REACT... What do they do?

[af5rn]

It's a bit insulting to put a police officer or fireman on the level of a react person. I have friends who have went through the process to become a fireman or police officer in the Phoenix area, and it takes YEARS of hard work, including volunteer work to make it. The process is grueling, and the check they do on you to become a cop is a microscopic exam. They do everything on earth to see if you lie, at all. Layers of detectives interview you about your life to evaluate your honesty and character if you want to be an officer around here. Getting on an FD means a year or two working for free on ambulance crews and the like. The physical requirements are extreme.

Sure, but I was not commenting on the quality of the people, or the commitments required of them. I was simply making an observation of their motivations.

I see a lot of retired people in REACT and Ham organisations. Those people can't meet the requirements for a police or fire position. You're right, it's tough. But there are still things that they can do to stay active and contribute a little to their community. Radio service organisations like REACT, ARES, Skywarn, etc... are outlets for that. Good for them. I'd bet that the percentage of whackers is much, much greater in the volunteer fire service than it ever has been in REACT. Thus my belief that neither is really any more deserving of automatic respect than the other.

But yeah, God bless anyone who is willing to give their time and efforts to the community, whatever outlet they choose.

 

[PHOENIX_SCANNER]

Sorry, didn't mean to slam you. I agree that anyone really trying to help their community deserves a tip of the hat. You are correct. I was just having a poke at some who do things for questionable reasons I suppose.

 

[hoser147]

It really doesn't matter how the folks give to their community, its that they do no matter what organization that they choose to do so. Sure your going to have bad apples in all walks of life. Coming from a full time fire dept that used Auxiliary (volunteer) personnel as many do, and small towns who rely of volunteers Ive seen plenty of Top Notch people serve in a volunteer way and not make a career out of it. We didnt allow our staff to run emergent in a POV unless it was extreme circumstances. I seen alot of people not even fill out an application over it, only to go to another department nearby that allowed it. Some are radio geeks and other walks of life. There are also some small town Police Dept.s out there that still dont even have the facilities that Andy and Barney had on their show, But they get er done. Even while towns are cutting funding closing departments only to have a Sheriff patrol more often. Same with react, its one of the few organizations that are out there to help, usually at the members own expense of both time and money. And alot of those people are retired from many walks of life and are Top Notch in what they do, and deserve respect for doing so. With the way the World and the press is today it is at times hard to see the good in alot of things cause we usually only hear the bad. My hat goes off to those that serve in any way to help make our communities better...........Hoser

 

[SAR923]

Do they pay the school bus drivers in that town?

Actually, no, they don't. The rural bus drivers are teachers and coaches that have to take a month's rotation driving the busses. No extra pay at all. Only the City has paid bus drivers and they make seven bucks an hour. Even here, it's tough to hire firefighters for seven bucks an hour.

You are absolutely right that consolidation of some of these small fire departments would make perfect sense but it's kind of like the guys selling watermelons at cost and decide the way to make a profit was to buy a bigger truck. A bunch of poor VFD's formed into a bigger fire district still makes one big, poor fire district. The real problem here is the people, not the politicians. If property taxes were anywhere near the average in the rest of the country, there would be enough money to have more paid fire departments. Even though rural residents pay for this lack of professional fire service directly through astronomically high homeowners insurance, they vote down any increase in property taxes. It's also common for structure fire calls to end up with a request to cancel all units except the tankers to water down the ruins. They don't have any mayors out in the country but I assure you that many of the "important" folks in the county have lost a house or barn and they just seem to accept it with resignation. It's hard to make any changes with that kind of thinking...and the last thing they want to hear is "In California, we did it this way...".

 

[stevolene]

man I miss the CB, I used to drive and had a blast talking skip and joking around, lot more fun than any ham radio conversation I ever had or heard.........

 

[af5rn]

The real problem here is the people, not the politicians. If property taxes were anywhere near the average in the rest of the country, there would be enough money to have more paid fire departments.

Oh, absolutely agreed. Politicians, for the most part, are just a reflection of the community sentiments. And the community doesn't know or care anything about fire protection. They see a fire station, red trucks, and a bunch of people coming and going from it, and figure they have what they need. Blissful ignorance. "Fires only happen to the other guy, not me, so why should I care?"

Of course, volunteers only enable this ignorance by providing the facade of protection. In reality, the best thing that most volunteers could do to "help" their community would be to quit volunteering. If the illusion disappears, suddenly the community and it's leaders have to face reality. For that reason, I consider volunteers to be more of a hindrance than a help.

It's hard to make any changes with that kind of thinking...and the last thing they want to hear is "In California, we did it this way...".

Definitely agree again. And it is extremely rare that I would use Kalifornia as any kind of example of intelligent management or operation. :lol: Fire protection is actually pretty sad in Kalifornia. But I used it as an example simply because of all the consolidation that goes on there. It's not unique to Kalifornia, but they are one of the more visible examples.

There is an understandable reluctance for small communities to hand any kind of power over to larger entities, and that would include consolidated public safety. I get that. And if a community simply does not want to pay for it, I get that too. More power to them. It's their community and their right. I just don't want to hear them complain about what they don't have when they are the reason they don't have it.

 

[AK9R]

You are absolutely right that consolidation of some of these small fire departments would make perfect sense...

Around my part of the world, turf battles have a lot to do with blocking any attempt at consolidation. Sure the FDs all cooperate with each other for mutual aid, but combining 9 professional and volunteer FDs into a county-wide force would never fly. Too many people wanting to protect what's their's.

It's also common for structure fire calls to end up with a request to cancel all units except the tankers to water down the ruins.

VFD motto "We never lost a foundation."

I used to live in a township that had a volunteer FD. The VFD had an engine, a grass rig, a tanker, and an ALS ambulance. Unfortunately, they had no full-time employees and didn't have a full-time paramedic to staff the ALS ambulance, so whenever they had a cardiac or trauma run, they had to call the professional FD in the next township to send a medic. I used to think about this while I was mowing the yard. If something happened and I was injured or had a heart attack, I'd be dead before help would arrive. Makes you think twice about taking on any kind of risky activity around the house.

 

[hoser147]

man I miss the CB, I used to drive and had a blast talking skip and joking around, lot more fun than any ham radio conversation I ever had or heard.........

Steve I think you posted in the wrong thread..........

 

[SAR923]

VFD motto "We never lost a foundation."

LOL. That's certainly the motto of the VFD's around here. Prattville FD runs the only ALS paramedic staffed ambulances in the county so they respond to any medical call anywhere in the county. Prattville is located at the far south end of the county and it's not unusual for them to have a run of 20-25 miles to get to a scene. Having an MI or bad accident is the north end of the county is a real bad thing.

 

[AK9R]

Having an MI or bad accident is the north end of the county is a real bad thing.

I think about this while driving on rural interstate highways here in the midwest. You may be only 40 miles from a major metro area with several trauma hospitals, but the local vollies are going to be first on the scene of your accident on the freeway. Whether you live or die is up to them. It's a heckuva responsibility for a bunch of guys who, while passionate about serving their community, are not full-time firefighters/paramedics and may not have the training or equipment that the professionals on the big city FDs have.

 

[rescuecomm]

In my experiance, having a paid fire department does nothing to eliminate tankering water. The rural fire commission in my area has contracted the service to the local city "professional" fire department for the last 15 years at cost of some $250,000 per year. Doesn't hurt me because I live less than 2 miles from the city limits and have a city water system hydrant on the corner of my property. However, the residences in the western part of the district still pay out the nose for insurance because there are no water mains out there and any firefighting water has to be hauled. The city FD does not have a tanker ( don't need it in the city limits), but they do have a large pumper that carrys 2500 gallons. They have to call the neighboring district's volunteer FD to get a tanker coming on anything in our district.
Makes you wonder who is doing what?

Bob

 

[RayAir]

Honestly in my opinion, amateur radio "people" are the dorks. I hate to say this, but if you look at any pictures of them from ham fests, etc, they look just like "dorks" 80% of the time. I only use my Tech license for Skywarn, not to talk about boring subjects over the local repeater.

It's definitely a vehicle for radio dorks to carry on like authority figures.. I just read the "what we do" page of the REACT website.. It's vague and only says that they "assist in an emergency by furnishing radio communications".. I guess in the event that the police somehow lose functionality of their own (probably superior) radio communications system, these guys would be johnny on the spot with their ham radios.. I'm sure local police departments nation wide sleep well at night knowing that these guys have their back..

It also seems to be little more than a "brand" for lack of a better term.. These people are not really endowed with any added permission or authority by anyone. It's just some THING that someone came up with and they basically pimp out their "REACT" brand to anyone willing to coordinate a group somewhere to form a "team"..

I have to admit.. I still do not entirely understand exactly what the point of it is.. If someone could explain their purpose and/or reason for needing specialized vehicles or any equipment for that matter, I would appreciate it..

 

[jon_k]

Honestly in my opinion, amateur radio "people" are the dorks. I hate to say this, but if you look at any pictures of them from ham fests, etc, they look just like "dorks" 80% of the time. I only use my Tech license for Skywarn, not to talk about boring subjects over the local repeater.

Only boring to you if you're not doing the talking.
All I hear from the repeater when in Skywarn mode is:
"NET CONTROL THERES SOME REAL SCARY CLOUDS"
"NET CONTROL ITS RAINING REALLY HARD HERE"
Tarrant County RACES is worse about this than Dallas it seems. The NET controls in Tarrant are more lenient to this. Real informative for me and I'm sure the National Weather Service guy monitoring thinks so too. (To be fair, this only happens from time to time.)

I suppose anyone who hears the conversation with my friends assumes it's boring. We talk about the new Windows Mobile phone someone got, or "did you finally get the HF rig set up?" We talk about technical problems and suggestions, or recount how fun field day was and what we did.

These things highly interest me and the 3 or so others I talk to on the repeater every day or two. To you, you may not give a flying flip. Whatever then, keep doing Skywarn. Be happy Amateur Radio has something for everyone.

I like going to Field Day and learning more about radio theory from the major dorks. I like helping control operators do repeater maintenance which is what lets Skywarn continue to use the resource. When our pictures from field day come on the website I'm sure I'll look as dorky as anyone (or dorkier than most.) But who cares, when every other picture includes someone just as dorky as me! I have no issue with this.

The amateur radio operators have never been your alpha male suave sexy types and I'm sure your no exception either. It's the geekier folks who get involved with it. I wager even being involved in sky warn is a geeky thing to do. After all, what normal average person would get worked up over an approaching storm front? All the skywarn folks I know start freaking out with excitement when those clouds roll in. To anyone else (even to myself) you could look no dorkier.

 

[af5rn]

Honestly in my opinion, amateur radio "people" are the dorks. I hate to say this, but if you look at any pictures of them from ham fests, etc, they look just like "dorks" 80% of the time. I only use my Tech license for Skywarn, not to talk about boring subjects over the local repeater.

We talk about the new Windows Mobile phone someone got...

The last two posts reminded me of why I pretty much bailed on amateur radio. First, because of the dorks. All my fellow public safety friends and I called HamCom "Nerd Com". I remember the late 80's when the aluminium hard hats with the rubber duckies mounted on top were all the rage. It was embarrassing to be in the same room with those people. Second was home computers becoming more common. And hams being the nerds they are, computers began to dominate the conversation on every band. As much as I enjoy the computer, there is nothing more boring than listening to people talk about them.

Like Ray, the last several years I hammed, Skywarn was about the only involvement I ever had with it.

 

[jon_k]

The last two posts reminded me of why I pretty much bailed on amateur radio.

Oh man you really shouldn't have! I'd like to see you get licensed again as I'd like to hear you sometime.

First, because of the dorks. All my fellow public safety friends and I called HamCom "Nerd Com". I remember the late 80's when the aluminium hard hats with the rubber duckies mounted on top were all the rage

My friend who got me into radio and got me to go to Hamcom was telling me about those people. I went and didn't see anyone with such a setup! Too bad because that would be hilarious.

I would definitely say I have strong geek qualities but I do have some sense of exterior image. I can't believe someone would flaunt like that so badly!

(Then again, my friend said it was a hoot and he'd want one if they had any for sale. Guess not everyone has sense of covertness when it comes to geekdom.)

It was embarrassing to be in the same room with those people.

Fortunately, the only type of people who will go to this convention will be people who are to some degree a nerd. Amateur radio is a nerd hobby. Scanning is very closely fringing on this turf.

Fortunately if you're not one of the ridiculous types at events like this, then you quickly fall in to the background and nobody is likely to notice you anyway!

What did you think about some of the guys who stunk at HamCom?

Second was home computers becoming more common. And hams being the nerds they are, computers began to dominate the conversation on every band. As much as I enjoy the computer, there is nothing more boring than listening to people talk about them.

In prior years I would have been all over computer talk. I try to keep that talk in the workplace now days.

The Mobile phone discussion was all of 1 minute long. Basically "Ahh, so you did get the same Windows Mobile phone I did?! Well, I will E-Mail you a copy of all the programs I have tonight." "Cool thanks Jon!"

Like Ray, the last several years I hammed, Skywarn was about the only involvement I ever had with it.

I guess if you are involved in the hobby you need to find a group of close friends in which you can spark up regular QSO's on a quiet repeater between yourselves.

If you and me had a QSO about police scanning I'm sure someone out there listening would think that's boring and who cares.

If you really want to hear the ultimate of useless discussions listen to 145.33 between 2am-4am. It's a bunch of CBers who somehow got their license. Most of them live SOUTH of dfw/arlington and up in the NORTH here they are full quieting on the input! Also most of them sound like the deviation has been pushed to the max as they're distorted. And I heard one guy drop the S bomb one day in casual conversation. Fortunately they confine themselves to this repeater and only come out late at night.

 

[RayAir]

Sorry bub, but I worked some pretty exciting Skywarn events, almost as exciting as listening to a police chase on a scanner. I have been in two derecho's with winds in excess of 80mph, chased three times with tornado's on the ground. Another event during a severe storm people were blown out into a lake from a gazebo, sadly resulted in 5 fatalities. I am more interested in the "service" part of it, reporting dangerous weather/damage reports. It's worlds better than listening to some dude yacking about antenna leads or his power supply on some club repeater.

Only boring to you if you're not doing the talking.
All I hear from the repeater when in Skywarn mode is:
"NET CONTROL THERES SOME REAL SCARY CLOUDS"
"NET CONTROL ITS RAINING REALLY HARD HERE"
Tarrant County RACES is worse about this than Dallas it seems. The NET controls in Tarrant are more lenient to this. Real informative for me and I'm sure the National Weather Service guy monitoring thinks so too. (To be fair, this only happens from time to time.)

I suppose anyone who hears the conversation with my friends assumes it's boring. We talk about the new Windows Mobile phone someone got, or "did you finally get the HF rig set up?" We talk about technical problems and suggestions, or recount how fun field day was and what we did.

These things highly interest me and the 3 or so others I talk to on the repeater every day or two. To you, you may not give a flying flip. Whatever then, keep doing Skywarn. Be happy Amateur Radio has something for everyone.

I like going to Field Day and learning more about radio theory from the major dorks. I like helping control operators do repeater maintenance which is what lets Skywarn continue to use the resource. When our pictures from field day come on the website I'm sure I'll look as dorky as anyone (or dorkier than most.) But who cares, when every other picture includes someone just as dorky as me! I have no issue with this.

The amateur radio operators have never been your alpha male suave sexy types and I'm sure your no exception either. It's the geekier folks who get involved with it. I wager even being involved in sky warn is a geeky thing to do. After all, what normal average person would get worked up over an approaching storm front? All the skywarn folks I know start freaking out with excitement when those clouds roll in. To anyone else (even to myself) you could look no dorkier.

 

[jon_k]

Sorry bub, but I worked some pretty exciting Skywarn events, almost as exciting as listening to a police chase on a scanner..

Sorry Bub, but I've made some pretty exciting contacts on HF to Northern Canada in a contest before!

Good thing there's something for everyone in amateur radio, huh? Otherwise you'd be bored out of your mind talking to your friends on some club repeater

I'm considering joining ARES in the local area here. However it's a good thing storm chasing isn't all amateur radio has for me. I just coulnd't justify the occasional go ahead from the NWS to talk on my radio. $600 on a radio just to talk every couple of weeks on the weather net? That wouldn't be worth it! I try justify the cost by being involved in several things.

 

[trimmerj]

I saw a picture of React in Pop Comm one time, he keyed up a mic and made two cars collide. Pretty powerful stuff.........

 

[Sparky_one]

College react days

Back in the early 80's me an a friend joined O.U. React to become a part of a campus group. It received some funds from the O.U. Student Association. We shared a radio room with the O.U. Ham club. We had a repeater on the top of Couch Tower. Our main function was to work events at Lloyd Noble and home football games. I did a lot of games and wound up actually directing traffic on Lindsay or other streets. I was often assigned to sit at SW 24th and Highway 9 to monitor the backlog of traffic. Our main operator, Gayland Kitch, did regular traffic reports on KGOU right from the radio room. We would call in conditions for him to report. If traffic backed up, we would inform OU or Norman PD.
The best part of being with OU React was working closely with Norman PD. They even allowed us to contact them directly on their radio if it was warranted. They sometimes called for us on their radio. I once was posted at a ranger station at Lake Thunderbird to man the night shift during Memorial Day weekend.
We worked parades and other major events such as balloon festivals.. We did some weather spotting on occasion. We set up a booth at the state fair one year. The most frequent question from people passing the booth was, "Why didn't you answer me the other day?" We actually liked those questions because we would hand them a club membership form to fill out as the answer.
The club is long gone but Gayland is still going strong as communications director for the City of Moore. I was dirt broke back then and always had to borrow a club radio. Now I am an Amateur General and have just about any radio I desire. I miss those days.

 

[N8IAA]

Sorry Bub, but I've made some pretty exciting contacts on HF to Northern Canada in a contest before!

Good thing there's something for everyone in amateur radio, huh? Otherwise you'd be bored out of your mind talking to your friends on some club repeater

I'm considering joining ARES in the local area here. However it's a good thing storm chasing isn't all amateur radio has for me. I just coulnd't justify the occasional go ahead from the NWS to talk on my radio. $600 on a radio just to talk every couple of weeks on the weather net? That wouldn't be worth it! I try justify the cost by being involved in several things.

The heck with Northern Canada. My longest QSO was to the southern tip of Peru from along the shores of Lake Erie. It was on a 10m vertical to a ham who was running an inverted V. Was an ARES member where I reside presently. Homeland Security got in the way of me continuing. In Ohio, my wife and I would go out storm spotting, after heading home from one of my favorite bass lakes, I spotted a funnel cloud to the west of me. At the same time, a deputy sherriff in the county I was driving in spotted it too. Before I could call Skywarn, the winds from the tornado lifted me up on two wheels. The semi in front of me almost jackknifed from the force of the wind. That was the last time for being a storm spotter
Larry