Florida

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Welcome
Florida ARES/RACES Members
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AGENDA Emergency Communications Using Amateur
Radio in Florida Saturday, June 11, 2004 1000
1030 Introduction, Welcome 1030 1130 State
EOC Activities 2004 1130 1200 State Liaison
System 1200 1315 Lunch On Your Own 1315
Introduction and Review of Plan Balance
Discussion of Plan NLT 1530 Wrap Up and Close
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Were GLAD Youre Here!
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Amateur Radio and Emergency Management Each
Others Best Friends During Times of Disaster
If they are talking to each other.
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Amateur Radio and Communications Blackouts

• Not dependent upon infrastructure
• Works without power lines, phone lines,
  microwave, internet, towers, cell sites, etc.

Can Go Any Distance Around the world,
across the street, anywhere in-between Can
Use Any Communications Method Voice,
Digital, Images, Video, Satellite Has Vast
Manpower and Skills Pool 43,407 in Florida,
733,248 Nationwide dedicated and enthusiastic
volunteers.
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Moral of Story
Amateur Radio Operators should be involved and
participate in the entire planning process for
emergency communications and be included in every
test, drill and exercise of emergency management
functions and responsibilities. Emergency
Management officials at the City, County and
State levels must be aware of the capabilities of
Amateur Radio and recognize Amateur Radio as a
valuable member of the Emergency Management team
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My Favorite Quote Trying to organize amateur
radio operators is a lot like trying to herd
cats J. Fleming, 1962
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And heres what usually happens when I try to
herd cats
or
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Then, sometimes I am the cat
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Moral of Story If Amateur Radio is going to be
a player in emergency communications, do your
organization, planning, training and program
development before the fact.
The time to plan is not during the event.
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• Amateur Radio Resources
• ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services)
  County Amateur
  Radio Emergency Coordinator
• Local Amateur Radio Club
• ARRL (American Radio Relay League)
• County, District or Section Leadership
• http//www.arrl.org
• 2. RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services)
• Civil Defense Legacy, Some Active Groups,
  County Emergency Management Agency
• http//www.races.net/

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ARES vs. RACES
ARES Utilizes existing American Radio Relay
League (ARRL) membership structure and
organization, similar policies and procedures
nationwide, strong leadership structure, all
volunteers, self-administered, 100s of groups
statewide
RACES Legacy program from cold war, circa
1948, no longer supported by FEMA or FCC,
requires very strong leadership from local groups
and constant input by local EMA, less than 10
groups active in Florida
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ARES vs. RACES
Its up to you and your local group which to
support and operate, some communities have
supported both and some have created their
own Auxiliary Communications System
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Emergency Managers Talk to your ARES Emergency
Coordinator, learn the capabilities of amateur
radio and what it can do to enhance your
emergency communications during times of
disaster, communications blackouts and special
events. Amateur Operators Talk to your local
Emergency Management Coordinator, get to know
their requirements and how you fit in the overall
emergency communications plans. Demonstrate what
you can do. You are communicators. COMMUNICATE !
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Amateur Radio
and
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Amateur Radio Operators
Americas First Emergency Responders
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Escambia
Holmes
Santa Rosa
Okaloosa
Jackson
CAPITAL DISTRICT
Nassau
Jefferson
Gadsden
Washington
Hamilton
Calhoun
Leon
Madison
Walton
Bay
Columbia
Duval
Baker
CROWN DISTRICT
WEST PANHANDLE DISTRICT
Liberty
Suwannee
Wakulla
Taylor
Union
Clay
Gulf
Bradford
Lafayette
EAST PANHANDLE DISTRICT
Franklin
StJohns
Franklin
Gilchrist
Dixie
Alachua
Putnam
Flagler
Levy
EAST CENTRAL DISTRICT
SUWANNEE DISTRICT
NORTHERN FLORIDA SECTION
Marion
Volusia
WEST CENTRAL DISTRICT
Lake
Sumter
Citrus
Seminole
Capital District - Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton,
Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla Crown
District - Bradford, Baker, Duval, Jax Beaches,
Clay, Nassau, Putnam, St Johns East Central
District - Flagler, Lake, Orange, Seminole,
Volusia East Panhandle District - Bay, Calhoun,
Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty,
Washington Suwannee District - Alachua, Columbia,
Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee,
Union West Central District - Citrus, Hernando,
Marion, Sumter West Panhandle District -
Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton
Hernando
Orange
Brevard
Pasco
Osceola
Hillsborough
Pinellas
Polk
Indian River
Manatee
Hardee
Okeechobee
St. Lucie
Highlands
De Soto
Sarasota
Martin
West Central Florida Section
Glades
Charlotte
Palm Beach
Lee
Hendry
Collier
Broward
Southern Florida Section
Dade
Monroe
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(No Transcript)
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Amateur Radio Activities
Charley 29 Tracker Missions Frances 54
Tracker Missions Ivan 27 Tracker
Missions Jeanne 9 Tracker Missions TOTAL 112
Tracker Missions
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Amateur Radio Activities
Deployed by/through State EOC Charley 165
Operators Frances 194 Operators Ivan 20
Operators Jeanne 39 Operators
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Amateur Radio Activities
Unknown Numbers 500 requested to ARRL by AE4MR
on 8/17 Unknown Response 300 requested to media
by AE4MR on 8/20 Unknown Response Totally
Unknown number of self-deployed, local deployed
or non-Tracker deployed operators
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Amateur Radio Activities through SEOC
4 Storms Total 44 Calendar Days 137 Storm
Days 418 Volunteer Amateurs 17,498 Amateur
Hours
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Amateur Radio Activities
Assets Deployed by/through State EOC 17
Communications Vans/Trailers 6 Antenna Repair
Crews Some of the 1400 generators deployed Some
of the 2500 radios deployed 3 Amateur Repeaters
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Amateur Radio Activities
Traffic Passed/Handled by SEOC SEDAN - 42 Formal
Messages, active in 28 EOCs APRS State wide
tracking of assets, 100 assets monitored HF
Monitoring of HWN, NHC, NFLARES, SFLARES Nets
whenever active VHF Local Repeaters Monitored
during all events, local coordination only
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Lessons Learned
What did we do right?
Well, lets try to do it again !
What did we do wrong?
Lets not do that anymore !
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Done Right

• No loss of communications to critical agencies
• Magnificent Response from Amateur Community
• Immediate and comprehensive mobilization
• Technologically, everything worked
• Provided needed and vital communications
• Developed a system mid-Frances
• No Responders Injured or Endangered
• Provided immediate, accurate intelligence
• Provided service to most agencies, functions

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Done Wrong

• Accepted information from unreliable sources
• Too slow to spool-up
• Failed to commit maximum resources at onset
• No central clearing house for amateur activities
• Didnt utilize or recognize depth of reserve
  forces
• Allowed improper deployment of valuable resources
• Non-amateurs involved in amateur decisions
• Amateurs involved in non-amateur decisions
• Amateurs assigned to non-communications functions
• Initially lost track of deployed resources
• Mutual Aid not invoked quickly enough (EMAC)
• As communicators, we failed to communicate

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Lessons Learned

• React Quicker for worst case scenario
• Anticipate needs based on intelligence/forecasts
• Organize response capabilities
• Assign Central deployment authority at SEOC
• Prioritize communications needs and requests
• Minimum level of training, familiarity required
• Amateur operators need to be in management loop
• Standardized procedures, policies needed
  statewide
• Paperwork, Forms, ID Badges
• Florida is One State, not 3 ARRL Sections

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Plan of Action
Improve Training of Amateurs and
non-Amateurs ARRL EMCOMM Training to ALL
ARES/RACES FEMA NIMS Training to ARRL
Leadership FL DEM Tracker Training Improve
coordination between local amateurs/EM Training
for EM Professionals Insure they talk to each
other, know each others capabilities,
expectations, etc. Update Emergency Plans at
State Level, ARRL Section Level and local
levels Recognize state requirements in section
plans
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Plan of Action
Develop a STATE-WIDE Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Plan or interface the plans of the
Northern Florida, West Central Florida and
Southern Florida Plans. Its one State, people,
not 3 and Hurricanes dont stop at State or
County lines or City Limits Produce and
participate in more realistic SET and Field Day
events Endorse, recognize and/or fund only
ARES/RACES groups having NIMS and EMCOMM
training Research and distribute grant fund
possibilities for amateur radio groups, assist
in grant processes
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EMCOMM and NIMS
The basis for all support, funding and deployment
of ARES/RACES amateur radio assets and resources
by the Florida Division of Emergency Management
in the future will be the acceptance of and
participation in the ARRL EMCOMM Training and the
FEMA NIMS (ICS) Training, by the deployed
resource.
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EMCOMM and NIMS
The Florida Division of Emergency Management will
support and endorse NIMS and EMCOMM training
for ?ARRL SCMs, ASCMs, SECs, ASECs, DECs,
ARES ECs, AECs and Members ?RACES Radio
Officers and RACES Members Training will be
on-line, preferably, but on-site classroom
training will be offered at central locations and
convenient times.
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TRAINING
EMCOMM http//www.arrl.org/cce/ NIMS
http//www.fema.gov/nims/ TRACKER http//www.eoco
nline.org/welcome.nsf?Open
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Tracker
Tracker is the system used by FDEM for all
mission assignments, messaging, reports,
purchasing, deployments and all actions and
activities relating to the incident. If it
aint in Tracker, it didnt happen. Access to
Tracker is via local on-site terminals, through
the web, remote net or dial in, radio, satellite,
cell phone or PDAs, etc. Any emergency support
group, including amateur groups, can have full or
limited access to Tracker. It can be training
intensive, however, and steps are underway to
simplify it for occasional users.
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Dr. Grays Hurricane Forecast for 2005 (Revised
05/31/05)
ITEM 2004 2005
Actual Forecast
Named Storms 11
15 Hurricanes 6
8 Major Hurricanes (Cat 3)
4 Major Storm Landfill 77 (100 year average
52)
Dontcha think we oughtta start planning?
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Kudos To
Rudy WA4PUP Randy AG4UU Dale N4SGQ Bill
WY8O Dave AE4MR Bill KI4HGK Carlton
AG4UT Kimo K4IMO Brian AI4AI John
NZ4QJ Bonnie W4FFX Tom and Glenda KD4NWO and
KD4MWO
In Memoriam
James (Jim) Goldsberry KD4GR Nils
Millergren WA4NDA
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Kudos To
And the other, probably 3000 or more, amateur
operators who selflessly volunteered their time,
resources and assets to help their fellow
Floridians in time of need
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Applicable State Statutes
G.S. 252.41 Emergency management support
forces. G. S. 768.1355 Florida Volunteer
Protection Act. G.S. 1768.28 Waiver of
sovereign immunity in tort
actions.
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KA4EOC at the Florida Emergency Operations Center
Supporting Amateur Radio and Amateur Radio
Operators
WD4FFX, K4IMO, AI4AI, W4FFX, KI4HGK, W4MNY,
KF4KHI, KB4PNY, AC4TO, K9RXG