EMC184 Agency Needs Shift 1/4 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 EMC184 Agency Needs Shift 1/4 For release 5/17/99 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION: SHIFTING NEEDS OF SERVED AGENCIES By Rick Palm, K1CE. Reprinted with permission from May 1999 QST; copyright ARRL. "Is telecommunication technology rendering Amateur Radio obsolete in the disaster relief community? A set of public service conferences featuring served agency representatives helps amateur emergency communication providers assess this troubling question. The use of Amateur Radio for public service, especially emergency communications, is as old as the ARRL itself. In the first issue of QST (December, 1915), the membership is informed of a letter sent to the Secretary of the Navy by ARRL President Hiram Percy Maxim in response to the country's preparation for war. In that letter offering the League's services to the military, Mr. Maxim states that: The League is purely an amateur organization. Further, the exchange of and delivery of messages is absolutely complimentary, and no consideration for transmission of a message is allowed under any circumstances. Regular radio telegraphic methods are employed. A sample of our official message blank is enclosed herewith. In a separate but similar letter to the Secretary of War, there is this direct reference to public service communications: In times of peace we also have confronting us sudden disasters, such as flood, fire or strike. Dayton, Ohio, was an example of a disastrous flood, which destroyed telegraphic and telephonic communications, and made it possible for the amateur wireless operator to render invaluable help. A fire which destroyed the central station of the telegraph and telephone companies in a city would also place that city in a very dangerous situation. The amateur wireless station would be the first place looked to in such an emergency. Thus, an incredible record of public service and emergency communications is born, which is continued to this day, more than 80 years later. However, here is one more excerpt from Mr. Maxim's letter that is particularly worthy of note in the context of this article: Many of our stations have had no expense spared upon them and are equipped _better than most commercial stations_ (emphasis added - in italic in print article.) Can we say the same today, that amateur stations are better "equipped" than "commercial" stations? Joe Kandel, KI4T, a telecommunications professional and former chairman of the ARRL National Emergency Response Committee (ANERCOM) sounded an alarm in a recent QST "Public Service" column editorial: "more than at any time in the history of technological development, the world is witnessing the emergence and proliferation of new communication modes and media. The Amateur Radio Service can consider itself threatened by this development for two reasons. Many of the proponents of the new media are after our spectrum, and, much of the technology is fairly user friendly and very efficient." Commercial systems have now outpaced Amateur Radio in technical capability. In the face of this development, is Amateur Radio still useful as an emergency response resource? With the expected efficiency of message handling rising as new systems come on line, will amateurs be able to step up and meet these expectations? Will the FCC continue to support our service and our spectrum when a global Internet can handle greater volumes of messages with system redundancy to allow rerouting when segments are destroyed by disaster? New satellite services are arriving, providing voice, fax, data, video, and radio determination to portable hand-held phones and palm-top terminals - with little or no terrestrial infrastructure to be damaged in a disaster. The new Iridium system, on-line now, is accessible for worldwide communication by portable cell-phone-like instruments and pagers." Continues next week in part 2/4, with "Where do we go from here?" --- To subscribe to bulletins, use the Subscription Services web page at . If you don't have web access, just send an e-mail message to . - For training assistance contact the ACS Training Officer at the web site or send an email to larton@garlic.com - Submit suggestions, topics or comments on the bulletins to cary.mangum@macnexus.org or cary_mangum@oes.ca.gov Bulletins are on the ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov -and a Landline BBS: 916-262-0856 (graphical & standard interface); and a FTP Archive: ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming for some bulletins. For earlier ones: ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/races EOM