“NTS/ARES EXTRA”
The following was sent to Steve Ewald, WV1X, who is the Emergency Communications Manager at the ARRL HQ, by the ARRL’s Volunteer Resources Committee and they ask Steve to send this out to all Section Managers.
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It has
never been more important for the volunteers in the ARRL’s emergency
communications programs to serve with professionalism and excellence. In March 2002, the Volunteer Resources
Committee studied the ARRL’s programs related to emergency communications. This
review was undertaken not only because of the growing concern for Homeland
Security following September 11, 2001, but also because of the ongoing need to
ensure that Amateur Radio responds effectively to disasters unrelated to
terrorism such as floods, hurricanes, forest fires, earthquakes, hazardous
materials incidents, etc.
Several inter-related themes emerged during that study. One is that Amateur
Radio must earn and maintain increased credibility with served agencies, both
nationally and at the local level. Another is that Amateur Radio emergency
communications volunteers must be more actively involved in a variety of
training experiences throughout the year. Finally, although ARES and NTS are
(and will continue to be) structurally separate in Section Field
Organizations, these two volunteer programs need to work more cooperatively,
functioning as part of one coherent emergency communications program at the
Section level.
The Volunteer Resources Committee believes that both ARES and NTS are valuable
programs, and so they proposed no structural change at the Section Level. They
are however convinced that more cooperation is needed.
Some Sections have achieved a high degree of functional integration and
cooperation between ARES and NTS. In other Sections, each may operate as though
the other did not exist. The Volunteer Resources Committee also believes that
close cooperation between ARES and NTS, with mutual respect and pooling of
expertise, is the best way to serve agencies effectively and to earn credibility
as fully-skilled emergency communicators. END
Since
the time this was written in 2002 and the coming of hurricane Katrina last year,
the ARRL, Ares/Races, NTS, Section Managers, Section Emergency Coordinators and
the Emergency Management folks all across the U.S. have realized that necessary
changes in the way they have thought in the past needs to be changed. Today’s
world is not the same. There are new threats from Terrorist, changes in weather
patterns and the endless lines of hazardous materials on our streets and
highways, and there is always that chance of the BIG earthquake. TRAINING IN
THE PROPER PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS OF NTS/ARES/RACES EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US, AND A MUST IF WE ARE TO CONTINUE SERVING PUBLIC
SAFETY AGENCIES.
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The following was written by Jim Wade, WB8SIW, who resides in Michigan. He has served as a Net Manager on NTS CW nets and is certified as a Professional Emergency Manager. When I first read this I thought “What a nut case”, but after really looking at what he was saying, I think he does have SOME valid points that are worth repeating, however there were some that I do not feel would be worth repeating so I have left those negative thoughts out.
Here is a concern
During a
recent bioterrorism response exercise in another State, the ARES group
repeatedly entered the Emergency Operations Center requesting etiological
information and other data from State and Federal public health officials. In
each case, the served agency representative asked some very
simple questions:
1. “Who’s requesting this
information?”
2. “What time did he request it?”
3. “What facility is he located at”
........and on and on.
Finally, the local Emergency Manager walked into the ARES room, handed them a
book of radiogram blanks, and demanded they use them. He was not an amateur
operator, so the Ares exercise evaluator asked him what his reasons were for
doing this. The response was straightforward: “NTS format will insure we get all
of the necessary information in a consistent manner,” and, As one who has had to
rely on ARES and RACES groups to send messages at HAZMAT scenes, during major
disasters, and so forth, I can say without equivocation that Amateur Radio has
serious deficiencies. These may be summarized as follows:
1. Most ARES groups are equipped (trained) only to handle informal
tactical communications in which they are the direct recipient of the
information or instructions. Many such organizations “fall apart” in a net
configuration because the majority of the members haven’t the least familiarity
with proper NTS net procedures.
2. Most ARES groups are incapable of utilizing a standard message format for
accurately transmitting third party traffic. As such, important service data is
often lacking. A message recipient needs to know from whom and where a message
was originated. He needs to know when it was drafted. This information is almost
never available through ARES.
For over 30 years, I have seen numerous ARES groups and ARRL Sections bypass NTS
by creating ad-hoc “ARES Nets” to facilitate cross jurisdictional message flow.
Sometimes this is necessary to serve a unique, specialized purpose, such as
linking a number of Skywarn Nets. However, in most cases, these nets serve only
to avoid the use of a standard message format, which many EC’s and AEC’s are
simply afraid to admit they don't know how to use them or the NTS.
Individuals can blame NTS all they want, but they should be forewarned; a failure to deal with basic training and preparedness issues at the local level will kill Amateur Radio emergency communications just as quickly as a failure to address NTS issues. END
This isn’t the opinion of just one man, there are a number of Emergency Managers, Police and Fire Chief’s, Mayors and County Judge’s around the Country that see us as nuisance and untrained amateurs. On the other side of the coin though, there are those in Public Safety that see us as Emergency Communications professionals. The implication here is, the trained Vs the untrained and the committed Vs the uncommitted Ares/Races leadership and membership.
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In Arkansas we are very fortunate to have a Section Manager and Section Emergency Coordinator who care about their Members, ARES/RACES, Training and the NTS. I won’t go as far as to say that we are ahead of all of the States when it comes to Training but I will say this “We are far ahead of most States when it comes to trained Section and ARES/RACES Leadership and Membership.” All of you, not just here in Arkansas but from all across the Country, who have achieved a firm commitment to Emergency Communications preparedness and training are to be commended for your efforts.
My hat is off to all of you who care about the quality of our emergency communications system!!!
Tom Harris,
k5wth