Learning Unit 9 - Emergency Call-Outs

Objectives: Following completion of this Learning Unit, you will understand how notification is done when Amateur Radio personnel are needed.

Information:

I. How will I know?

As an Amateur Radio emergency communicator, you should register with the amateurs associated with ARES. Make arrangements so that you will be available in the event of an alert or activation. In some operational plans, two or more amateurs serving as liaisons are on pager notification. The pagers and/or telephone voice message are typically activated by a Served Agency. Once these amateurs are notified, a number of alert mechanisms may be used. A common contact method is to disseminate the alert/notification via a pager and/or telephone tree. The pager code may indicate the six digit frequency of a local repeater, followed by a three-digit action code (i.e., 911 for an emergency, 000 for test).

Some groups use a two-tone paging (or DCS) signal on a local repeater with wide coverage, activating commercial voice pagers that have been modified to monitor the amateur radio repeater. When the activation notice has been sent to check into the local command repeater, an NCS establishes a check-in net while the ICS communications command team establishes itself at the Emergency Operations Center. The operation teams are expected to activate and respond according to their normal response plan. The command team will issue bulletin elements for the net as needed, directing and fine-tuning the activation. They will cancel the alert as needed should the situation warrant it. Not all activations call for the implementation of a massive undertaking, with multiple nets.

In situations involving the weather, amateurs can also monitor National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Radio (NWR) for information direct from the National Weather Service or monitor Amateur Radio frequencies as reflected in the Skywarn Operations Plan.

At Hall County ARES our first method of activation are our phones and email.  This is supposing that these systems still function.  We have access to both a web based calling tree and a planned calling tree that we follow to activate our assets by calling each other in an assigned order.