[SCCC] New Article on Website

[Dennis Vernacchia]

Alan,

Your points are well taken but what we as Contesters and DXers would be
teaching to EMCOMM hams
is above and beyond the emergency Jargon and operating procedures the
EMCOMM organizations teach them.

What WE teach is how to hear stns in the noise 3 dB down from your
imagination which may help get a critical message thru. Or keeping their HF
and VHF gear and antennas and computers  in most effective  operating
condition and how to patch around gear and antennas when they fail.

We also teach accuracy in copying  messages where getting 1 letter or
character wrong can change the entire message intention.

I hope this makes more sense to you now, We are creating better radio
operators who also will learn
better HOW their radios actually work and not think of them as  just being
appliances they can't patch around or if able, repair on the spot.

73, Dennis N6KI






On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 5:56 PM, <alaininvc at nethere.com> wrote:

> Dennis,
>
> I just saw your post on the SCCC reflector and was compelled to reply.
>
> As a FEMA certified CERT instructor for the past 3 years and a ham for the
> past 7+ years, I have never been at a loss to explain the value of having a
> ham radio license to students---along with a ham radio! Whether you are a
> Technician, General, Advanced or Extra.
>
> In preparation for my Powerpoint, the numerous documentaries I've watched,
> news/magazine articles I've read or O.E.S./Cal-Fire workshops I've
> attended, each one invariably, says the same thing...
>
> Immediately, the community struggles to cope emotionally; emergency
> services
> are overwhelmed, communications are severed and citizens are left to fend
> for themselves. These are the facts.
>
> They were the facts for the 2010 'quake and tsunami in Sendai, Japan.;
> Hurricane Sandy in late 2012, the 2013 wildfires in Colorado and
> Oregon,...and they will be facts when the next "big one" hits in Southern
> California.
>
> Built-in with just about every H/T, mobile or base station, the individual
> ham operator has the capability to monitor "first responder" [Cal-Fire,
> EMS, USFS, BLM, utilities, i.e. SDG&E, telephone and local water districts]
> VHF/UHF frequencies.
>
> I'm unsure as to the efficacy of having "tech's" exposed to contest'ers or
> "serious DX'ers" as a major step in teaching them or any ham for that
> matter, the necessary skills, techniques and aptitudes to handle
> emergency/priority [read "life saving"] traffic.
>
> I've monitored a lot of contests; admittedly, I have not participated in
> one for several years now. Yet, I have continued to hone my skills, such as
> they are, IN Ecomm drills, mock ups and the Valley Center Fire Protection
> District CERT Net, in which I am "net control". In my view, the two
> practices are v-e-r-y far apart.
>
> I'd like to see [and have advocated] a "disaster simulator" class. One in
> which curriculum in this subject was given [by Cal-Fire/U.S.F.S
> dispatchers] to prospective hams , wishing to be an intermediary "net
> control" for Cal-Fire and/or their local fire departments, etc. There is a
> woman on Palomar Mountain who was "net control" during the '07 wildfires,
> for the volunteer fire department up there.
>
> Have a short [per-recorded] segment of the '03 or '07 fire "tape" [or maybe
> a F-5 tornado blowing through Texas and Oklahoma] played into the
> headphones of every candidate. Giving each person an opportunity to
> practice in being a "net control" operator in/during an ongoing disaster.
>
> We've instructed our students, through different fire companies in the
> North
> County on how to administer CPR and use an AED. Everyone passes the test
> and gets their Red Cross "cards" of accreditation...when the instruction is
> demonstrated on a practice mannequin!
>
> Yet, there are no studies showing how well each student would fare should
> they ever come upon OR be called upon to assist in a "real" emergency; when
> the adrenalin is flowing and what you do and how well you do it depends on
> whether the person in front of you lives or he/she doesn't.
>
> It seems to me that this is where the emphasis should be placed; learning
> "fire and EMS jargon" and their protocol, and to those who are willing,
> some simple first aid/trauma first aid, because WHEN "it" does hit the fan,
> it will be too late to break out a text book...
>
> 73 de Alan...N6HPO
>