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June 2005 Newsletter
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From the Secretary
Carl Russell, KE5AKI
Clear communication, Right!
I think it is funny to hear or read about the government and clear communication. That's got to be an oxymoron. One of the principle areas of concern in disaster response is clear communication. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) says that it is important that communications be "plain language"; one would assume that means elimination of 10 codes and acronyms that no body understands. If one of us is an emergency communicator and we get a message from someone that they are 10-8 at the IC for a briefing on the CONPLAN with DHHS most of us wouldn't have a clue what they said or what it means. Yet at the same time the NIMS says we are to use plain language, the NRP (National Response Plan) has to have a multi page glossary of acronyms used. What happened to clear communications? But lest I poke too much fun at the government; the truth is, we all do this. We use words and phrases and even "code" words that to us are perfectly descriptive. The question is are they perfectly descriptive to the receiver? It's odd that a person can have a great grasp of radio electronics and mastery of the English language and still not be able to communicate with another human being. I don't really think we are ever going to get rid of 10 codes acronyms or technical phrases; the point is we need to always consider who the receiver is and do our best to communicate with them in terms they understand.
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