When All Else Fails." This is the motto of the newly formed Dickson County Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS).
On September 26th, 2005 a core group of amateur radio operators gathered to discuss a proposal from the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)/Citizen's Corps Council for the formation of the Dickson County Auxiliary Communications Service. These dedicated volunteers agreed that the ACS should be formed to prepare for future emergency communications contingencies.
"I thought the meeting last night was a positive move", said Steve Manley, Director of the Dickson County Emergency Management Agency.
Amateur radio operators have a long history of providing emergency communications "When All Else Fails".
The ACS is comprised of volunteer emergency communicators and will serve as a vital component of the Dickson County Citizen's Corps program administered through the LEPC/Citizen's Corps Council.
"The ACS is not designed to replace existing programs such as the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), SKYWARN, and others, but to bring these organizations together for the purpose of identifying and coordinating volunteer emergency communications resources", according to J. Landon Reynolds KF4CAU, Chairman of the Citizen's Corps Committee of the LEPC/Citizen's Corps Council and ACS organizer.
"We have over 100 licensed amateur radio operators in Dickson County, but at the present, only a handful are involved in providing emergency communications: Our goal is to get more operators into public service", said Reynolds.
During disaster situations, many mainstream communications become disrupted, disabled or overloaded. In such cases, communications becomes difficult, if not impossible. The ACS will serve to fill the communications void in such cases.
Following the ice storm that affected Dickson County in 1994, most of the communications capacity in the area was disabled. Members of the Dickson County Amateur Radio Club were instrumental in providing a backup system. The 'KN4HL Amateur Radio Repeater' operated by Charles Seay KN4HL remained on the air while telephone and commercial systems failed.
Today, that same repeater system is in operation at a different location and now has the capability of operating for at least three weeks independent of commercial power sources.
Most recently, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, in many cases, amateur radio was the only means of communications. Amateur radio operators provided the critical link between Hospital Corporation of America and the outside world to evacuate as many as 1,500 critically ill patients in New Orleans.
In neighboring Williamson County, amateur radio served as the primary communications link between the American Red Cross Headquarters and the local shelter set up to receive evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Three local amateur radio operators assisted in that effort.
The Department of Homeland Security has not overlooked the importance of amateur radio. During the 2005 Citizen's Corps Summit hosted by the District 11 Homeland Security Office in Memphis, on October 8th, an emphasis was placed on the role that amateur radio plays in disaster situations. Amateur radio operators in District 11 have a major role in preparedness and planning for potential disasters, especially a large-scale earthquake along the New Madrid fault.
This past weekend, members of the ACS participated in a training drill centered around a scenario involving a major earthquake on the New Madrid fault. The goal of this exercise was to contact as many counties in Illinois as possible. Illinois was one of the states most severely affected in the exercise scenario. This exercise coincided with the Annual Illinois QSO Party, which is an amateur radio contest.
The Tennessee Department of Health is also incorporating amateur radio into its plans in response to a major health catastrophe such as an outbreak of smallpox or bird flu.
The ACS will provide technical assistance to all affiliated amateur radio organizations in the areas of recruiting, retention, development of written guidelines and emergency response plans. A 2006 Training Plan has been developed to provide formal training to the ACS volunteers in preparing to meet the challenges of providing emergency communications.
The ACS will develop a master Emergency Response Plan designed to outline the capabilities, roles and responsibilities of each affiliated organization. The master plan will be submitted to the Dickson County Emergency Management Agency to be included in the County's Emergency Response Plan.
Jeff Clark NY4N has agreed to serve as the SKYWARN Program Coordinator for Dickson County. SKYWARN is our severe weather storm spotting and reporting program. This program consists of trained weather observers who report their observations to the local EMA as well as the NWS. Amateur radio serves as the primary means of communications for SKYWARN. When severe storms threaten the county, local amateur radio operators are activated to provide their observations.
"I've tried to stress what a help the spotters are and hope we can branch into other areas also", said Manley.
The ACS will work closely with local government agencies, the American Red Cross, and other served agencies to determine what their needs are in the area of emergency communications. The ACS will then develop a plan to meet those needs and will train and exercise members accordingly.
"Another program that we would like to see organized is a Hospital Disaster Support Communications System (HDSCS)", said Reynolds.
The HDSCS began in Orange County, California in 1980. Since that time, HDSCS programs have grown throughout the country specifically designed to provide supplemental emergency communications for health care facilities when normal modes of communications fail or are overloaded.
"Obviously, seeing the role that amateur radio played with HCS in New Orleans, we need to work closely with our health care systems and prepare to respond accordingly", said Reynolds.
One of the issues stressed in the discussion/organizational meeting was bringing the local amateur radio community together to make the ACS concept work.
"I think this on the right track and I hope it will be a success. These operators do not realize what a valuable asset they could be, especially if they band together," replied Manley.
For further information on the Dickson County Auxiliary Communications Service contact J. Landon Reynolds at 615/402-1527 or by email at jlandonr@bellsouth.net.
