This e-mail message was received off of the ARES-RACES reflector at qth.net, in October of 2000. I found it very interesting and hope that you do to.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ray Vaughan [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 10:00 PM
Subject: [Emergency] Special event operations
Just a few thoughts about ham participation in events...
Take a step back and take a look at what you're REALLY doing in an event. To do this, you'll have to be brutally honest. Are you really making a difference? If you weren't there, would anyone really notice?
This may seem harsh, but it's for a reason. I see events with Amateur participation going into some very different directions. Think of your major events and see which one fits yours the best.
One is based in tradition: "We've done it this way for years and it works. Why change it?" In this mode you'll hear the term 'shadow' a lot. "Shadow this guy and pass his messages as traffic to the net so that this critical information can be passed to another official who needs it" New technologies, like APRS, aren't welcomed. No need for it. In some cases, the people being shadowed now carry city owned or rented commercial radios and are communicating themselves.
Does this sound familiar? You've stood on the same corner for many years. No pre-event briefing is needed, everyone has been doing it the same way for every year. Observe and report. Take no action, just report what you see to net control. Maybe answer some questions, give directions. Stand in uniform, hold your radio and look official. If you look carefully, you'll see other people doing what you're doing. Paid police officers, fire fighters, and others who are trained to do more than just observe. They have the training to do something when someone passes out. You might feel a bit helpless when something does go wrong near your post. Yes, your eyes are two more on the route, but they're just that, eyes.
Here's where I think we SHOULD be going....
Another mode is that YOU are now the guy who used to be shadowed. You are now the player, making decisions, taking input and acting on it. You are using amateur radio, but it isn't your primary role. You aren't the screwdriver, you're the engine. The feeling after the event is totally different. It really wouldn't have been the same event without you.
We IMPROVE the event. We apply our technology to the goal of the event. We aren't just told to show up, we've invited to the planning meetings of the organization. Our input is welcomed to reshape the event. We actually save the group some money by making them more efficient. This means more money for the charity. You do this by thinking outside the box. What training can YOU get to make yourself more useful at the event? Are you trained in first aid? Why not? Are you active in CERT yet? You've shadowed the parade staging guy for years... how about actually doing staging next year? We know electronics, set up a traffic light to help the guy who paces the parade units. If you see a better way of doing the event, suggest it. We're trained technology experts... don't let that go to waste.
As we all know, we can't hand out ham radios to the players in the event and let them use them. BUT, we can take one of their radios and talk to them on it. We're trained communicators. Yes, ham radio is a tool in our tool box, but we can also use our training to use other radios. Don't be shy to take a trunking radio on the city's system. Make sure you know it so well you can show others how to use it. All those beep and boobs mean something. If you aren't already, the CP should be where the officials come to check out the commercial radios and get the briefing on how they work. We know how to charge and test the radios and keep records of who has what radio. And know their language. You should be able to understand everything you hear on a fire and police radio. Just being able to know that your information is being dispatched correctly can make a difference.
All this comes in very handy in an emergency too. These are the people you'll be working with after a disaster. I've heard the 'you can't beat plain English in an emergency'. That's great if everyone else agrees to speak in plain English. But the professionals won't be, so you have to learn how to understand them. And they sure as hell won't understand our terms and slang, and we have more than they do. QSL and 73 OM. Just getting to the point is hard for many of us. If you've been transmitting more than 10 seconds during an event net, you're blocking something else that might be more important. It's really hard to turn off the rag-chew mode. Listen to the pros and you'll see they get their important messages through in seconds with a minimum of repeats. I've heard the question "How many gallons of water do you have?" get answered by at least two minutes of everything you would want to know about water except how much was left.
Next event, tape the net frequency. A few weeks later, listen to it and look for common themes. If you hear 'Where is the ICE truck?" 20 times then next year, put an APRS tracker on it. If the organizers say that don't know how many riders are on the sag wagon, come up with a way to use packet to send the biker's numbers to net control. The driver could be equipped with a key pad or a scanner to send a report automatically. A printer at the Command Post gives the organizers what they need. In general, keep an open mind and be willing to say that things should change. You have to be involved in the event planning to get to this level. But when they see what you're offering, you'll be invited back. If your area sufferers from politics, this sort of change can be really painful. Sometimes the Amateur ego gets in the way of the big picture.
When you listen to the tape, see how much of the traffic is event related and how much is amateur radio related. If 70% of your net is about getting the free lunch and tee shirts distributed to the hams on their post, then something is wrong. Even asking where rovers are is a waste of time when you have technologies like APRS available. I've watched the voice traffic drop to next to nothing when APRS is involved. Might seem a bit boring on the air, but the CP is constantly looking at the screen and it tells as much as a few minutes of air time. If net control has to ask anyone where they are, that's wasted time given today's technology. They're either on their assigned station, or their position is on the screen at the CP.
Participating in events can be really rewarding. But from time to time, you need to look at what can improve. As you see more and more of your ideas being implemented, you'll know deep inside that you're making a huge difference and you'll look forward to doing it all again next year.
Hopefully all this will get the thoughts flowing. Your input is welcome, but if it's not on topic in the list, please use direct e-mail.
Thanks.
Ray J. Vaughan, MS, CBTE, CERT
KD4BBM PG-7-15266
http://www.rayvaughan.com/
[email protected]
[email protected]
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