Disaster Preparations

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EAFrizzle

EAFrizzle

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Needs more corporate buzzwords. Need to leverage the synergy to grasp the low-hanging fruit before we circle back to re-evaluate the mental bandwidth needed to actualize said project.
 
bill4long

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Looks like we have a whacker troll wanna-be in our midst.

There is a legit community emergency volunteer group called called CERT associated with FEMA and part of Citizens Corp (which is under the Dept of Homeland Security.) . Most metro areas have CERT groups. Screwball whackers need not apply. They only take sane, non-crazies with no criminal background.

www.fema.gov

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may occur where they live.
www.fema.gov www.fema.gov

For example, see Los Angeles's CERT

 
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Chris155

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Reading through this old thread today, skipping over any recent sillyness. I’d say step one is get involved in radio in your area. If there’s a good local group on CB, 2meter, gmrs ect. A regional or local group that talks on radio daily and know each other’s voices over the air is a good resource.
 
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Sarexpert

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KB2GOM said:
Who is "we"?

I clicked on the link and got a "server not found" notification.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Typo no s on commvolunteer.org
Sarexpert said:
Individual Amateur radio operators who volunteer for emergencies are less than worthless.
1) Without credentials (A ham license notwithstanding) emergency managers have no way to determine your qualifications or even if you are a looter.
2) Communications personnel and equipment have no purpose without someone with authority on the other end.
3) Gear and antennas set up for the emergency go away when the amateur radio operator has to leave. Communications capability that are only available for a few hours is not very valuable.
4) Most of the official communications in an emergency requires operational security and must protect privacy and HIPAA.
5) Every resource in an emergency consumes management and support resources. If an amateur radio operator is of little value but consumes management resources, they are of negative value to emergency management.
6) There are always safety issues in emergencies. Volunteers with unknown capabilities are at risk because they often are unaware of the unique dangers that are present in emergencies.

There are some things that are obvious. Amateur radio is only of use in teams that can be typed in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Or as individuals that have specific NIMS qualifications like COMT (Communications Technician) or CUL (Communications Unit Leader).
We recently formed the Communications Volunteer Institute ( A 501(c)3 corporation) to:
  • Research why Amateur radio operators and other volunteers who may bring valuable capabilities to bear in emergencies are so poorly utilized, and promote regulatory change to advance the effective use of communications volunteers in emergencies.
  • Devise systems to form teams that can be confidently be recognized by emergency managers as able to fulfill emergency communications unmet needs..
  • Develop training workbooks and courses to fill in qualifications that are not met by FEMA and other courses.
  • Work with jurisdictions and NGOs to identify, recruit, enroll, train and qualify members of their teams, and the teams themselves
  • Find methods to facilitate teams from outside an emergency effected area to participate in response when local teams become exhausted or are themselves effected by the emergency.
  • Design equipment and methods to fulfill needs that may not be met by day to day jurisdictions. ex. temporary mesh networked environmental sensors, NVIS communicatons, field deployable base stations, temporary campus or emergency area networking connections.
The Institute has a discord server running, (Communications Volunteer Institute) and the beginnings of a website (https://www.commvolunteers.org) (looking for volunteers).
If you are interested, please send a message to ted@commvolunteer.org and I will send an invitation to the discord server.
Click to expand...
Typo: Home - Communications Volunteer Institute - No S in domain name.
 
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MUTNAV

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AK9R said:
place-holder text looks like the work of an amateur web developer
Click to expand...
AHA, it's an amateurs fault...
Amateurs are always causing trouble. :)

Thanks
Joel
 
mmckenna

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I wonder what their plan is to cover background checks?
Many agencies/PSAPS's won't let anyone near their equipment (radio -or- IT) unless they've been run through at the absolute minimum a wants/warrant check. The more deep you go into being around any equipment the requirements get more strict.

Those background checks are not quick, easy or cheap. At minimum finger printing is required. Many of us were put through the same process they use to hire 911 dispatches, which took a few months to complete and probably cost the agency a lot of money in labor.
 
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rf_patriot200

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Sarexpert said:
Individual Amateur radio operators who volunteer for emergencies are less than worthless.
1) Without credentials (A ham license notwithstanding) emergency managers have no way to determine your qualifications or even if you are a looter.
2) Communications personnel and equipment have no purpose without someone with authority on the other end.
3) Gear and antennas set up for the emergency go away when the amateur radio operator has to leave. Communications capability that are only available for a few hours is not very valuable.
4) Most of the official communications in an emergency requires operational security and must protect privacy and HIPAA.
5) Every resource in an emergency consumes management and support resources. If an amateur radio operator is of little value but consumes management resources, they are of negative value to emergency management.
6) There are always safety issues in emergencies. Volunteers with unknown capabilities are at risk because they often are unaware of the unique dangers that are present in emergencies.

There are some things that are obvious. Amateur radio is only of use in teams that can be typed in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Or as individuals that have specific NIMS qualifications like COMT (Communications Technician) or CUL (Communications Unit Leader).
We recently formed the Communications Volunteer Institute ( A 501(c)3 corporation) to:
  • Research why Amateur radio operators and other volunteers who may bring valuable capabilities to bear in emergencies are so poorly utilized, and promote regulatory change to advance the effective use of communications volunteers in emergencies.
  • Devise systems to form teams that can be confidently be recognized by emergency managers as able to fulfill emergency communications unmet needs..
  • Develop training workbooks and courses to fill in qualifications that are not met by FEMA and other courses.
  • Work with jurisdictions and NGOs to identify, recruit, enroll, train and qualify members of their teams, and the teams themselves
  • Find methods to facilitate teams from outside an emergency effected area to participate in response when local teams become exhausted or are themselves effected by the emergency.
  • Design equipment and methods to fulfill needs that may not be met by day to day jurisdictions. ex. temporary mesh networked environmental sensors, NVIS communicatons, field deployable base stations, temporary campus or emergency area networking connections.
The Institute has a discord server running, (Communications Volunteer Institute) and the beginnings of a website (https://www.commvolunteers.org) (looking for volunteers).
If you are interested, please send a message to ted@commvolunteer.org and I will send an invitation to the discord server.
Click to expand...
There is NO such thing as a Search and Rescue "Expert" ;)
 
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rf_patriot200

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EAFrizzle said:
Actual Search and Rescue experts do exist...

They aren't on RR calling themselves experts.
Click to expand...
Those Experienced and well trained to work in the field, have Earned their reputation and have no need to "self title" themselves as such. Search and Rescue is a Specialized field, requiring you to Learn as you go and the more deployments, the More you learn. Their reputation usually precedes them.
 
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