American Radio Relay
League, Inc. ฎ
Amateur Radio
Emergency Service ฎ
Emergency Communications Plan
1.
Authority: The Amateur Radio Emergency Serviceฎ (ARESฎ)1 is sponsored
by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) to fulfill the general responsibility
of the Amateur Radio service to be prepared to provide communications in an
emergency. ARES exists for the purpose of
providing supplemental communications for the public, government and non-profit
organizations involved in emergency and disaster response, preparedness, and
recovery. The ARES field organization
reaches all 50 states, as well as
The Section Manager
(SM) is elected by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) members in the ARRL
South Texas Section, as their representative.
The SM delegates their responsibility for administering and directing
the ARES within the section to an appointed Section Emergency Coordinator
(SEC). In consultation with the SM, the
SEC appoints District Emergency Coordinators (DEC) over multi-county districts,
and Emergency Coordinators (EC) for counties or sub-divisions within
counties. The SEC, DECs, and ECs are
charged with developing, recruiting, training, leading and directing ARES
members, developing emergency plans and relationships with served agencies
within their geographic area as necessary to meet anticipated communications
emergencies.
2.
Purpose: This plan exists to provide general and
specific guidance to the appointed leaders of the Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (ARES) in meeting their responsibilities to develop, train, and direct
ARES members in mitigating communications emergencies among public safety and
disaster relief organizations within the ARRL South
3. Situation
and Threats
3.1.
Situation
3.1.1. General:
The ARRL South Texas Section consists of 97 counties, covering nearly
96,000 square miles. It is approximately
525 miles east to west, and 450 miles north to south. It includes over 600 miles of coast line with
the Gulf of Mexico, 450 miles of border with
3.1.2. Climate:
The climate across the section is a modified marine climate, classified
subtropical, with four subheadings. A marine
climate is caused by the predominant onshore flow of tropical maritime air from
the
3.2.
Threats
3.2.1. The section can be affected by extreme
seasonal weather conditions, including temperatures above 100 degrees during
late summer, drought, abundant rainfall, high humidity, and mild winters with
rare snowfall.
3.2.2. Weather threats include flooding and flash
flooding, strong wind, ice storms, tropical storms and hurricanes, tornadoes,
thunderstorms and severe thunderstorms, lightning, drought and extreme heat.
3.2.3. Technological threats include hazardous
materials from both fixed facilities, such as the major petrochemical
facilities in
3.2.4. Hostile individuals or groups may engage in
terrorist acts any place that large groups of people gather; against private or
government buildings, petrochemical and other industrial sites; air, sea, rail,
highway transportation and communications infrastructure. Materials employed can include conventional
firearms, biological, nuclear, incendiary, chemicals, explosives, and
improvised devices.
4. Concept
of operations
4.1.
When an agency asks the South
Texas Section ARES for communications assistance, it gets the full benefit of
the entire ARES organization. The ARES infrastructure includes
privately-owned radios, antennas, ARES-dedicated and cooperating repeaters, and
accessory equipment. Even more important
than the equipment, the organizational structure includes numerous nets,
training programs and exercises, and cooperative planning with the agencies to
learn their needs, and the services of scores of trained
operators, few of whom are visible at the disaster site.
4.2.
The ARES field organization is designed
to support as fully as possible, upon request, any and all emergency response
and disaster relief organizations. In
doing so, ARES retains its own identity and organizational structure, personnel
and physical infrastructure while providing communications support. When ARES operators are assigned to a duty post anywhere,
they remain an ARES operator for the full length of the ARES assignment. That
operator is responsible directly to the EC (and Assistant ECs), and to no one
outside of the ARES organization.
The officials of a served agency must never be permitted to
take control of ARES operators assigned to them, or to absorb them into their
own organization, though they may some times attempt that. ARES does not
recruit and train operators for other groups to use for non-ARES purposes.
4.3.
Officials of emergency and
disaster response agencies who desire ARES assistance should contact any ARES
Emergency Coordinator or District Emergency Coordinator. Their names, addresses and phone numbers can
be obtained from ARRL HQ or from local Amateur Radio operators, or from Amateur
Radio clubs.
4.4.
Officials may also contact any of
the following ARES representatives:
Section Emergency Coordinator
Mike Schwartz KG5TL
Phone: 830-839-4777 (Evening)
512-303-3443 (Day)
Email: mikeschwartz@austin.rr.com
Section Manager
Ray Taylor N5NAV
688 S Comal Avenue
Phone: 830-625-1683
Email: ataylor22611@satx.rr.com
ARRL Headquarters
Phone: 860-594-0200
FAX: 860-594-0259
Email: hq@arrl.org
4.5.
All requests for ARES assistance
should be directed first to the closest ARES leader to the incident or
disaster, usually an Emergency Coordinator, or District EC. The EC, or their designated representative,
are the only persons who may authorize the activation of the registered ARES
members in their area. When any ARES
member becomes aware of an actual or potential need for ARES, all effort should
be made to contact the responsible EC or an Assistant EC. Only when an EC or delegated representative
cannot be contacted in a reasonable time should the DEC or SEC be
contacted. Once the EC, DEC, or SEC has
been notified, ARES members should monitor their local resource repeater, or
the
Spontaneous
volunteers are rarely protected by the liability insurance of emergency and
disaster response organizations.
Accordingly, ARES members are prohibited from traveling to the site of
any emergency incident beyond their immediate area unless authorized to do so
by an EC, DEC, SEC, or their designated representative, such as the net control
station of a resource net. ARES members
will only be authorized to go to the site of an emergency incident after the
appropriate served agency requests ARES help at that site.
4.6.
Communications emergencies take
two general forms; systems either fail, or are otherwise inadequate for the
immediate needs. System failure can
caused by hardware (physical equipment, electrical or interconnecting lines) or
software. Inadequacy can mean the
existing infrastructure is inadequate to handle the information volume, or the
organizations responding to an incident have unanticipated communications
needs, such as communicating with non-traditional services.
4.7.
ARES leaders identify the
communications needs and priorities of the served agencies, then assign and
direct ARES resources to mitigate that need.
ARES ECs and DECs should avoid accepting operating assignments, so they
remain available to coordinate their ARES resources.
4.8.
The staffing priority in any
emergency incident will be given first to those who are registered with
ARES. Second priority will be members of
RACES groups. Third priority will be
Amateur Radio operators not associated with any ARES or RACES group. Assignments will be given to minimize the
travel distance.
4.9.
If any requested action involves
unacceptable risk, the person should NOT take the action. Upon refusal, the person should notify the
net control station that they will not be performing the requested action,
along with a brief statement of their risk assessment. There is not any ARES assignment which is so
important that it cannot be done safely.
5. Organization
5.1.
Districts: The 97 counties in the South Texas Section
are divided into fourteen (14) ARES districts as follows. The SEC may appoint District Emergency
Coordinators (DEC) and Emergency Coordinators (EC) as needed to effectively
organize ARES activities and groups within these districts and counties. Maximum effort should be made to appoint ECs
for counties with over 50,000 in population.
ARES members are under the direction of the EC, Assistant ECs, DECs, and
the SEC.
5.1.1. District 1:
Brazoria, Chambers,
5.1.2. District 2:
Angelina,
5.1.3. District 3:
Brooks,
5.1.4. District 4:
Aransas, Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Live Oak,
5.1.5. District 5:
Brazos, Burleson, Grimes,
5.1.6. District 6:
Bandera, Edwards, Kerr, Kinney,
5.1.7. District 7:
5.1.8. District 8:
Concho, Gillespie, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCullough, Menard, San Saba
5.1.9. District 9:
Jasper, Jefferson, Hardin,
5.1.10.
District 10: Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad,
5.1.11.
District 11:
5.1.12.
District 12: Atascosa, Bexar, Comal, Gonzales, Guadalupe,
Kendall,
5.1.13.
District 13: Dimmit, Duval,
5.1.14.
District 14: Harris
5.2.
Training: ARES leaders are expected to complete the
following training classes, prior to or as soon after their appointment as
possible.
5.2.1. Emergency Coordinator: ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Level 1
5.2.2. District Emergency Coordinator: ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Level 1 and 2
5.2.3. Section
Emergency Coordinator: ARRL Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications Level 1, 2 and 3
5.3.
Emergency Coordinators may
appoint, and cancel the appointment of, Assistant ECs as necessary. It is recommended these appointments be given
the titles and duties as described by the Incident Command System for general
staff positions.
5.4.
Situation Report:
Upon
activation of an ARES group by its leaders, the EC or representative should
send a short situation report to their DEC not less than once daily. DECs should consolidate EC reports and send
one to the SEC no later than 1900 local time each day of the ARES
activation. By citing only the line
number (Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, Line 4a, Line 4b, etc), this can be passed in
radiogram format.
ARES
DAILY SITUATION REPORT
1. INCIDENT TYPE: brief description
2. REPORTING PERIOD:
3. SUPPORTED CLIENTS & LOCATIONS: brief description
4. NUMBER OF ARES OPERATORS
4a. Currently committed:
4b. Contacted:
4c. Additional needed:
5. REPORT BY: name, callsign, county
5.5.
Mutual Aid:
The
population of the counties in the
5.5.1. Four ARES response levels are
identified:
Level 1 Response The primary responding ARES group
has sufficient resources to meet the identified communications needs, using
registered ARES or spontaneous volunteers.
Level 2 Response The resources of
the primary ARES group are insufficient, and additional resources are needed
from the ARES groups in adjacent counties, or from within the ARES
district. As soon as this need is
reasonably anticipated, the EC should contact the ECs of adjacent counties,
identify the needs, and then inform their DEC.
If the DEC cannot be contacted after multiple attempts over a reasonable
time, the EC should contact the SEC or SM.
Level 3 Response The resources of the primary ARES
group, adjacent counties and the ARES district are insufficient, and additional
resources are needed. As soon as this
need is reasonably anticipated, the DEC should contact the DECs of adjacent
districts, identify the needs, and then inform the SEC. If the SEC cannot be contacted after multiple
attempts over a reasonable time, the DEC should contact the SM.
Level 4 Response - The resources of the primary ARES
group, adjacent counties, surrounding ARES Districts are insufficient, and
additional resources are needed from outside the
5.5.2. All requests for mutual assistance resources
within the
In-Section Response:
The
members of pre-organized or ad hoc mutual assistance teams for response in the
section will be designated as ARES Communications Response Teams (ARES CRTs),
Type 1-4.
Out of Section Response:
The
members of pre-organized or ad hoc mutual assistance teams for response outside
of the
|
Type |
Response Area |
Duration |
Recommended by |
Approved by |
|
ARES CRT |
Within Section |
5-7 days |
EC |
DEC |
|
ARES MAT |
Outside Section |
7-14 days |
DEC |
SEC |
6.
Readiness conditions. Most emergencies follow some recognizable build-up
period during which actions can be taken to achieve a state of maximum
readiness. These readiness conditions
are used as a method of increasing the alert posture of ARES members.
6.1.
Condition 4
6.1.1. ARES leaders should maintain contact on the
state ARES HF net at 7:30 PM each Monday evening; establish relationships with
potential ARES clients; organize, recruit and train ARES members.
6.1.2. ARES
members should improve their knowledge and skills through ARECC training, participating in public service
events, meetings, traffic and ARES training nets; program radios with ARES
frequencies; verify the readiness of their equipment
on a monthly basis; and enjoy Amateur Radio.
6.2.
Condition 3 Increased
Readiness. Condition 3 refers to a
situation which presents an increased potential threat, but poses no immediate
threat to life or property. This
condition includes situations which could become hazardous. This includes severe weather such as hurricane
watch, high wind (above 58 MPH) expected, tornado watch, flash flood watch, or
winter storm watch.
6.2.1. If
activated, ARES leaders should maintain contact on the state ARES HF net at 7
PM each evening; review ARES emergency communications plan; contact potential
ARES clients; notify ARES members that activation is possible but not
expected.
6.2.2. ARES
members should review their family emergency plan; refresh food, water and
clothes in go-kits; check or charge HT and storage batteries weekly; carry HT
at all times; keep their vehicle fuel tank more than half full; and participate
in weekly nets.
6.3.
Condition 2 Escalated Response
Condition. Condition 2 could be
triggered by severe weather warnings, such as inland hurricane; high wind, high
water, tornado, flash flood, or winter storm warnings.
6.3.1. If
activated, ARES leaders, or their representative, should maintain contact on
the state ARES HF net at 7 PM each evening; prepare operator schedules for key
clients, operations and resource nets; activate a resource net; conduct a daily
meeting or conference call with ARES leaders; notify ARES members that
activation is expected or imminent.
6.3.2. ARES
members should monitor their ARES repeaters; secure their home, family and emergency
supplies; top off their vehicle fuel tank; place go-kits and batteries in car.
6.4.
Condition 1 Emergency
Condition. Condition 1 could be triggered by severe weather warnings or actual
conditions, such as, high winds, tornado sighted close to or moving towards a
populated area, or flooding.
6.4.1. ARES
leaders, or their representative, should maintain continuing contact on the
state ARES HF net; activate local operations nets; and send a daily situation
report to their DEC or the SEC.
6.4.2. ARES members should follow the
direction of their ARES leaders or delegated representatives, such as net
control stations.
7. Section emergency frequencies
7.1.
Emergency and tactical traffic day: 7285 kHz LSB night: 3873 kHz LSB
7.2.
Health and welfare traffic day: 7290 kHz LSB night: 3935 kHz LSB
7.3.
Digital Messaging
7.3.1. The HF Digital National Traffic
System is recommended for NTS type messages without E-mail addresses.
7.3.2. Winlink 2000 system recommended for
destinations with E-mail addresses. This
may include HF and VHF with TelPac, Paclink, Airmail or Outpost
utilization. The STX ARES section
maintains 4 HF capable EMCOMM Winlink 2000 PMBOs: KB5HCD, N5TW, W0MAC, and W5TQ. These PMBOs, as well as other EMCOMM or
public PMBOs, are preferred for HF digital traffic over point to point
communications for the flexibility of communicating to multiple recipients, to
minimize propagation limitations and to free up stations from fixed,
pre-planned frequencies. A current list
of EMCOMM PMBO frequencies and stations may be found at:
http://digital.w3eoc.org/StatusLinks 7.3.3. Modes such as RTTY, PSK31 and others
which do not have error correcting or error checking are not recommended due to
their ability to receive errors without realizing the transmitted message has
changed.
7.3.4. Pactor is the preferred mode for
point-to-point HF digital communications using Airmail. The simplex point-to-point frequencies will
be 3590.0 and 7090.0 USB Mark (3591.5 and 7091.5 center) for utilization inside
the section.
7.3.5.
ARES districts
with populations over 250,000 (Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14)
should develop a minimum of two VHF or UHF TelPac Internet gateway stations to
provide Packet to Internet E-mail capability.
All counties in these districts with an ARES EC should have a minimum of
one station with the ability to contact one or more Winlink HF, VHF or UHF
TelPac, internet gateway stations.
7.3.6.
ARES districts
with populations of over 1 million (Districts 1, 3, 7, 12, 14) should have a
minimum of 4 Telpac stations and are encouraged to establish a full EMCOMM PMBO
station, preferably in a hardened location with backup power. This allows hubbing local communications in
the event of an Internet failure as well as providing an HF path for distant
communications.
7.3.7. Each ARES member should utilize
Airmail for HF Winlink 2000, or Airmail, Paclink or Outpost for VHF / UHF
Winlink 2000 for ARES training and emergency communications on a regular
basis. This includes receiving messages
for third party delivery as well as sending messages.
7.3.8. All DECs should have HF Airmail
capability.
7.3.9. ARES groups with equipment installed
in local facilities such as EOCs are encouraged to extend these to include
Winlink capability for communication with local TelPac or remote HF Winlink
facilities.
7.3.10.
APRSLink is a limited capacity option for those areas with active APRS
IGates and no TelPac gateway stations.
NOTES:
1
Amateur Radio
Emergency Service and ARES are registered marks of the American Radio Relay
League, Incorporated and are used with permission.
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