EMC040 ACS Overview 3/4
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services

EMC040  - ACS Overview 3/4 - For Release  8/12/96
 
Continuing quotation of Stan Harter on ACS units:

"TRAINING FOR AN ACS
So far I have been talking about 'pre-induction training.' It
is absolutely important that both paid and unpaid staff sing off
the same sheet of music. If the government does not subscribe to
and support this - there is no mission. No matter how well
intentioned volunteers may be, if there is no acceptance and
authority to act, there is no mission for a unit. A good share
of my organizational seminars and meetings is spent on the many
types of continuing, on-going activities the unit can do to
maintain the necessary level of activity that will keep the unit
alive and its participants interested and active. In short, if it
is thinking of disaster-only, doomsday-only, emergency-only 
activities -- forget it. Let me describe this another way: I have
been a volunteer in one government agency or another since 1951.
I make no bones about telling the unit's chief that, 'Keep me busy
or I'm out of here. Use me or lose me.' We apply the same concept
to the ACS. The key people must be in that mode to be effective
and ready for duty at any time.

"Once new personnel (not 'members') come aboard, there is no
chiseled-in-stone training. Anyone who tells you that there
should be long hours of formal training is usually trying to
create a position-for-life that becomes vapor upon his/her
burnout. Here's what we deem important for our unpaid staff:
1. Structure and names of key people in the agency.
2  Agency mission and responsibilities. It's policies and
practices, SOP's that apply, etc. House layout and rules.
Expected deportment, appearance, behavior and related (often
unwritten) 'rules.'"

Continues next week:

ACS Web page: http://www.garlic.com/oes    BBS 916-262-1657
FTP archive:  ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming
W6WWW Email crm@oes.ca.gov Packet W6WWW@KM6PX.#NOCAL.USA.NA
EOM EMC040
/EX