Thoughts on EMCOMM in Southeast Dallas County

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Concerning some recent conversations I have been doing some thinking and this is how I see it.

We have a need for promotion of awareness and training in emergency / disaster communications in the Mesquite, Balch Springs and the rest of south east Dallas county area.

I think our primary goals should be.

  • Raise awareness of our local hams and recruit those that have an interest in emergency / disaster communications
  • Raise awareness of our served agencies concerning our capabilities and ability to provide support in time of need
  • Develop and present training starting at the basic level and continuing through the advanced level targeted at our specific needs, goals, and abilities
  • Develop drills and operating opportunities which will allow our team to practice the skills learned from training

Raise awareness of our local hams

This is pretty easy. We just need to talk up Emcomm when ever possible to as many people as possible. Find out who is in RACES / ARES by asking them then identify why they are not with the Emcomm group and address those issues. Those of us who have been in sales will not find this difficult. For those who have not been in sales it is not difficult to develop this skill. After addressing any issues an individual may have it shouldn't be difficult to get them to submit an ARES registration form at the very least.

Raise awareness of our served agencies

This might be a little more challenging since only a few of us have direct contact with our served agencies people on a regular basis. Those who do have contact might spend some time bringing our capabilities up in conversation and make sure they are aware of new things that come on line. It is my understanding that we are written to the cities emergency plan. It probably wouldn't hurt to find out what is expected from us in that plan.

Develop and present training, Develop drills and operating opportunities

This will take a little work. We will need to identify in what areas Training is needed most. We will need to develop training for all aspects of emergency and disaster communications but we need to work on our weak spots first.

Once we have put together training presenting it should be fairly easy. We can use the club newsletter in the form of articles. The newsgroups in the form of articles.

The on air nets for training and drills. The club meeting for presentations. Things like HAM radio in the park, Field day, Transmitter hunts and so on as hands on drilling and training.

A few more things

Currently our Emcomm group is a group of individuals that come together during nets. The concept of “TEAM” is not in play. How we will fix this problem I am not sure.

It might also be easier to concentrate training if we move toward a sub team oriented

structure. Relay team, DF team, etc. We would still have to be able to get the team members to Elmer those outside the team. Cross training is something we need to keep in the plan.

These are just a few thought, what do you guys think?

About the Author

Richard KB5JBV has been an Amateur radio operator since 1988. He has held positions with the America Radio Relay League including but not limited to Assistant Section Manager, Official Observer, Official Relay Station, Official Emergency Station, ARES Emergency Coordinator for Resonant Frequency: The Amateur Radio Podcast was created to help get information on amateur radio out to the new ham and the ham that wants to find out more about different aspects of the hobby they are thinking about getting into. So sit back have a drink and enjoy.

Richard KB5JBV has been an Amateur radio operator since 1988. He held positions with the America Radio Relay League including but not limited to Assistant Section Manager, Official Observer, Official Relay Station, Official Emergency Station, ARES Emergency Coordinator for Kaufman County Texas, Volunteer Examiner and Technical Specialist in the North Texas section.

Richard has also served as RACES assistant radio officer for the city of Mesquite, Tx. and among numerous other duties Including club president for the HAM Association of Mesquite Texas.

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