ARRL Certification Program
Emergency Communications
Communications Technique

• The message to be sent.
• Encoding the message to a form that can be conveyed over a medium.
• Transmitting the message.
• The medium used for communications.
• Noise in the medium.
• Receiving the message.
• Decoding the message from the medium to a humanly understandable form.
• Recognition of the message by the receiving person.
• Feedback to the originator of the message.

At times, commuications between two points can breakdown, resulting in reduced or non-existent communications.  Whenever there is a breakdown in communications, examine which component(s) are affected, and what can be done to mitigate the problem or workaround the limitation.  Similarly, by reviewing each component, small changes can be made to enhance the contribution made by that component.

A key element in the communications system is the message.  A message is used to cause action by the receiver of the message.  This leads to some thoughtful questions:
• What kind of action is needed at the receiving end?
• What information is needed for the action to take place?
• Since there is an emergency and this request/information will be competing for attention and response, what additional information is available to justify a higher priority.
• How can the sender tell if the correct action to the message has taken place?

1. Composing Formal Traffic
In most situations, the amateur is providing communications on behalf of a served agency.  An authorized person on staff with the agency would be originating and receiving these messages.  In the middle of an emergency, it is often possible that the staff person will overlook one or more key elements of a message.  As communications specialists, we can assist by "coaching" the person through the composition of the message and reviewing the message to see if it has the key elements in a good formal message.

Good formal messages should include:
 

• Addressee (full name, full title, agency, location, optional telephone number)
[Body of the message]
• What is the situation?
• Who is the requestor?
• What is being requested?  Is the request for a single item or a list of items? How many is needed or wanted?
• When is it needed?
• If known, indicate the sources where the items can be obtained.  If it is for a list of items, does it come from a single source?  If it comes from multiple sources, a message should be generated to each source.
• Where should the material or people be sent?  Where is the transfer point?  Be specific and identify it down to the side of a building, as one can waste a lot of time walking around looking for buildings and walking around a building.
• What are the available times for arrival?
• Is the access to the site expected to be clear?
• Who should the responder locate when he/she arrives?
• Is there a frequency, telephone number or other means of contact in the local area?  Or, when the response is in progress?
• Who should be notified when the response is under way?
• Any other considerations?
[Signature]
• Signature (full name of sender, full title, agency, location, optional telephone number)


In certain situations, the staff person may not be available and in the interest of time, the communicators may need to draft the message on behalf of that person or agency and have it ready for their review and approval before sending the traffic.  In these situations, it also pays to review the message for these elements.

Sometimes, it may be important to send out information to the net about amateur radio operations that are not of direct consequence or interest to the served agency, however, it is important to other stations on the net to coordinate and sustain net operations.  Examples are establishing new nets, new stations on the nets, and mobiling fresh operators to relieve existing operators.  Therefore, these messages may often appear as informal traffic.  The informal traffic should also be reviewed before it is sent to see if it includes the information above.
 
 

• Use plain language.  During an emergency, the rule is that you'll be working with people you have not met before.  Therefore, to avoid any assumptions about having to know abbreviations, key phrases, jargon and other information that may be specific to a given agency, use plain language to compose and pass a message.  Avoid the use of slang, as the other party may not be from the same background as you and can even misinterpret the slang expression to be translated literally.

In one situation, differing agencies had different procedural codes:
 
• police department communications procedure encourages use of "10" codes
• fire, ambulance, and public works use plain language.
• oher municipalities have different standards.
• hams involved in RACES, Salvation Army and Red Cross sometimes use "Q" signals, sometimes don't, some use "box alarms" and sometimes even use "10" signals.
• REACT seems to use "10" signals.


When each group communicates within themselves, this is not an issue.  However, in a recent mutual aid drill involving a simulated
commuter train wreck with 80 casualties,  nearly 30 different entities were involved from 6 municipalities.  In the debrief, at least one
significant error was traced to failure to use plain language (a dispatch order wasn't understood and needed rescue equipment rolled 20
minutes late).

• Use ITU (International Telecommunications Union) phonetics.  It is the set of phonetics used internationally in most two-way radio settings.  Resist the temptation to use cute amateur phonetics.

• Whereever possible, transfer the message to hardcopy.  Whether you copy the message text by hand, have a computer print an incoming packet message or jot down notes from an informal message, putting the message down on hardcopy helps others read the message -- especially if you should walk away from the operating position, take a break, or take a nap.
• Whenever possible, print using large block capital letters.  It comes across neater than script, so more people can read it.  Practically speaking the average person can block print around 15 words per minute.
• When copying a radiogram message, get in the habit of copying five words to a line.  It DOESN'T HAVE to line up into five columns (which is nice, but not a requirement).  It's more important to break it up into groups of five words to ease the counting of words.
• Use headphones to cut down the impact of nearby noise.

• Practice sending at the appropriate rate where the other party can copy.  That means you shouldn't ramble off the message text at high speed, but pace yourself to the same speed that the other party is copying (about 15 WPM).  That translates to about one word every four seconds.  As you speak, imagine that you're writing the word in your mind.  After a while, you'll get the hang of talking 15 WPM.  If you do this right, you'll never get a request to repeat a section.
• When asking for part or all of the message to be repeated, get into the habit of saying "Say Again" instead of "Repeat".  Repeat is used in the military to fire another salvo of artillery.  Also, if you're using a VOX or foot switch, there's a greater chance that the receiving party will hear "again" instead of hearing a fraction of the word "...peat".
• Learn to send CW with your left hand, so you can write with your right hand (assuming you're right handed).
• Similarly, use a foot switch to free your hands when you key the radio.
• Use a boom mike to keep away stray background noise.
• Equipment settings

 
• Make an effort to observe the operator, learning the controls that he/she activates to make contact.  There may be a time when you have to relieve that operator and the more you know, the faster you'll be able to handle that assignment.

 
1. The first contribution to the design of an effective emergency communications network is to reduce the number of elements in the communications media.  This includes:

• Reducing the number of hops or stations that need  to relay the message.
• Reducing the number of radio operators needed to handle the message.
• Reducing the number of people involved in handling the message.
Reducing the number of elements without a substantial drop in quality makes the total system more reliable.
 
1. If one particular communictions media (radio/radio frequency) is not available or usable, as amateur radio operators, we can always switch to another band or method that is usable.
2. At other times, it may be using telephone or radio systems that are not within the amateur radio service.  For example, you might be called upon to be a relief operator for a local government radio system, such as for civil defense.  You should make an effort to become familiar with their operating practices, including the sequence of calling/called stations, and procedural codes that may be in use.  Also, take some time to familiarize yourself with the phone (PBX) system, nearby fax machines, and e-mail systems that might be present.  Even copy machines should be considered communications equipment, as the copies you make communicate with other people.

 
3. As emergency communicators, our mission and goal is to pass the message accurately, in a timely fashion and in a usable form to the destination.  That means that at times, we may have to step aside from our radios and use other prudent methods to get the job done.  At times, it might be best to hand over the microphone to the person wishing to speak, so he can say the message to the recipient directly -- thereby cutting out one delay in the relaying of the message.  If we're holding the microphone, we become part of the communications media and can reduce the reliability of the message.

 
4. Even non-electronic signalling methods are forms of emergency communications.  If you are directing rescue workers to a unfamiliar scene (such as via a military helicopter), you can instruct party at the rescue scene to move a police car near a suitable landing site closest to the scene, and have them activate the rooftop flashing lights to guide the incoming helicopter to that location.  If you can send messages to both parties to co-ordinate the hook-up using the visual flashing light, that will better ensure that minimal time is used to locate the rescue and evacuation scene.

1. Lastly, in times of communications difficulties, do not hesitate to talk on "your" frequency, and listen out of band to the transmissions of another agency.  If they have access to a scanner, they likewise can listen out-of-band to your transmissions and thereby achieve reliable two-way contact.

1. Noise in the communications media can take many forms.  In radio communications, it can take the form of static, adjacent channel interference, intermod and other similar interference.
2. In the audio portion, conversations by nearby bystanders can interfere with your ability to hear the radio.
3. Poor lighting or other distractions are another form of noise.
4. Codes used to facilitate and expedite handling by the operators in one radio system could be misinterpreted or ignored by another set of operators in another system.  The "signal" in one system becomes "noise" in another.  Use plain messages instead of procedural codes to communicate requests such as "send an ambulance" or "send a work crew to...".
5. Relaying the messages through multiple stations can cause distortions and other mishandling of the message.  Minimize the amount of message handling required.
6. Where possible, examine the environment and see what you can do to reduce the amount of noise present at your station, which increases your ability to receive the message clearly.

These are all smart ways of making a "better communications medium".