EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

 

RACES emblem    skywarn emblem ARES Emblem

Adrian Amateur Radio Club serves the community by being prepared to provide reliable communications during times of emergency.  The club trains through participating in controlled communication nets and special training exercises, often coordinating with other county emergency and relief agencies.  These functions are carried out through the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) program, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and weather nets (SKYWARN®).  Click here to see how the ARRL supports all of these activities.  Click here for an interesting page showing how Washtenaw County integrates ARES and RACES functions, including separate ARES and RACES nets. Joe Pullen, K8YZA, is ®the county Amateur Radio Emergency Coordinator (AREC), and is in charge of the ARES, RACES, and SKYWARN® programs. Note: At the November meeting Joe told us that the State Emergency Services director was particularly interested in the use of Amateur Radio Packet Communication.  The information pertaining to how to implement Packet Radio in Lenawee County so that it integrates with the State system is on the web here.

Joe Pullen, K8YZA, AREC

SKYWARN®

The National Weather Service (NWS), in cooperation with other organizations, has established the SKYWARN® local severe weather spotting network. The program is an effort to save lives and property during severe weather emergencies.  Click here to see how SKYWARN® ties in with ARES and RACES.  Click here to visit the Detroit NWS web site.  Review the Basic Spotters' Guide and the Advanced Spotters' Guide in .pdf file format.  Click here for a SKYWARN® quick reference guide.   

RACES

The federal Homeland Security Office has requested that all radio amateur emergency workers participating in RACES have special training. Lenawee County wants all persons in the RACES to have taken the current IS-22 course and the Lenawee County background and security clearances to assist in our county.


The background and clearances are NOT required for most of our emergency operations which are handled by ARES. The checks are required for RACES because that will most likely be enacted by the Federal government during war or terrorism events. Sometimes RACES persons are needed at an emergency operations center and everybody is more comfortable during times of terror with persons who have been checked.

For those of you who would like to become certified, you can take this class on line (click here) as well as your test. The test is a 50 question multiple-choice and true-false test, which is primarily a common sense test covering information which most hams are already familiar. After downloading the written materials to read (or reading them on line) you should print the test, then circle the correct answers, then take the test on line. The on-line form resembles a fill-in bubble sheet, but you click the space for your choice of answer.  

When you receive your certificate in the mail, make a copy of it and place the following info on the back of your copy: CALL, NAME, BIRTH DATE, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, DRIVER'S LICENSE NUMBER & STATE IF NOT MI, PHONE(S), ADDRESS INCLUDING ZIP CODE. Bring this info to Joe and he will deliver it to Jim Anderson who will deliver it to Captain Walsh of the Lenawee County Sheriff Dept. for the background checks.

Report of April 25, 2010 Communications Training

ADRIAN AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, ARES, & RACES TRAINING AT MADISON FIRE DEPARTMENT by Joe Pullen, K8YZA
 
    Five members of the Adrian Amateur Radio club attended Communications Equipment training on Sunday, April 25, from 2 to 6 pm. The participants included Bob Warwick, K2IBM, Randy Sweeney, N4UUJ, Caleb Squires, KK1G, Ted Rachwal, K8AQM, Peter Ossman, KD8IJC, and Joe Pullen, K8YZA. The trainer was John Waters, KD8CCR, of the District 1 Medical Coalition based at Livingston County Dispatch,  /The program was hosted by Fire Chief Don Palpant, Station 88.
    This course was intended to provide uniform training to participants within District 1 who will utilize communictions equipment supplied with Mobile Medical CBRNE Support Units (MMCSU). Training on equipment requiring an FCC license was limited to equipment set up and power supply.  Select equipment included instruction of set up, power supply, operation and problem solving.
    Upon completion of the course, the participants will be able to:
    1. Describe the state and national disaster communication frequencies and their purposes.
    2. Program and operate MMCSU radios.
    3. Establish radio interoperability and operate the Smart MSG function of Codespear.
    4. Track patients and communicte through the use of electronic patient tracking system (EPTS).
 
    Unfortunately, do to some equipment failures and missing equipment, some of the above were not able to be completed.
 
 
COMMENTS ON APRIL AARC MEETING by Joe W.Pullen, K8YZA, Lenawee County EC/RO
    At the last club meeting, it was suggested that ARES Training be offered 30 minutes prior to each meeting. Although a majority of those persons interested in training liked the idea, there were some objections and modifications offered. Unfortunately, I did not ask those club members who will not take part in the training what they thought of the idea.
    Some objections included the loss of social connections as well as the fact that many people find it difficult enough to get to the meeting by 7:30 due to work schedules and mealtime. Modifications added included reduction of the training time to 15 minutes on alternate meeting nights. This would give training before club meetings a total of 90 minutes per year, which is totally inadequate.
    Because of the inadequate time allotted and the lack of consulting the club members who do not wish to participate in this training, more will probably be accomplished by having essential training at times that do not infringe on all club members.
     I recognize that the meetings are for the total membership of the Adrian Amateur Radio Club and definitely do not wish to impinge on the membership ARES & RACES training if the majority do not wish to participate. Meanwhile I fully appreciate those who do want to take part; we will still conduct training at other times.  Thanks for reading this. 

Here is the roster and which tests have been passed.

LENAWEE COUNTY NIMS TRAINING AS OF 11/10/2007
                Required   Courses      
Sort Issued Lastname Firstname Callsign City Zip Code IS2 IS22 IS100 IS200 IS195 IS700 IS800 ICS 300 ICS400
1 RACES 2005 Back Alan N8TIB LasVegas     YES              
1 RACES 2005 Banker Dale N9MHD Adrian 49221                  
1 RACES 2005 Bowman Brian KC8MCR Riga 49276   YES yes     yes      
1 RACES 2007 Brooks Cletus K8TLT Onsted 49265   YES YES YES   YES yes    
1 RACES 2005 Brooks Kevin N8JMN Onsted 49265   YES YES     yes  
1 RACES 2007 Bydalek Stan KC8ZDH Adrian 49221   YES YES YES   YES YES    
1 RACES 2005 Densel Richard K8GX Adrian 49221   YES              
1 RACES 2005 Groover Bill KA8ARK Tecumseh 49286   YES              
1 RACES 2007 Lacy Orman W8LNR Adrian 49221   YES YES YES   YES YES
1 RACES 2007 Miller Alec K8ADM Onsted 49265   YES YES YES   YES YES
1 RACES 2007 Pullen Joe K8YZA ManitouBch 49253   YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
1 RACES 2005 Rice Jerold K8YCA Clayton 49235   YES          
1 RACES 2007 Schell Nick KC8ONZ Tecumseh 49286   YES YES yes      
1 RACES 2007 Schutte Norm W8TTH Adrian 49221   YES YES YES   YES YES    
1 RACES 2007 Schutte Virginia W8TTX Adrian 49221   YES YES YES   YES YES
1 RACES 2007 Sheely Lowell KC8JJT Jonesville 49250   YES YES YES   YES YES    
1 RACES 2007 Smith Eric K8JVW Adrian 49221   YES YES YES   YES YES
1 RACES 2007 Sweeney Walter N4UUJ Blissfield     YES YES YES   YES YES    
1 RACES 2007 Warwick Bob K2IBM Adrian 49221   YES YES YES   YES YES    
1 RACES 2005 Wheeler Art KC8GTA Manitou Bch 49253   YES              
1 RACES 2007 Willey Marjorie KB8TMM Onsted 49265   YES YES YES   YES YES    


 

Everything You Need to Know about 2006 Training

Click Here for the 2006 FEMA National Incident Management Training for various personnel.

Click here to learn more and download Telpac software.

Click here for an overview of the WINLINK communication system.

Click here for a look at the Power Point presentation on WINLINK for emergency services.