In any disaster, including our ShakeOut scenario, the first thing to go down is the communication system. So how do you communicate when power lines are down, cell phones and landlines don’t operate, and the Internet is out? There is a proven solution. Amateur radio operators (or hams) have taken what used to be a hobby to the heights where they are now the major lifeline in a disaster - among residents, rescue agencies, and families. Unlike cell phones and the Internet, ham radios can handle massive surges in traffic and rarely succumb to technical glitches. They are portable, operated with batteries and don't require an infrastructure like cell phones or the Internet. The FCC created amateur radio back in the early 1900’s as a hobby that was used in times of disaster to communicate with other “hams” and government agencies. Over the years they have earned their keep. Federal regulations now govern ham radio operators, “to provide the public with a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communication”.
Several hundred Palos Verdes amateur radio operators are an important part of the Peninsula's emergency services. Some operators are members of DCS (Disaster Communications Service), which is the official amateur radio disaster communications service for Los Angeles County, and is responsible for backing up Sheriff and Fire Dept. communications. Members also forward pertinent information that comes from local neighborhood ham operators. The Emergency Preparedness Coordinators of each block in the RPV Neighborhood Watch program maintain a database of their area's ham radio operators, who can be called upon to communicate their block's needs in an emergency. Working together, this team strengthens the ability of the community to react quickly and positively during an emergency.
Residents are not the only ones to benefit from amateur radio training. Our local amateur radio instructor has taught Technical classes to employees and teachers from each school in the PV School District, several of the private schools, and many PV Library employees and volunteers. An emergency antenna has been set up at every school, and the District now has a 20-minute test drill once a month. The bottom line is that if a major emergency occurs during a school day, the schools and libraries will also be connected to the Emergency Communications Center and DCS.
In an effort to upgrade, train and mobilize Peninsula ham operators, volunteers within the City of RPV have stepped in to form a new pilot program called PVAN (Peninsula Volunteer Alert Network). The purpose of PVAN is to provide local neighborhoods with a means of communicating with city officials at the Emergency Operating Center (EOC) at City Hall when there is a loss of commercial power and telephone communications. PVAN provides hands-on, across-the-table help to amateur radio operators. This includes helping with equipment selection, participating in neighborhood tests, activating the network, and assuring that participants' equipment and knowledge are up to par by having them participate in weekly check-ins and roll calls. PVAN also provides communication among Neighborhood Watch groups to share resources. In order to improve the communications systems in a disaster, the City of RPV has installed a new state-of-the-art Emergency Communications Center utilizing DCS and PVAN.
Wildfires as well as earthquakes threaten Southern California year-round. Ham operators are often pressed into service during these fires, including the 2003 San Diego and Peninsula fires. Amateur radio was critical during 911 when the broadcast services went dark without warning. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army deployed operators in minutes to support public safety and humanitarian efforts.
But it was Katrina, a disaster of unprecedented proportions, that gave ham operators renewed respect. Katrina caused a virtual communications blackout in the region, knocking out telephone lines and disabling more than 1000 cell-tower sites. It totally disrupted communications between fire, police, hospitals, and relief agencies. The Red Cross frantically utilized hundreds of operators from all over the world. They worked from their homes, in shelters or traveled by the hundreds into the area handling traffic, health, and contacts to survivors’ loved ones.
Hundreds of rescues occurred with help from hams all over the world. One Ozark, Missouri operator even relayed a message from President Bush to the mayor of New Orleans. An operator from Kansas City, Missouri relayed a message to the Red Cross that 120 aircraft with pilots were available to transport supplies. Others relayed messages of trapped people in homes and attics. Tallahassee operators took part in the daring helicopter rescue of some 1500 patients and staff from two New Orleans hospitals besieged by darkness, gunfire and dank water 8 feet deep. An Oklahoma woman received a cellular phone call from an elderly aunt in New Orleans who was trapped on the second floor of her house. When the cell connection died, she contacted her local Red Cross, who couldn't reach anyone in New Orleans, but passed the message to an operator in Oregon, who relayed the message to another in Utah, who was finally able to get through to operators in other parts of Louisiana. Through that circuitous route, New Orleans rescuers arrived at the house and found the woman along with a dozen others. One diabetic 81-year-old woman was stranded in her home without food or insulin. The call was relayed all across America until it reached a local rescue squad. A man lying on a shrimp boat for 3 days was rescued through a ham operator, as was another stranded on a section of a bridge.
In situations such as this, technology went out the window, and the horse and buggy reigned. Hams bemoan the fact that some people think of ham radio as a “lost art ”, especially as younger people gravitate to higher technology, but it takes a real emergency to remind people that no amount of destruction will knock out basic radio traffic.
FCC amateur radio classes are held throughout Southern California. Locally, in the Palos Verdes area, Walt Ordway’s next 2-session course is on January 17 and 24 from 10 AM to 2 PM at Hesse Park. For information, write Walt Ordway at walt.ordway@yahoo.com. Mr. Ordway encourages residents to get an amateur radio license and participate in the weekly drills. However, he also states that, “Residents should use amateur radio as a hobby and participate in drills because when a real disaster comes, these folks should know how to use these very complicated radios that we now use”.
As a reminder, if you haven’t registered with the ShakeOut management at www.shakeout.com, please do so. This huge effort to train people to take care of themselves is vitally important to our first responders. They need to know that you’re preparing for a disaster, which they can’t handle themselves. Please don’t let them down. By signing on, they’ll be assured that they’ll have your support in a real disaster.
