[CQ-Contest] Real emergencies

[W0uo@cs.com]

Bryan

Well Said

Jim W0UO/5


"Bryan W5KFT" <w5kft at nts-online.net> wrote:

>A couple of years ago when 10 meters was really rocking, I  had a really
>interesting situation come up in the ARRL 10 meter contest.
>
>I was running stations on about 28430 when a station comes on and says,
>"Breaker Breaker Emergency Emergency".  At first I thought it was a joke and
>just went on running stations.  In a few moments he came back on and
>repeated the "Breaker Breaker Emergency".  I asked the station for his call.
>
>The station came back on and said, "I don't have a call, I am not a ham".
>He went to tell me that he was a trucker on the Interstate in Ohio and that
>the had just driven up on a major multi vehicle pileup.  His "CB" was
>actually a converted ham rig that still worked 10 meters. The interesting
>part is that he told me he needed to get help immediately"so he picked out a
>LOUD signal and said EMERGENCY because he knew that he could ask hams for
>help"   Not an assigned frequency, not a net, he wanted somebody LOUD that
>he could communicate with.  This guy didn't even have a license but he knew
>what to do.
>
>I made a long distance call to Ohio State Police and gave the location of
>the wreck and then went back to contesting.  In about 30 minutes again it
>was "Breaker Breaker" and the trucker came back on to tell me that police
>and EMS were on the scene and things were being taken care, and a big thanks
>from him.
>
>I think that it is a good point that in the event of a really true emergency
>that many contesters have a lot to offer and at the top of the list is BIG
>SIGNALS.  It would be interesting if we could know if those folks really in
>need of help would go to the antenna in the attic group on some special
>frequency or if they would select a BIG signal contest station they could
>really hear well.....
>
>A point to ponder.....
>
>Bryan W5KFT
>
>
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