Emergency Communications using Amateur Radio

Emergency Communications

Amateur radio operators on Oahu that participate with emergency communications are registered with Department of Emergency Management (DEM) on Oahu as RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) radio volunteers. Click on this link for more information on C&C DEM OCD RACES.

Similarly, amateur radio operators working with Hawaii SCD (State Civil Defense) are registered under SCD's RACES program and other amateurs are registered with their respective agencies. Many are registered with ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service), the emergency communications portion of the ARRL (American Radio Relay League), the national organization of amateur radio operators in the United States.

As one of the original contributors to ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC) in 2000, I highly recommend becoming proficient in passing messages, with special emphasis on timeliness and ACCURACY, and having your radio station ready to operate at all times. I also recommend the use of the ANDERSON Powerpole connector for your 12 volt DC power needs. You just never know when you'll need to communicate as a result of an unexpected emergency.

Enjoy, and feel free to drop me an e-mail if you have any questions.

Getting Started When An Emergency Strikes...

December 11, 2010

If you're reading this page just before an emergency strikes and have not yet made preparations, it's probably too late. Accomplish what you can in the remaining moments. If you haven't yet stocked up before the emergency, get started by referring to this bookmark.

If you're reading this and it's not yet an emergency, NOW (and not later) is a great time to get going on your preparations. Remember the saying: "Snooze, you lose." The Prepper's Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster is a good guide to use as a starting point.

Review your action plan with your family.

If you're reading this page just before an emergency strikes, have made your personal preparations and are getting your radios ready, refer to this bookmark to get started.

If you're reading this page just before an emergency strikes, have made your personal and radio preparations and need the frequencies, refer to this bookmark to get started.

If you're reading this page just before an emergency strikes, have made your personal and radio preparations, have the frequencies and want to avoid the most common pitfalls in emergency communications operations refer to this bookmark to get started.

What is Emergency Communications

March 14, 2010

Emergency communications is used when normal means of communications are overwhelmed or unavailable. Community-based emergency communications is based on where you live and work. It is also based on where you may have to evacuate during a disaster. If you're interested in participating in emergency communications, feel free look through these pages and contact these people.

Emergency Incidences on Oahu

There are quite a number of incidents on Oahu each year that could potentially lead to situations requiring emergency communications.

Lessons Learned

February 21, 2009

Take time to read this PDF article. You'll recoup the investment in time with the increased, time tested and proven knowledge.

PDF article on Lessons Learned from Past Operations and Exercises

Personal Preparation

February 21, 2009, updated: January 22, 2014

Emergency preparedness is an individual responsibility. A disaster is not the time to find out that you're not prepared. You can't do much on the radio if you're struggling with taking care of yourself.

A lot of your personal success to weather a disaster or interruption involves how much preparations you've made when the situation is normal for the difficult times. In the time just before a disaster strikes, it is very hard to mobilize and reposition many things that's needed, so now is the time to get it done. Just make a checklist and accomplish one item at a time. Do it now!

The Prepper's Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster is a good guide to use as a starting point.

Check out this book for additional information which you may find useful. New

Radio Equipment Preparations

Updated: February 21, 2009

If you interested in some simple ideas that you can accomplish to be better prepared, see these six simple tips on radio preparations. It doesn't take much or very long to implement, but it goes a long way to being prepared. If you're wondering why, consider the key points about Hawaiian geography and radio propagation highlighted in this article. If you wish to be better prepared, check out this list.

You should also be using Anderson Powerpole connectors on your 12 Volt DC cables. Find out how the Anderson Powerpole became the national standard power connector.

Develop your radio operating skills

Updated: May 17, 2015

A disaster is also not the time to find out that you're unable to effectively pass accurate messages in a timely fashion. You should be familiar with passing ICS-213 messages, and the ARRL Radiogram messages. To practice, join in some of these radio nets, and practice during the annual Makani Pahili hurricane exercises in mid-May and the SET (Simulated Emergency Net) in October.

Emergency Communications Course

Updated: January 5, 2012

Experts in amateur radio emergency communications have contributed to ARRL"s course on Emergency Communications since March 2000. New Take a look at course EC-001 on this web page for starters.

You can also buy the softbound guide from the ARRL bookstore, which has the same course material.

Develop your radio technical skills and techniques

Updated: February 21, 2009

Now is the time to learn more about the many different ways to make and maintain radio contact. Take a look at this web page for starters.

Alerts: Getting the word

Updated: February 21, 2009

Alerts: To get advanced warning of weather, tsunami and other alerts, you may wish to pick up a Radio Shack Weather alert radio with the SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) feature. You may wish to refer to the Hawaii SAME Codes to program the SAME codes into your radio.

For further information, see: Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio SAME codes

You can also monitor other near-realtime alerts.

Read up on the the General Process for Alert and Activation in Hawaii.

Standard Operating Guidelines and Response

October 21, 2012

As amateur radio operators and emergency communicators, you need to be a problem solver: (a) be able to resolve problems with your station and equipment, (b) be able to resolve and work through problems with other stations regarding net operations, and (c) be able to solve problems that are in front of you and work with people to get it solved.

There is information about response plans and standard operating guidelines. The actual response will vary from incident to incident, and exercise to exercise:

External Links

August 31, 2002

These are links to external web sites of interest.

Click on these logos for more information about these programs.

DISCLAIMER: Ron Hashiro Web Site is not responsible for the content at
any of the external sites that we link to and therefore
is not necessarily endorsed by us.