A couple weeks ago, I posted a message about how I think we should
approach
our involvement in public service events. I just got some interesting
feedback from it
that I wanted to share..
>Just a personal note on the Emergency Communications article. [deleted]
and I both
>received that E-mail as well and discussed it at length. We felt that
it is plain and
>simply a BAD article written by an egotistical techno-nut intent on
convincing everyone
>else on how superior his perceived emergency communications skills
are. And, quite frankly,
>he's batting in entirely the WRONG ball park. It is not OUR job to
organize an event for
>the organizers. That is THEIR job. It is not OUR job to operate THEIR
radios or public
>safety radios for THEM. That too is THEIR job. While having first
aid skills is certainly
>commendable for communicators, amateur radio support of public service
events is to
>provide safety communications and to let the professionals know when
and where there
>is a problem and facilitate as rapid a professional response as possible.
If a first-aid trained
>ham operator gets busy with CPR or first aid, they may well neglect
the communication
>aspects of the situation on which the professionals rely. It is hard
enough to get good
>ham communicators for events without requiring that they be first-aid
certified, have
>thorough knowledge of public safety protocols and emergency codes
and have thorough
>knowledge of how to operate public safety communication equipment
and trunked systems,
>and to boot, be APRS equipped. For the most part, we assign operators
to known
>checkpoints at designated locations with a few rovers. While APRS
might be useful for
>rovers, it would only slow down response in terms of the known checkpoints.
If this
>egotistical SOB is a police or ambulance wanna-be fine -- amateur
radio isn't keeping him
>from achieving those goals, but to say that all amateurs who volunteer
their time, equipment
>and effort to provide safety communications at events have to meet
his perceived lofty goals
>is ABSURD. [signature deleted]