EMC383 OES ACS FIELD UNITS Pt2 
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

EMC383 OES ACS FIELD UNITS Pt2       Release 3/3/03 

For the licensed FCC Amateur Radio Operators that make up most
EMCOMM Units, the idea of supplying telephone service may seen
'off key' or contrary to what they want to do. Yet, as a matter
of fact, units like the State OES ACS field teams are made up
predominantly of FCC Amateur License holders - probably 90-95%.
And this is typical of RACES units which serve governments that
also have field transportable units.

Perhaps one has to experience the results of providing effective
communications, albeit telephone over the satellite link or
microwave, before one really grasps the significance of, and
reward, of doing just that.

Is it too difficult to grasp that the real purpose of any EMCOMM
Unit is to provide the most useful emergency communications, no
matter what form that takes?  And so long as a user-friendly form
(telephone) exists and is faster than radio, they why should we
show bias to radio? We cannot do that and serve to the best of
our abilities. Hence there are those within such units, as these
at State OES, who willingly serve and place their exceptional
skills at the disposal of their sponsoring government.

Typically the personnel in an OES ACS unit come from those in the
FCC licensed Amateur Radio community with a strong interest in 
Emergency Communications; however such a license is not required.
In fact, historically, during the past 5 years for example, the
actual use of Amateur Radio frequencies by those serving these
units has been rare. Yet, there are outstanding instances when
the Amateur Radio equipment of a volunteer (his handheld radio,
or HT for instance) and FCC Amateur Frequencies were critical.
The most obvious was when a field crew was being ferried from
one point to yet another in a military helicopter that crashed
on a ledge on the side of a mountain. It was the HT of a FCC
licensed Amateur Operator on the team that got the call through
for help.

In the case of the California OES units, today's success is due
to a situation that started with rapport between a paid staffer
and a volunteer who both understood the need, had the personal
flexibility to work together, the dream or idea, and made it
happen.

For approximately five years there was just that one team
centered out of the San Francisco Bay area, which is where the
people worked and lived. During that period the involvement of
the team was sometimes a mixture of volunteerism and emergency
hire, depending on time and circumstances. Numerous emergency
hire situations were able to assist Law Enforcement agencies in
the state with security and control, such as at conventions and
major disaster response; like earthquakes.

It was the combination of the four mobile earth stations and
three new Communications Vans that led to today's expanded ACS
field team involvement. Yet, there can be room for more if
skilled, interested, physically fit registrants meet the OES ACS
program requirements and standards. Backgrounds needed include
telephone, microwave and radio or similar forms of communications
experience. Field deployment situations are hazardous, therefore
fire safety and fire behavior courses are mandatory, as are
other training requirements, along with the ability to work as
a team. 

Series continues, next bulletin.
                                ----
To subscribe to bulletins send a blank email to 
emcomm-bulletin-sub@harthaven.com  

Bulletins archives: ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov/ 
ftp.ucsd.edu/emcomm or ftp.oes.ca.gov/ACS/EMCOMM  and
a Landline BBS at 916-255-0798 (graphical & standard interface)

EOM