Trinity County ARES

Simulated Emergency Test 2001

Emergency Communications Exercise

Exterior of TPUD Building in Weaverville

The Trinity PUD Building in Weaverville

WEAVERVILLE

Simulated INCIDENT COMMAND CENTER

Participants:

Vicki Riley, KF6OAH, TCARC President
Buck Buckley, W6HOR, TC Emergency Coordinator (ARES/ARRL)
Elise Osvold-Doppelhaur, Trinity County Public Health Nurse
Richard Smith, Weaverville Fire Marshal & staff
Representatives from Trinity General Hospital (4)
Sgt.Dave Laffranchini, TCSO (OES )
NOTE- If anyone knows others in attendance, please contact Webmaster & Page Author, Greg Greenwood, WB6FZH/AAT9IS so their name and organization can be added to this list. .

SCENARIO:

Basic Information

Anonymous call warning of possible terrorist event, no details 18 wheeler with hazardous chemical drives into public gathering Many calls via 9-1-1, EMS callout etc.. Chemical overcomes first responders, many dead News/TV reporters, etc.

The Exercise was carried out as a "Tabletop" exercise with other similar senarios offered with comment,etc.

Communications was set up between the "Center" which was at the conference room of the Public Utilities District, instead of the pre-planned Hospital location. Radio Amateurs were dispatched to the Douglas City Schoo to set up a voice and digital (packet) link with a VHF 2 meter Ham Radio Station.

The exercise started at 8AM and concluded about 11AM.

OBSERVED RESULTS:

Any "Exercise" as such should be treated as a "Learning Experience" and this one was great. The spirit of cooperation, the interjected information and potential solutions was very positive.

For our situation, i.e. communications, it became apparent that we should survey various potential locations. Then install antennae (VHF/UHF & HF ) and cable/innterface box. at various key locations county. Then test for communications between these sites and document result. We should continue to train our operators further with packet and voice traffic handling to upgrade skills. TCARC/ARES will investigate funding

Robert "Buck" Buckley, W6HOR- Trinity County EC (ARES/ARRL)

NOTE- This year the TCARC/ARES utilized the California Emergency Medical Services Authority Exercise on November 15th, 2001 instead of the anual stand alone ARRL/ARES S.E.T (Simulated Emergency Test). Recent forest fires had given plenty of opportunities for learning and the Amateur Radio communicators wanted to continue to learn how best provide communications & supoort.

Elise Osvold-Doppelhaur, RN, PHN (Public Health Nursing Supervisor) was Chairperson for this test.

This webpage is not an official report on behalf of any government agency, just some information relating to the exercise with special consideration to the role of Amateur Radio Communications to assist the participants in engineering and procedural improvement..

Douglas City School Relocation Center

The Douglas City School

J-Pole and Beam Antennas

Portable Antennas and Safety Zone

Packet and Voice 2 Meter Radio Stations

Voice and Packet 2 Meter Radio Stations

Location of Radio Station, Potential Wall-Thru location and dual band antenna location.

Possible Locations of pre-installed Antenna, etc.

Bob Martin, WD6AIA, Operating at the Simulated Evacuation
Center

Bob Martin, WD6AIA, Operating the Voice Station

Simulated RELOCATION CENTER

Douglas City- Relocation Center Location

Communicators- WD6AIA, Bob Martin WB6FZH, Greg Greenwood
Survey of Station Location, use standard criteria for set-up station, security & safety..
Set-up 2 meter Digital/ Packet Station- K6SDD-14 Relocation Center
Set-up 2 meter Voice Station- WB6FZH/ Douglas City School
Set-up J-Pole Omni directional Antenna for Packet Station
Set-up 2 meter/70cm Beam Antenna- Oriented for best signal to Hayfork Repeater (13/73- 84.5), Test for Weaverville simplex Coverage off backside.
Connect 12V DC Power Source (Deep Cycle Battery/Group 24) & Power Distribution cables/adaptors.
TEST Coverage of Voice Radio- Simplex to Weaverville (146.52/73), Repeater Access, 146.73 at Hayfork
TEST Coverage of Packet Radio- Connect WB6FZH-5, Digipeat via WB6FZH-5 to WRS, to Simulated Incident Command Location, Connect WB6FZH-5 & Leave Message on BBS.
Report Status of Packet Station to Incident Command Center
Report Status of Voice Station to Incident Command Center
Monitor for Radio Traffic relating to Simulated Emergency Test 2001
Generate Message to Incident Command Center (Entered in Log)
Receive Message from Incident Command Center (Entered in Log)
Participate as required until end of SET 2001
With Permission of Incident Command Center- Close Station
Remove Station, Antenna, Power Source and Accessories
Return Storage Area used for DC School Communications to original condition.
Thank DC School Staff for Cooperation
Return TCARC and Personal Emergency Radio Equipment to storage locations after re-checking packing list for missing parts and proper storage conditions.