EMC116 Radio and Money 
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  

EMC116 Radio and Money          For release  1/26/98

One of the driving forces in today's government is what
is best described as "bottom-line management", meaning
the lowest cost of operations.

It certainly seems justified to eliminate any system that
cannot be really justified in view of the short budgets
most governments face today.

For some, today's wired systems put the need for radio
in the background, especially if the manager considers
radio an old fashioned system. Viola, to that person
radio is no longer a justified expenditure; or it is so
far down the list that the radio system is starved for
funds.

In many cases it is hard to make a case for the funds
for a radio where there has been no essentially required
utilization of that system for a period of years. If it
is not used, then why fund it is a logical argument.

Logic is the basis upon which the bottom-dollar concept
rests. Yet, there is more than logic involved in the
field of emergency management - there is the matter of
what is best for the citizens that the jurisdiction
serves. What is best often is _not_ a bottom-dollar
decision. It may, in fact, be just the opposite. For a
community that has never had an earthquake, yet which
faces a 35% chance that a severe one may occur in the
next decade which view should prevail? (1) It's never
happened and it's not bottom-dollar effective to put
money into any system that is earthquake related. Or
(2) In the interests of protecting the jurisdictions
ability to effectively respond _should_ an earthquake
occur, we need to provide for a suitable radio system.

Radio? Yes, radio! Why? Because radio provides WHAT NO
OTHER SYSTEM CAN OFFER - diversity, instant recovery,
total deployability, single sender/multiple receiver
communications, instant expandability to overcome
heavy congestion. There are countless instances each
year where radio is the essential tool required for
the restoration of normal communications following
an emergency. The fact that it may not have occurred
in your jurisdiction for the past 15 to 25 years does
not mean it won't this year!

The radio to which I refer is _more than_ government's
own Public Safety systems. It also includes the
Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) - an emergency
communications unit that is a part of the local
jurisdiction. The ACS is comprised of FCC Amateur Radio
Service licensees and others with valuable skills in
communications. The availability of the Amateur Radio
frequencies in an emergency is an extremely valuable
asset any government is well advised to cultivate to
the utmost. How to do that is another subject. Here
the purpose is to remind all managers that the ACS
and similar type units are an asset far too valuable
to let bottom-dollar actions jeopardize.
                         -------
ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov       FTP archive:
ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming for new
bulletins and ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/races for earlier ones.
Landline BBS: 916-262-0856 (graphical & standard interface).
OES ACS staff manager Stan Harter :Stanly_Harter@oes.ca.gov 
State Chief ACS Officer Cary Mangum: Cary_Mangum@oes.ca.gov
EOM EMC116