Amateur Radio Operators Provide a Critical Communications Link During Emergencies

by Corey McKenna on June 23, 2010

[Photo: Members of the USS Wisconsin Radio Club chat with others throughout the world via Morse code onboard the retired battleship the USS Wisconsin. Courtesy of Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mandy McLaurin/U.S. Navy.]

Immediately after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti that killed 230,000 people, injured an estimated 300,000 more and destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, medical teams from the University of Miami Project Medishare program had sporadic communication with the United States and the nearby U.S. Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort’s Medical Treatment Facility — until teams of amateur/ham radio operators arrived, that is.

“They had already lost one satellite link. The other one was not reliable,” said Julio Ripoll, an architect for the University of Miami Medical School, who coordinated amateur radio communications during the disaster. “So they were worried that they would not be able to communicate to Haiti from Miami in case they lost their other satellite link.”

What was initially designed as a backup system soon handled all local emergency communications. Before Ripoll’s teams of radio operators arrived, the field hospital had very little communication directly with the USNS Comfort. “They would send an e-mail by using a BlackBerry,” Ripoll said, “and sometimes it would sit there for quite a while before someone saw it.”

The amateur radio station became a critical communication link. “When we had patients who would come in and needed emergency surgery that we couldn’t handle, we called the Comfort,” he said, “and then we would coordinate either the helicopter medevac or [transport] a few times by speedboat if it was in the middle of the night.”

That’s just one example of how amateur radio operators, who use various types of radio communications equipment for nonprofit purposes, can provide a valuable resource during a disaster.

Links With Emergency Responders

Volunteer radio operators assisting emergency personnel fall into two groups: Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members. Many people participate in both organizations, but the main difference between the two is that ARES members provide emergency communications before an emergency has been officially declared, while RACES operators, which are registered with state and local governments, are activated after an emergency declaration. RACES members may operate from state emergency operations centers (EOCs).

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), a U.S. organization of amateur radio operators, has memorandums of understanding with numerous organizations, including FEMA, the American Red Cross, National Weather Service and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International. As a result of those agreements, the ARRL trains with and works to develop these organizations’ amateur radio communications capacity. It also builds relationships with these organizations to collaborate during disasters.

About 156,000 amateur radio operators are ARRL members. The best way for these ham operators to connect with local responders is to participate in their local Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). “We may, in our case, probably connect with CERT, and so we’ll probably be linked up close with the fire department,” said Charlie Lum Kee, founder of the Virgin Valley Amateur Radio Club in Mesquite, Nev., and leader of the local CERT program. “We do have a little bit of a plan for our area as to where we would locate individuals [in an emergency].”

Amateur radio operators can also get special license plates displaying their call signs, which identify them to emergency crews, getting them past roadblocks and into the affected area to provide communications assistance.

In Oregon, about 1,800 RACES volunteers are authorized to work in state and county EOCs facilitating communication during disasters. For example, during the Great Coastal Gale of 2007 that knocked out communications to the state’s Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties, ham radio operators used a radio frequency messaging system called Winlink to transmit the counties’ requests for assistance to the state’s Office of Emergency Management. “Monday morning the governor came in and we were briefing and later on called amateur radio operators ‘angels’ because that was the only source of communication we had to the coast,” said Marshall McKillip, the Emergency Management Office’s communications officer.

Following the storm, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski funded improvements to the state’s amateur radio infrastructure with a $250,000 grant for Winlink systems in each of the state’s 36 county-level EOCs. “We bought the appropriate equipment and then organized the delivery, the set up, the training and everything with amateur radio resources,” McKillip said. “It was quite a task for the amateurs to take on, but they did a great job.”

Assorted Roles

Amateur radio operators can play a variety of roles that allow public safety officials to maximize their resources, including facilitating communications; providing emergency managers with on-scene situational awareness; and helping manage large-scale events, such as state fairs and marathons.

Earlier this year as blizzards blanketed Delaware, RACES members manned ham radio stations at the Sussex County EOC, and 60 ARES members drove around the county’s 958 square miles reporting what they were seeing and confirming reports from the National Weather Service. “While [the police and emergency medical services] were moving around, they had better things to do than stop and measure the snow,” said Walt Palmer, public information officer for the ARRL in Delaware. “So that’s where amateur radio’s guys were coming in.”

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K9LGE and K6CTS apparently don't follow the lobby efforts of the ARRL very closely or perhaps they would be less supportive of the ARRL... they are just repeating the marketing hype that he ARRL attempts to brain wash most new comers to the hobby. The ARRL does a good job of self-aggrandizement. I've enjoyed ham radio since before 1966 when I was first licensed. I didn’t always hold the opinion of the ARRL that I now have… over the years as I began to get more involved in the hobby and Auxiliary Communications Services (ACS) I've attempted to engage members of the ARRL elite on various concerns, primarily associated with ACS, but they have refused to engage in any adult discussion but rather ignore my questions those other dedicated amateur operators who have an opinion different from theirs... I do agree with K9LGE's last statement. Don't let my viewpoint or tone discolor the whole picture of the ARRL...just pay attention to the ARRL's actions and you can enjoy the full discoloration personally and then unsubscribe like most of the hams in the USA have apparently done over the years ;-) I love the magazine but I'm extremely disappointed with the vacuum of leadership in the ARRL...

From wa3gin August 25

I would hope that you actually checked with the ARRL to verify the numbers that were given you rather than taking the word of one person (who sounds rather disgruntled about them). The ARRL is much more than a magazine publishing company- they provide much needed representation and advocacy for the hundreds of thousands of radio amateurs across the US, regardless of if they are members or not. I am truly sorry that for whatever reason WA3GIN hasn't had a good experience with the the ARRL (and maybe Amateur Radio?) but please don't let his one voice discolor the whole picture.

From K9LGE June 30

It should be noted that the ARRL is more than a magazine publishing company. It supports its members and all radio amateurs in other ways, such as by providing educational materials and lobbying to protect valuable bandwidth. In our area the RACES organization is called ACS, Auxiliary Communication Service, because it also admits non-amateurs who wish to volunteer. Members may wear as many as three hats: ACS/ARES, CERT, and Red Cross.

From K6CTS June 30

WA3GIN thank you for the comments. The number of ARRL members has been updated and we apologize for the error.

From EM Staff June 30

Actually, there are other groups besides the ARES organization and the various government run RACES groups. There are many more non-affiliated organizations which are not ties to the ARRL ARES program who still work with the Red Cross, government agencies and local charities just the same. Don't ignore the many independent organizations who are just as (or more) knowledgeable and active than those listed.

From N2NOV June 30

RACES volunteers typically follow the FEMA/FCC guidelines which require direct supervision by the government entity, require background checks, specific training requirements, regular exercise participation, etc. The ARRL ARES groups,although dedicated are AD HOC, basically EMCOMM outsourced by governments not interested in directly supervising volunteers. ARES SECs and ECs are not appointed by Public Safety officials but instead appointed by ARRL appointed volunteers. The ARRL uses MOUs are a method to demonstrate some form of relationship with the served entity. But typically there is no direct involvement/supervision by the officials of the servered agency, no certification, training or participation in exercises and drills by the volunteers. When OEM adopts the RACES protocol it pretty much knows the skills set and training level of its ham radio volunteers. When OEM out sources EMCOMM to a third party the ARES they have little if any idea what resources mayk be available to them as each ARES group is only as good as the ARRL rep who has been tasked to supervise the team... an example of a model RACES organization can be found at www.w4ava.org

From WA3GIN June 30

The ARRL is a magazine publishing company...it has about 40,000 subsribers that it claims are league members but would never separate the magazine subsribers from actual league supporters. The 648,000 number reported in your article is the number of licensed amateur radio operators in the USA -- NOT ARRL League members!

From wa3gin June 30