August 23, 2007
Thanks for your interest in Emergency Response Teams (ERTs). A number of people have asked good questions about ERTs as planned for the ARRL VA Section. We're trying to capture on this web page both the questions asked by ARES members and the answers provided by VA Section Leadership. Click on the links below to go the appropriate section of this page.
If you have additional questions or comments dealing with Emergency Response Teams, please address them via email to our Section Manager, Glen Sage, W4GHS or our Section Emergency Coordinator, Henry Wyatt, K4YCR. [click on the blue call signs to send email]
August 21, 2007
Glen Sage, W4GHS, ARRL VA Section Manager, mentioned Emergency Response Teams (ERT) in his Section Managers Report dated August 13, 2007. Part of Glen's report reads as follows:
We will be making contact with persons that have completed ARECC level one and have expressed an interest in serving on an Emergency Response Team (ERT). Only those that have registered with ARES ® at the section level will be contacted. There will be other qualifications for these teams consistent with the recommendations of the National Emergency Response Planning Committee (NERPC). These include the following minimum standards;
♦ ARRL’s ARECC Level 1
♦ Red Cross combined course in Adult CPR/First Aid Basics
♦ Red Cross online Introduction to Disaster Services
♦ FEMA IS-100 (Introduction to Incident Command System)
♦ FEMA IS-200 (ICS for Single Resource and Initial Action Incidents)
♦ FEMA IS-700 (National Incident Management System)
We will be requiring a criminal background check to ensure that the members do not have a felony conviction as part of their history. This is a requirement in many areas now.
Aside from the ARECC level 1 training we will phase in the other course requirements to allow team members time to achieve the other qualifications by July of 2008.
August 21, 2007
Q1.[K3MZ] I would be interested in being an ERT member. Can you tell me how much time would be required to be an ERT member on a monthly basis?
A1. [Glen Sage, W4GHS, ARRL VA Section Manager] In order to better understand the time commitment for ERT, it is important to understand the nature of the role of ERT member. In the event that there is an activation that requires assistance from outside the effected jurisdiction then the first phase of response would be from a team that would be ready to go in 3 hours or less. This team would need to have provisions to be self-sustaining for the first 72 hours. This would include 3 gallons of water per person, non-perishable food for 3 days, personal medication, other personal supplies and radio equipment. If this is a major disaster, requiring ham-aid equipment from the ARRL. This information would be passed to the league and this first response team would be prepared to install this equipment where it is needed.
A second wave of responders would be making preparations for a longer time commitment or 5 to 10 days. During this second round of response there may be some mutual assistance from nearby jurisdictions. Some of these responders may not necessarily be members of the ERT.
During Katrina, Henry Wyatt, K4YCR, Dan Brown, N8YSZ and I (W4GHS) were the first hams to arrive from the "outside world" into Hattiesburg MS. We touched base with the Red Cross Amateur Radio liaison at Hattiesburg, set up our stations and begin to call in additional resources from Gregg Sarrett, Alabama SM located at the staging area in Montgomery AL. Over the next 10 days there was a steady flow of additional (26) operators dispatched to the Hattiesburg area to provide communications for each of the (ERVs) Emergency Response Vehicles, feeding stations operated by the SBC Southern Baptist Convention, shelters and other Red Cross facilities.
This is typical for moving from quick response to a point of complete communications coverage by Amateur Radio.
Activations of this type and magnitude happen at very sporadic intervals but require constant preparation. Those that serve on ERT should be involved in their local ARES units by participation in training such as Simulated Emergency Test (SETs) assisting with public service events etc. This should also involve update of skills by course studies.
The time involved in preparation will vary with the activity level of the local ARES unit and interest of the team member to go beyond just "basic requirements".
August 21, 2007
Q2. [K4UK] With reference to the requirements listed ... concerning
ARES, if I show up with equipment ready to provide emergency
communications via amateur radio, will my offer be refused
because I haven't passed the stated "standards" nor have the
required paperwork in hand??
A2. [Glen Sage, W4GHS, ARRL VA Section Manager] The program outlined in the SM report is one for ERTs (Emergency Response Teams). It is not the requirement for general ARES membership in Virginia. In some states (for instance, Alabama) it is similar to ARES membership requirements. When these Emergency Response Teams arrive on site, you will find some local hams already up and running. You don't ask these local hams to go home because you are there with all the correct paperwork. You come to supplement their efforts and support the local team.
The standards for RRT (Rapid Response Teams), QRT (Quick Response Teams), and RED (Radio Emergency Deployment) Teams are different and higher than someone that is a local ARES member. For years, all the ARES literature indicates that you do not self deploy but
if "spontaneous volunteers" comes and ask to help they are usually placed in less critical positions until their skills can be evaluated. All this is outlined in ARECC level one.
This month's issue of QST has been dedicated to "Emergency Communications" and has some outstanding articles on the subject. I would suggest that you read the article by Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer and QST Publisher. It is in the September issue and begins on page 38 and is titled "The ARRL and Emergency Communications". This article deals with some of the issues that you raise. The expectations of all agencies(not just Red Cross) has increased and will continue to increase.
Everyone that walks into a staging area of a disaster with a radio under their arm, HT on their belt and a license in their wallet are not always in a position to be helpful. If you have monitored recent SETs and exercises you will see evidence of people that create more problems than the help they might provide. Why would anyone that is really interested in providing emergency communications not want to be the best prepared possible?
In another vein, If I am lying beside the road bleeding and someone comes along and tries to stop the bleeding, I'm not going to ask he is a certified EMT and if he or she is not, tell them to quit offering aid. If their is a real emergency, and someone is not licensed they can use a ham rig to enlist help if there is no other means available. They must cease once the emergency has been ended. The same is true for someone that is in a position to provide Amateur Radio Communications in the time of emergency they may be used in a limited capacity until their skills are assessed. You have to apply some common sense to the problem or opportunity but that is not an excuse for us to fail to prepare.
I was first named as a EC in 1977 in WV and in 1978 planned and helped to conduct the largest SET in Southern West Virginia to date. Since that time things have radically changed in the field of emergency communications. If any of us rely on the fact that we are active in a couple of nets on a daily basis and have a ham ticket and don't need any other training we are dead wrong.
The agencies that we support are improving their systems, backup systems and redundancy by leaps and bounds. We must stay abreast of developments and keep our skills sharp if we are to be relevant. In Virginia we have been on the threshold of being on the "outside looking in with at least one major agency." If that would have happened, it would have been bad for us and the agency. We tell agencies that we are "well trained" and we must back that up with substance.
My feeling is that rather than say, what is the least training that can keep us useful, we should be looking at what training will make our skills and equipment the most useful possible to those that we serve. The strength of our relationships with agencies depend not only on our capability but also on their perception of our professionalism and skills.
The certificates that we have on our wall doesn't define the quality of ham or emergency communicator that we might be. I know hams that have no certification beyond their license but would make some of the best communicators in times of crisis, they are the exception rather than the rule. Most of these operators would not know the system or overall operation but could be placed at an operating position to pass traffic. If these hams are interested in helping with emergencies why would they refuse to train and continue to update their skills? With the new Incident Command System and other requirements by agencies, just being able to pass traffic is not enough. You have to understand what is happening in the larger picture.
In time to come there will be a national system of ID for first responders. Those that are without proper credentials would be unable to even enter the disaster area. This will place those that are in leadership with ARES / RACES in a position to not have to make a decision about using or not using them. They will not be allowed to enter the area.
In today's world we have to be able to ensure that our leadership and membership is free from a criminal history that would make us unsuitable to place in a shelter or other critical settings. We used to think that was just a "given". It is not something that we can simply assume in today's world.
