“BEING NIMS READY”

Emergency Response volunteers are now aware of the federal requirement for user agencies and organizations to adopt the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS). If response agencies and organizations fail to meet the prescribed deadlines, they risk losing preparedness funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. OK, that means, every governmental agency, non-governmental organizations and private industry that has a direct role in emergency response is now required to implement NIMS and the ICS when responding to emergencies.  The NIMS Integration Center, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has now stated that all volunteers with a direct role in incident management and response must take NIMS and ICS training. In Arkansas, our State Department of Emergency Management is only strongly encouraging that we as Volunteer Amateur radio responders take the IS-100, 200, 700, and 800-A. Although the State is only strongly encouraging we take these NIMS test they themselves have ruled/required that all State employees take certain NIMS courses. In addition to this, all County and City, volunteer Firemen and EMS employees in Arkansas are required to take certain NIMS courses. It would behoove all of the DEC’S, EC’S and ARES/RACES members to check with their local served agencies to see if they are requiring that WE take the NIMS courses because there are many of them around the State that are requiring them.

 

Amateur Radios ARES/RACES Emergency Communications groups need to be proficient in the use of ICS terminology and procedures if we are to work effectively with our clients.  Much has been written on the subject and there are some excellent ICS courses available on-line. The Incident Command System (ICS) is now the system of choice for managing both emergencies and special events all around the Country.  While the Department of Homeland Security calls its flavor of the ICS “NIMS” (National Incident Management System) it is essentially the same system that has been around for the past 33 years.
    

I would suggest that if NIMS/ICS is good for our clients it can be good for ARES/RACES as well.  Maybe we should consider organizing our ARES/RACES Emergency Communications groups internally using the ICS model.  Further, as we prepare to respond to either a special event or an actual emergency it may behoove us to implement the ICS within our own response.  That is NOT the IC for the actual incident but for the ARES/RACES Emergency Communications team only. You may ask, How would this work, well within the group, key ICS style positions could be established to make the response more efficient.  The group IC could assign one member as the “Operations Coordinator” assigned to handle all operational matters, thereby freeing the Emergency Coordinator for other duties.  A “Logistics Coordinator” would deal with such matters as scheduling and procuring equipment and supplies.  Another might be assigned to “Planning” in order to gather information about the expected duration and scope of the event. All of these group leaders would support the EC within the ARES/RACES group just like their counterparts support the over all IC of an incident.
    

There is a parallel here with what professional communications entities are doing.  Many 9-1-1 Dispatch Centers, which, like amateur radio groups, provide communications services to public safety agencies during times of emergencies, and they have implemented “internal ICS” as part of their protocol.
    

If the aim of an amateur operator involved in Emergency Communications is to handle health and welfare traffic on behalf of the public, which is the “bottom line” mission of our service, then some on-going message handling training is important in order to keep accuracy and efficiency up.  If individual ARES/RACES Emergency Communications operators wish to be of service to government clients, the training requirement is a bit more intense.  While there is no accepted national standard for Emergency Communications training, certainly completion of the ARRL Emergency Communications Courses and relevant FEMA/DHS courses should be deemed important to all of us.  

 

Using ICS during meetings for preparedness is also an ideal fit. First, adopting ICS for day to day use employs the use of all members; one person cannot effectively run the whole show. RACES organizations that provide government to government communications would especially benefit from the use of ICS.
The concept of turning qualified Ham radio operators into communication specialists and leaders suggests that every Ham who participates in the readiness process should have a copy of the Standard Operating Procedures that describes plans for response to a local or regional emergency or disaster. They should be prepared to immediately operate as Net Control Stations when the regularly appointed Net Control Stations are not functioning. They should be capable of coordinating activities with served agencies and organizations; alerting licensed Ham radio operators of the need for emergency communications, and monitor communications systems for functionality when elected and appointed leaders are not available. Yesterday morning during the ARES/RACES training session that W5RXU brought to us we discussed changes that are coming about in the services we provide. So, this may be an ideal time for ARES/RACES organizations to reconsider how we provide emergency Communications services. The federal requirement for served agencies to use NIMS and ICS should generate sufficient cause for us as communications providers to start rethinking our strategies and improve procedures and protocols. By including mechanisms that will incorporate the untrained licensed personnel for response to emergencies in our plans and by incorporating ICS in our day to day operations we may be better prepared and ready to meet the emergency response challenges of both today and tomorrow.

The Amateur Radio Service is the only group that can provide the many types of emergency communications with reliability, at no cost to the taxpayers, nationally and worldwide. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) which is the licensing and enforcement agency over Amateur services cites that one of the principles or purposes of the Amateur Radio Service is the “Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.” Radio amateurs provide emergency communications for the personal satisfaction they get from providing community service in extreme times of need.
However, when we ask why we provide emergency communications, we should also ask, what percentage of the amateur radio community is actually engaged in emergency preparedness activities? The answer unfortunately is, very few. Roughly, there are only about ten per cent of the Hams in the U.S. that are registered as being ready and willing to provide emergency communications, of which, only about ten percent are actively engaged in preparedness and training activities.

 

Think about this scenario, should all of the potential user agencies and organizations call for amateur radio assistance at the same time; there will not be sufficient numbers of trained operators available to meet the need. Our MOU’s include; The Associated Public Safety Communications Officers, The American National Red Cross, FEMA, DHS, The National Association of Radio and Telecommunication Engineers, The National Communications System, The National Weather Service, The Salvation Army, Local Hospitals, Our Local, County and State Emergency Management Offices, and the latest addition is the FBI. All ARES/RACES Leaders and response planners must develop new methods for effectively employing those Hams who do not normally participate in preparedness activities. That means that those few who do participate, must be retrained to take on new roles; not just the role of a radio operator.

PREPAREDNESS IS NOT AN EVENT, IT IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS………….