Kalamazoo County
ARES/RACES Plan for Disaster Operations
SCOPE: This
Plan provides guidelines for providing communications during a
disaster.
GENERAL:
Geographically Confined
Disaster: One which encompasses a limited area, up
to several city blocks. Although the actual disaster site will be
confined, communications may be required at one or more remote
locations such as hospitals, shelters, etc.
Large Area Disaster:
A disaster encompassing a large geographical area, possibly the
entire county, or more. i.e. Blizzard.
Control Points:
ARES/RACES nets may be conducted from the Kalamazoo County
Emergency Communication Center (ECC), American Red Cross Chapter
House radio club station, the AVCOM mobile command post, or an
individual's home station. Normally, all disaster nets will be
run from the ECC.
Net Control Station (NCS):
A station will be appointed by the Emergency Coordinator (EC) or
designees, to maintain control over all net operations including
the keeping of accurate logs and copying of all net traffic. The
NCS will normally be operating from the emergency communications
center in the Kalamazoo County EOC.
If communications are on a
simplex frequency, the NCS will also monitor the 444.650 repeater
which will be acting as an intercom between the American Red
Cross Chapter House and the Kalamazoo County EOC.
The NCS should be
self-sustaining with respect to electrical power, manpower,
communications, and life support.
Time permitting, the NCS will
periodically announce the frequencies in use by various
communication sectors. NCS will also announce which operations
are presently active.
Backup Net Control Station
(BCNS): A station designated by the NCS to be
available to take over as NCS should that become necessary. The
BCNS should copy all pending traffic, maintain accurate logs, and
fulfill all other prerequisites for net control.
Staging Area:
A geographical location which has been designated as a meeting
point for stations involved with the disaster situation. Staging
areas should have large parking lots and easy access to major
streets and highways.
Staging Area Command Post
(SCP): A station designated by the EC or NCS to
assume responsibility for operations at the staging area.
The (SCP) shall maintain a
list of available stations and equipment at the staging area and
record movements to and from the staging area.
The (SCP) will coordinate
incoming man power on an available 2 meter repeater. If none is
available, a simplex frequency will be used.
The (SCP) may conduct this
operation from his/her home station.
On-Scene Command Post (CP):
A station designated by the EC or NCS to coordinate all
communications in and out of the immediate disaster site.
The Avcom
Mobile Command Post will be used as an ARES/RACES CP
as well as a multi-agency communications center, should the need
arise. Plans for Avcom deployment are contained in this document.
The On Scene CP should be
located in close proximity to the disaster site to facilitate
communication. Usually the location will be designated by the
Incident Commander.
Portable stations operating
within the disaster site should communicate with each other and
the On-Scene CP on 146.52 MHz simplex.
The On-Scene CP will coordinate with other ARES/RACES communication centers on matters affecting the disaster site. These communication links usually will be established
on the 147.00 MHz repeater.
Damage Assessment Teams
(DAT): Trained ARES/RACES members may be asked to
provide communications or assistance to DAT's during or after a
disaster. A working frequency for this task will be assigned to
prevent interference to concurrent operations.
DISASTER PLAN ACTIVATION
Activation of this disaster
plan shall be by the EC, Emergency Management Director, or
designee.
Kalamazoo County ARES/RACES
will provide communications support for the member agencies of
the Kalamazoo County Disaster Committee.
ARES/RACES MEMBER
ACTIVITIES
During a disaster situation,
individual members available for assignment will be identified by
the NCS or SCP, and assigned to duty as necessary.
ARES/RACES personnel may be assigned to a disaster site or to a staging area by NCS, or EC, or SCP. Personnel should report to the on-scene command post after arriving at the disaster area.
All responding RACES
personnel will have in their possession their State RACES card.
ARES/RACES members may be asked to staff communication posts at locations other than the disaster site. These assignments will be made by the EC.
All traffic to be passed (unless extremely time sensitive) will contain the originators name and title as well as the destination name and title. EXAMPLE:
FROM: James Witt, Director FEMA
TO: John Doe, Shelter Manager.
The date and time the traffic was received and delivered should also be included.
No traffic will be passed without this information.
In all instances the mission
of ARES/RACES is to provide communications support to served
agencies. ARES/RACES members should undertake no actions other
than this primary mission unless specifically requested by the
served agency. Communications is our primary mission. Clear any
non-communications assignments with the EC.
While a disaster
situation may require the taking of certain calculated risks in
order to accomplish the mission, ARES/RACES members are
responsible for their own safety and should take no action that
places them in personal jeopardy. In a questionable situation,
pull back and report your situation to the NCS or EC.
DISASTER COMMUNICATIONS GUIDELINES
During a disaster situation
it may be necessary for the EC to evaluate the physical layout of
the disaster site or sites and their relationship to other sites
where radio communications will be required.
In a geographically confined
disaster, where all sites are relatively close together,
communications between the sites may be conducted on simplex. If
more range is required, the 147.04 or 147.00 repeater may be
used.
In a large area disaster,
traffic will be passed via repeater, remote base, or HF, should
the need arise.
The 147.00 repeater will be
used for wide-area coverage and communications between ARES/RACES
stations at served agencies.
The 147.04 repeater will be used for Skywarn operations, Staging, and Mutual Aid coordination.
146.52 Simplex will be used as an on-scene tactical channel.
The 444.650 repeater will be
used as an executive intercom between the KCEOC, AVCOM and the
American Red Cross Chapter House. This repeater may be also be
used to provide coverage into Borgess Medical Center and Bronson
Methodist Hospital if necessary.
Additional repeater or
simplex frequencies may be assigned by the EC or NCS.
MOBILIZATION OF ARES/RACES MEMBERS
As soon as the need or impending need for deployment of ARES/RACES members is recognized, the EC or designee, shall activate the calling tree, and start a manpower net on the 147.04 repeater.
Contact shall be made with the Incident Commander or with the official requesting ARES/RACES support.
An estimate of the duration of ARES/RACES involvement shall be made as soon as possible. If the expected duration is greater than 8 hours, plans should be made for relief operators. This may involve notifying the State or District Emergency Coordinator.
Staging areas shall be identified and assigned a command post station (SCP).
The Avcom team and advance team shall be notified of possible deployment.
The Red Cross station
operators shall be notified of possible deployment.
Operators assigned to Damage
Assessment Teams shall report to the EOC for assignments, unless
redirected by NCS or the EC.