This plan is provided as guidance for the
members of Wakulla County ARES by Doug Bennight (K4GKJ), appointed as County
ARES Emergency Coordinator. The plan will be in effect from the date of
publication until modified.
The purpose of this plan is to effectively
and efficiently mobilize the members of Wakulla County ARES in times of
communications emergency, when their services may be needed by Wakulla County
Division of Emergency Management or other entity as permitted/allowed. This
plan will be tested at least one time per year in an exercise specifically
designed for this test. The test may consist of unannounced activation of the
telephone tree, appointment of a Net Control Operator, and an actual check-in
procedure of all available hams. During tests only, all communications shall
begin and end with the statement “This is a drill” to prevent non-members who
are monitoring from misunderstanding that it is a drill and not an actual
event.
This plan may be activated for drills by the
ARES Emergency Coordinator of Wakulla County, the ARES DEC, ADEC, or North
Florida Section Manager. In the event of an actual emergency, this plan may be
implemented by any of the following:
• The Emergency Management Director or his
designee.
• The Sheriff.
• The Public Safety Director
• The County Administrator.
• A member of the County Board.
If individual members perceive anything
which they feel may be a cause for the implementation of the plan, the plan may
be self –activated to the extent that members should check into the Wakulla
County repeater (do not self deploy), 145.45 pl 94.8 for further
instructions. If the ‘event’ is isolated
to Wakulla County, use of the 146.655, pl 94.8, and 443.400, pl 131.8 may be
implemented (if available).
Upon activation, all ARES members will be
notified by the computerized mass phone call and email ‘event notification
system (utilized by the DEC) or, in the event of a system malfunction, by the
current Telephone Tree which is shown on that roster. Members, notified of an
emergency should check into the Wakulla County Emergency Net. The first member
to check into the net will become Net Control until the task is assigned to
someone else. The first member to check into the net who has been trained on
EOC operations should be assigned to the EOC. The first duly designated member
to arrive at the EOC will start a net and log as NCS on the 145.45 MHz
repeater, taking check-ins from those members available. It is required to keep
a log that will stay at the EOC or other ‘Command Station’ for the record
keeping of the County EC. This log will
show all activity, and show the location of all ARES personnel in Wakulla. If necessary or desired, the second member
to arrive will take over logging duties.
All members will check in and stand by for further instructions. The NCS
will provide them with brief, guarded information concerning the emergency, as
it becomes available. No one is to self deploy. No deployment of ARES or associated members is to take place
without the request of the NCS, AEC, EC, or higher ranking authority.
Members should be aware that phone lines may
be down in some emergencies, and should always begin to monitor the 145.45MHz
repeater during unusual conditions such as severe weather events and other
events that they might monitor a local radio broadcast station, NWS, or
national news broadcasts. In the event of a repeater failure we will use KD4MOJ’s
444.000 pl 94.8 and 146.55 MHz simplex without a pl tone. Use of the simplex freq 147.555 pl 88.5 may
be used as well for secondary purposes.
Members who have HF privileges should also
monitor 3.950.
For Wakulla County, the EC will be in charge
of ARES in Wakulla County. The AEC is
the 2nd in command. Should
the EC not be available, the AEC assumes the role of EC until the EC is
available. When two or more AEC’s for
Wakulla are appointed, the EC or DEC will decide which AEC will assume the role
of EC until the EC is available.
It is advised to be well stocked for a self
sufficient deployment, I.E., water, food, change of clothes, extra socks,
shoes, gloves, generator, full tank of gas on vehicle and fuel for generator,
sleeping bag, sun screen, medications, and other items commonly recommended for
‘jump kits’. We want to help those with
problems, not be a part of the problem.
In the event of a major event, those without
a map and GPS will be limited in areas that they can go and assist. APRS is very desirable, as the EOC will be
running APRS, D-Star, and any other means available to keep track of
ourselves. A simple one-way APRS
reporting system will serve us a great deal.
A GPS will be fine in some cases should an APRS system not be available or
possible.
*KI4PRX, Vernon, is the Wakulla AEC that
will be working with me (K4GKJ, Doug)
and the EOC, or other needed entities.
*The EDICS unit is deployed as needed, with
KG4LFT, Bill Mapoles, AEC Wakulla County, as the EDICS liason, team leader. The EDICS unit is deployable by instruction
from the people/positions listed above, in addition to the Wakulla County
Saftey Directror (currently Scott McDermid).
Only individuals approved by Wakulla County, and trained for this system
will be deployed with the system. The
EDICS unit and it’s team can be deployed without ARES activation, as the
current team members are covered by the Wakulla County insurance program. Any others being deployed with the EDICS
unit (or working with) MUST be approved by the Wakulla EC prior to any
activites. No Exceptions.
*Note – Wakulla County is in the worst storm
surge areas in the USA. Should we get
hit with a major storm, even the local people won’t know how to find their way
around, so APRS, D-Star, or a simple GPS is of great importance.
The NCS shall be responsible for activating
a directed net on the repeater. In the event the repeater is down, the NCS
shall activate on 146.55 MHz simplex, taking check-ins by relay if necessary.
The NCS will start a log of all check-ins and messages passed during the event,
and will maintain the log until logging duties can be taken over by a second
responding member. The NCS will maintain absolute control of the net during
emergencies or drills, and all members are reminded of this control. After the
check-in procedure is complete, the NCS will pass such messages or suggest an
alternate freq/repeater for such traffic. If hams are deployed in the field, as
during severe weather events, the NCS shall do safety status checks during
lulls in communications, to insure the safety of all deployed members. Members
are reminded that they must request permission to leave a net, even for a short
time, so that safety status checks will not show them as missing. It is also encouraged for members to check
in from time to time during quiet times to make sure equipment is functioning
properly. The current Wakulla County Net is held each Monday, at 8pm Eastern
Standard Time. The net meets on the 145.450 repteater, -6khz pl 94.8.
Any one, and every one is invited to participate (with valid FCC
liscense)
All third party messages (for example, a
message from the Panacea Command Post to the Emergency Manager) will be
written, using an ICS Form 213. If the client message form is not numbered, the
operator will assign a number consisting of the month, day, year (insert dash)
24 hour time. For example on the 11th of August at 2:14 p.m. - the number
assigned would be 081109-1414. ARRL
radio grams are acceptable, but ICS forms are preferred. It is required that we use ‘plain
English’. Do not use any ‘codes’ or
jargon that may confuse an individual not familiar with such ( this can include
new radio operators and messages/traffic being reviewed by non radio operators
).
As outlined in Section 2, above, tests of
this activation plan will occur at least once per year. General training of the
Wakulla County ARES membership will occur at each monthly meeting, according to
a schedule prepared by the EC for Training. Monthly nets will be held on the
145.45 Wakulla repeater.
All members are required to be familiar with
their equipment so they can quickly and accurately set up operations on another
frequency and CCTCS (pl) tone. I (Doug
Bennight, K4GKJ) will be more than happy to help anyone, including offering a
list of all the local repeaters, but only before the test or emergency. Having
to program a radio during an emergency will be a distraction and potentially
contribute more problems to the situation.
Field Day in June is an official ARES
training event and should be attended by all members whose schedules permit.
Other tests and drills may be scheduled by the EC, in concert with events
planned by the District Emergency Coordinator. All members are encouraged and
urged to take additional training on the Internet, in the ARRL Amateur Radio
Emergency Communications Course and courses offered by FEMA. ICS 100, 200, and 700 are especially
desired.
Please contact me with any concerns, questions,
or for help.
Doug Bennight
K4GKJ
850-926-2052 day/night
850-528-5772 cell