
>
>
>
>
> I agree. In Kentucky we have several groups who assist regular localized
activities.
>
>
>
> In western Kentucky, we have one group who regularly assists local EMA with
checks on county storm warning devices (Sirens). They report on any which fail
to activate during regular scheduled tests.
>
>
>
> Another northern Kentucky ARES group are called in on almost any lost person
search to support the law enforcement search efforts and yes, they are trained
in lost person search and in many cases a good deal of the members have even
taken search management training. Other groups work with local CitizenCorps
CERT’s and regional National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) and Metropolitan
Medical Response System (MMRS) activities while others work with regional
weapons of mass destruction/ haz-mat/ bio response teams that our state homeland
security operate. One south central Ky group performs “Highway Overpass
Watch” details assisting local law enforcement in preventing trouble at
interstate overpasses on events such as Halloween night. There is a world of
things one can do if you make the right connections and carry out requests
responsibly.
>
>
>
> 73,
>
> Ron Dodson, KA4MAP
>
> Former Ky SEC
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NRCEV@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NRCEV@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
homingin73
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:43 AM
> To: NRCEV@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [NRCEV] We DO have jobs to do
>
>
>
> Doug wrote:
> >That is a lack of a job to do. Fortunately
> >communications emergencies are rare events.
>
> There are potential clients that will use
> us. It may be true that "all else fails" events are rare, but
> communications disruptions do occur regularly. If hams are ready and
> callout systems are in place, we can serve agencies in these
> emergencies, getting valuable on-the-job training and developing
> excellent rapport with agency leaders.
>
> Take a look at www.hdscs.org
>
> This ARES group has never had an "all else fails" disaster, but in 25
> years it has responded almost 100 times to provide valuable service
> when hospital patients' lives were at risk due to comms interruptions.
> Ask any hospital disaster planner or Emergency Medical Services
> Agency person in Orange County about ham radio and they will have
> plenty of good things to say because of this continuous level of
> preparedness and service.
>
> That brings me to my beef with ARRL leadership -- it has been too
> focused on "all else fails" Katrina-like disasters and has not paid
> enough attention to hams' providing valuable support in the "little"
> emergencies that will cement our bonds with agencies and get us ready
> for the really big events.
>
> 73,
> Joe Moell K0OV
> Assistant Coordinator, HDSCS
>
>
>
>
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
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2:03 PM
>
>
>
>
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.11/837 - Release Date: 6/6/2007
2:03 PM
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>
>
>