Emergency Communications In Louisiana

Agenda

• PART 1– Why Ham Radio ?– ARES, RACES, SHARES, MARS and

SKYWARN– Louisiana ARES Organization– Leadership and Organizational

Philosophy– Building A Parish Level Organization

Agenda• PART 2

– Training and Certifications– Activation– GOHSEP Frequencies– GOHSEP Recommendations– Potential Changes to ARES– Local Issues– Questions

• Why Ham Radio ?• ARES, RACES, SHARES, MARS and

SKYWARN• Louisiana ARES Organization• Leadership and Organizational

Philosophy• Building A Parish Level Organization

PART 1

Why Amateur Radio ?

• ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) is a part of amateur radio sponsored by the ARRL (American Radio Relay League). ARES provides communications for both civil preparedness as well as non-emergency events such as parades, foot and bicycle races, and other community events.

• RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) is a part of amateur radio sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). RACES provides emergency communications for civil preparedness purposes only.

• The (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio program, administered by the Department of Homeland Security, provides an additional means for users with a national security and emergency preparedness mission to communicate when landline and cellular communications are unavailable.

ARES, RACES,

and SHARES

• The (MARS) Military Auxiliary Radio System is a United States Department of Defense sponsored program, established as a separately managed and operated program by the United States Army, and the United States Air Force. They assist the military with communications on a local, national, and international basis.

• SKYWARN® is a National Weather Service (NWS) program developed in the 1960s that consists of trained weather spotters who provide reports of severe and hazardous weather to help meteorologists make life-saving warning decisions.

MARS

and SKYWARN

ARES OrganizationLouisiana Section Manager, John Mark Robertson, k5jmr@arrl.org , (318) 572-7917

Louisiana Section Emergency Coordinator, Jim Coleman, ai5b@arrl.net, (985) 516-2632Louisiana Ass’t Section Emergency Coordinator, Marlin Thompson, KG5RPZ@arrl.net, (318) 229-1642

Louisiana ARES Parishes

ARES Organization

Leadership and the Philosophy of the Organization

• There is no “Command Staff” in the Louisiana Section.

• There is instead a "Leadership Staff".

• Our leaders need to be coaches, facilitators and mentors to those on our team.

• We do not issue orders to our team members.

• We lead by example and get results by the strength of our logic and our ability to persuade.

• The Parish ECs are critical to our success. All emergencies are local in nature. Control of emergencies is at the parish IC level.

• The DECs need to coach, educate and mentor their Parish ECs prior to a communications emergency. During an emergency the DECs should transition to that of a facilitator and assistant.

• Likewise, the SEC and ASECs should coach, educate and mentor the DECsprior to a communications emergency. During an emergency the SEC and ASECs should transition to that of a facilitator and assistant.

Building A Parish Level Organization• All Team Members Acquire Knowledge of Emergency

Communications And The Incident Command System.• Recruit Parish Emergency Coordinators.• Develop Parish ARES Emergency Communications Plan Utilizing

Inputs From Team Members and Served Agencies.• Develop Operating Proficiencies by Nets, Field Day and SETs.• Assist Communications Within Agencies Such As American Red

Cross, Southern Baptists, Salvation Army, MARS or Coast Guard Flotillas.

• Sponsor Ham Radio Activities Within Youth Organizations Such As Boy Scouts, and High School Science Clubs.

• Present Ham Radio Topics to Organizations Such As Rotary, Masonic Lodges, Knights of Columbus, Church Groups, American Legion, and“Ham Radio” Day at the Local Library.

• Follow Up With Public Training Classes.• Help Parish and OHSEP Director, Police Chiefs, Sheriff, Fire Chiefs,

Mayors, and Police Jury/Parish Council Members Understand the Capabilities and Value of Amateur Radio.

• Once OHSEP and Parish Leaders Realize That You Are Part of the Solution, Support Will Follow.

• Training and Certifications• Activation• GOHSEP Frequencies • GOHSEP Recommendations• Potential Changes to ARES• Local Issues• Questions

PART 2

Training and Certifications

• The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a standardized approach to incident management developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

• NIMS guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover fromincidents.

• Our served agencies must be NIMS compliant. They, in turn, require us to be compliant as a supplier of communication services.

• When we provide these communication services we are under the control of the incident command system for that incident.

• Even if we provide those services from the home station, we are still part of that system. The system does not just apply within the confines of the EOC.

Training and Certifications

• ARES personnel are requested and encouraged to complete, at a minimum, the NIMS ICS courses IS-100b, IS-200b, IS-700a, and IS-800b.

• ARES personnel should contact their EC or DEC to inquire whether Emergency Management organizations or other served agencies require any specific training for access to their facilities.

• Interested ARES personnel are encouraged to attend SKYWARN training for severe weather storm spotting and reporting.

• The ARRL provides additional training which may be of interest to ARES members and participants. Refer to the ARRL website for more information.

Activation

• ARES emergency operations will be activated (ACTIVATION LEVEL) by a request from Local Emergency Management Officials or Served Agencies. The EC is authorized to activate personnel within their own Parish after the request is received.

• The EC will communicate activation to all ARES members listed on their Parish roster. Activation may be by phone, text, radio or other method. The EC will use the ICS-211 to keep track of ARES personnel activated for the emergency. The DEC and SEC should be notified of activation as soon as practical.

• The DEC and SEC may elect to place regions or the entire Section in ALERT or STANDBY status ahead of approaching severe weather, or on the anticipation of a communications emergency.

Activation

• As previously noted, ARES emergency operations will be activated (ACTIVATION LEVEL) by the parish EC following a request from Local Emergency Management Officials or Served Agencies.

• If there is no EC assigned to a parish and a request from Local Emergency Management Officials or Served Agencies has been received by the DEC, that DEC may activate ARES within that parish in lieu of the EC.

Activation Levels

GOHSEP Frequencies

GOHSEP Frequencies

GOHSEP Recommendations

• When utilizing Pactor, use the RMS, Radio Message Server Gateway, whenever possible. The following email addresses are continuously monitored:

• WB5LHS@WINLINK.ORG• WB5LHS@GMAIL.COM• GOHSEP@WINLINK.COM

• Parish EOCs in GOHSEP Region 2 should first build out their EOCs with VHF and UHF voice radio capabilities. The next build out should be VHF and UHF packet, followed by HF capabilities.

• Parish EOCs in all other regions should first build out their EOCs with HF capabilities.

Potential Changes to ARES

• Goals include aligning the ARES organizational structure with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS).

• The Emergency Coordinator (EC) will continue to lead the ARES team locally during an incident.

• The District EC and Section Emergency Coordinator will continue to serve as resources and support for the EC.

Potential Changes to ARES

• It is envisioned that additional training will be mandated, including ARRL Emergency Communications courses and the now standard FEMA NIMS/ICS courses IS-100, 200, 700, 800, with IS-300 and 400 for higher levels.

• It is proposed that ARRL will provide a basic ARES ID, which would convey recognition of registration with ARES nationally and indicate level of training.

Potential Changes to ARES

• No conveyance of site access is guaranteed. • The AHJ would grant an additional ID/pass for

site access, which would be "owned" by the AHJ.

• Current report forms will be phased out later this year in favor of an online system called ARES Connect, a volunteer management, communications, and reporting system.

• The new system will allow information to be logged by ARES members and managed through the Field Organization.

Local Issues ?

QUESTIONS ?