American
Radio Relay League
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Chaves
County, New Mexico
1 August 2003
Monica Jones, CERT – Coordinator
City of Roswell/Chaves County
Post Office Drawer 1838
Roswell, New Mexico 88202-1838
Dear Ms. Jones:
We were very pleased to receive
your invitation to participate in the Chaves County Emergency Services
Preparedness Fair 2003 , Saturday, 6 September, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM.
After speaking with you yesterday,
one of our members conducted a test at the Roswell Mall to verify the
feasibility of a “live” demonstration from inside the building. He was able to reliably communicate with our
radio repeaters from several places in the building. The “high-ceiling” area just inside the southernmost entrance was
by far the best. If we can have that
location, we will conduct what I think you will find to be a very fine
demonstration.
We have a communication drill
scheduled for 16 August 2003. With your
concurrence, we will shift that drill to 6 September 2003 and manage it from
the Fair.
Our proposal is to setup an
Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in our “Fair booth.” From that “EOC” we will handle simulated
emergency communication traffic to and from various locations around Chaves
County and to locations in other Counties.
We will set up at least one computer for digital communication via ham
radio and possibly one for the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS).
We will also play a short computer
CD “movie” concerning Amateur Radio Emergency Communication – narrated by
Walter Cronkite.
If they wish to participate in our
drill, the other emergency services at the Fair can hand us simulated messages
to send for them. We will offer to send
simulated “health & welfare” messages for the general public.
Descriptive material on our
organization is enclosed. Most
important among these enclosures is information concerning who to contact in
event of an actual emergency.
Sincerely yours,
Alfred L. Lindsey (Alf),
Chaves District Emergency
Coordinator (DEC)