Page 1 OPSTrain Version 1. 3 3/1/92 TRAINING [Category: OPS] TRAINING FOR LEVEL A VOLUNTEERS QUESTION: For "Level A" RACES persons, what training should local government, give them? ANSWER: This varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. One thing the RACES is not is to train operators from scratch. We assume that person brings to the job one or more skills. The government should train and provide handouts on that which the volunteer would not normally get. For starters we recommend the following: 1. An agency organization chart. 2. Position descriptions, starting with the Radio Officer. 3. The mission of the emergency communications service, including the RACES. 4. The Incident Command System. If the ICS is used, the volunteer communicators in government service must understand it. 5. Concentrate of the use of tactical callsigns and plain English. 6. Mission specific training. In other words, those people support a hazard materials incident in the field must have suitable hazmat training before hand. The same applies to wild fire communications, flood gauge reporting, and similar potentially hazardous operations. 7. Housekeeping rules and standard operating procedures. 8. Safety, personal and family preparedness. RB 162 OPERATIONS CRITIQUE FOR TRAINING PURPOSES A recent incident utilized about 40 Amateur Radio operators for over a week. Observations were collected from staff and participants following the incident. Both served agency managers and their volunteers may benefit from the findings in your future training, meetings, and in the preparation of standard operating procedures. 1. Proper clothing is necessary for an extended stay. This means appropriate attire for both day and night. Since this was a wildfire incident, this means boots or heavy duty work shoes. Not sneakers and never thongs. 2. Use tactical calls. This is still the hardest thing for Amateurs unfamiliar with tactical emergency communications. It must be stressed in training and Standard Operating Procedures so that it will be natural in an incident or even scheduled nets and rollcalls. Short place names are usually used to identify locations. Functional names may be used for individual positions. Note again that it is the position that is important and not so much the individual holding down that position at any given time. If a callsign is not known, don't hesitate to call anyone on any radio by their given name. An individual's regular callsign is really unimportant during an incident and that includes Amateur's, too. When one location calls another location it is to establish two way radio communications by using tactical callsigns readily understood by anyone for the duration of the incident or net. Again, that net might last 30 minutes or 30 days. The FCC Rules for the Amateur Radio Service state that an Amateur Radio STATION shall be identified with its ham call at least once in every ten minutes of transmission. We have seen an awful lot of time wasted in real operations and exercises when a ham, wanting to talk to ANYONE at a given location wastes a lot of air time by repeatedly calling an individual's ham callsign instead of the proper tactical callsign. Ham radio operators will come and go but the tactical callsign will remain unchanged. The tactical callsigns are all important, the individual ham callsigns are not. We are told that this wounds a few egos but that is simply the way Incident Command System communications are conducted. Our hams bring their expertise, equipment, and willingness to serve the served agency in the manner the served agency wants and should leave their egos home. 3. Closely coupled with the comments in part 2 above is the fact some volunteers report for duty with little or no prior training in the what and why they are there. Sometimes volunteers pick up all the necessary training in the several days of real duty and they really shine. There are a few, however, who challenge the very mission of the Amateur Radio operators to be there in the first place. Those few, for example, have questioned why they support the fire information officer's role on a wildfire incident. To ask such a question, of course, is indicative of no prior training being received by that person. This bulletin will not attempt to define that role but it will be addressed in future bulletins for information purposes only -- not an attempt to replace the classroom training that is required of any volunteer serving in the RACES and the Department of Forestry's programs. Once a volunteer understands his or her expected role -- up front and ahead of time -- they can decide whether to roll with the team or head for the door. As program managers it is our role to provide sufficient briefings and training so that any volunteer can determine before an incident whether or not tactical government service communications is their cup of tea. Out on the line is too late. 4. Determine in advance who can read maps and who cannot. Some people simply cannot. This is no disgrace. One who cannot read maps, however, should not be sent into a strange area alone. These critique comments were collected by Stan Harter KH6GBX, Les Ballinger WA6EQQ, and Charlie Jakobs KC6LKC. RB142 & 143 VOLUNTEERS RESPONDING POLICY ATTENTION: RACES PROGRAM MANAGERS AND TRAINING OFFICERS For every public safety function or problem there is a government agency charged with the primary response, control and mitigation. Some agencies use volunteers on a regular basis and others do not. Such regular or professional volunteers are generally expected to meet certain qualifications prior to acceptance and enrollment. We know of no public safety function in California provided solely by volunteers. Skilled volunteers, properly trained and registered, are a part of and support a specific public agency. Public agencies do not take kindly to unrequested volunteers showing up at an emergency. By the same token, properly registered volunteers do not self-dispatch themselves; they respond by authorization from competent authority. One of the prerequisites in California for a volunteer to serve a public agency is to first become a registered Disaster Service Worker in accordance with State Government Code 8580 et al. See your local OES Coordinator for further information if you are interested. RB87-40 DRILL OR EXERCISE REALITY [The following was written by April Moell, WA6OPS, long experienced in medical and disaster emergencies. She gives you, both government and volunteers alike, advice from the perspective of the served agency. I have paraphrased her original memo to hospital disaster responders to apply to communications responders in virtually any incident. S. E. Harter, KH6GBX] DRILL OR EXERCISE REALITY 1. It will never be what you expect. 2. Go prepared for anything. You never know where you might be operating, or for how long, or under what circumstances. You could be at the command post in a basement or in the field. Your fellow ham may drop his or her handie-talkie coming into the building. 3. Introduce yourself to the person in charge of your area. Don't be afraid to ask who is in charge if you aren't sure. You need to quickly brief that person as to your capabilities. Let them know to where you can provide them radio links. Do not assume that they know what you can do. 4. Just like we have many hams each year that are new to the drills or are in a different hospital (or EOC) than before, the hospital (or EOC) are usually in the same situation. They may have brought in staff from other shifts or locations to learn about the disaster plan. New administration staff may be getting their feet wet for the first time as the person in charge of the command post. In many cases it may be the first time they have seen a ham in their incident command post -- at best, in some exercise a year or so ago. In other words, DON'T ASSUME THEY WILL THINK YOU ARE WONDERFUL AND IMMEDIATELY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH YOU. 5. We may have no control over the starting or ending time of the drills. We will give you our best approximations. Sometimes there are problems setting up the disaster scene and the drill starts late. That means the hams will get called late. If you've been pre-staged we will try to keep you advised over the air.. Sometimes there are difficulties retrieving all the victims or resources after the drill. You may be asked to stay at your post past the end of the drill. If this causes you a problem, let your supervisor know ahead of time. If there are staggered callouts or activations of radio volunteers, please DON'T GET ON THE AIR AND ASK when you are going to be called. Be patient. 6. If you said you can be available for a drill date, WE ARE PLANNING ON USING YOU. PLEASE TAKE THE COMMITMENT SERIOUSLY. It takes a lot of time and phone bills to contact people, assign them, and contact them again with their assignments. Thinking we won't miss just one volunteer is erroneous. If several people think that we will be in trouble, and it isn't just a matter of plugging someone in. One dropout can create a domino effect, causing shuffling of operators to provide the proper coverage and support new ones in the drill. That means more phone calls and chaos. 7. Hospital (and government) people aren't fond of drills. They disrupt their normal routine. They are required to do them. They don't want to be embarrassed by doing something wrong. When the drill is over, you will likely see a very rapid disappearance of personnel. If victims are yet to be picked up for transport back to the site and you are a possible communications link for that, don't let the command post close up without knowing who your contact is going to be. The hospital is supposed to have someone in charge of the victims. Don't let them abandon you. It is not your job to keep track of the victims. 8. You are not likely to handle much traffic. In a drill most people rarely simulate the kind of phone stress they would have in a real incident. Whether you are in a drill or the real thing, you are a support communications system. YOU ARE THERE JUST IN CASE. QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY, IS WHAT MATTERS. If you are on duty for three hours and handle only one message -- it was still important and worthwhile for you to be there. If you can get the one message through that they need -- YOU ARE VALUABLE. 9. The more exposure volunteers have to the agency they serve, the easier it is for all concerned when we are activated. The preceding was prepared by April Moell for the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System in Southern California. Throughout you can see the importance of the necessity for reliability, dependability, performance, and knowledge of the served agency by its volunteers. There are some volunteer activities that require little or no prior knowledge of the served agency by a volunteer. This is NEVER the type of volunteer we address in the weekly State RACES Bulletins and other publications. Like the hams and other volunteers who serve the hospitals, they must be a part of the served agency system BEFORE the emergency strikes. Such a volunteer seeks out an agency or organization ahead of time. They then serve because they WANT TO as a part of an agency, an organization, or a system as a team player. There simply is no room for loners. The days of simply sitting down to any radio, anywhere, with no knowledge of the served agency are gone. New people learn the system and the procedures. So do the old timers or they lapse into retirement. Probably one of the most frustrating statements from a soul who stands up at a recruiting session for emergency communi-cations specialists is, "I've been a ham for over forty years. What in the world can YOU possibly teach ME?" Again, thanks to April and the other professionals who send us Bulletin material. As retired Hawaii State RACES Radio Officer Henry Gamache, KH6AIN, once said, "Just because you're an Amateur doesn't mean you don't do a professional job." RB188-190 WHAT IS A "SHADOW"? - Question: What is a Shadow? Answer: A shadow is an Amateur Radio operator who accompanies an official during an incident. The following is from the Nevada- Yuba-Placer Ranger Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, sometimes abbreviated simply as the CDF CONCEPT: (1) The purpose of the shadow is to allow constant contact with some person who is important to the fire operation. Thus the ham operator MUST remain in the immediate vicinity of the person shadowed AT ALL TIMES. (2) Because the person being shadowed will usually be involved in some important activity, the shadow should be unobtrusive in the vicinity of the person, interjecting only communications is needed. RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES: (1) Communications (a) The shadow operator must remain with the person being shadowed at all times. In addition, the ham must monitor the radio AT ALL TIMES. (b) Operator is expected to take direction from the site supervisor during his shift. (c) The shadow may operate other radios as well, such as the departmental radio and cellular telephone. (2) Shift Durations. Most CDF operations have shift durations of 12 hours at a time. This time may vary depending on the actual needs of the operation. (3) The operator shall be in good physical condition. The ham operator must be able to walk and sometimes run long distances with the official. EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS: The shadow shall furnish the following equipment when reporting for duty: (1) Hand-held, 2 meter, 5 watt output, synthesized transceiver with programmable CTCSS encoder. (Note: Cross band, dual band, 2 meter-440 radio recommended and will be required in the future.) (2) Mobile 2 meter radio for easy installation in a vehicle, including mag-mount antenna. Alternative: mobile booster amplifier. An external with a long cord is also required. (See 2 meter-440 note above also applies). (3) Earpiece or headphones for HT, or speaker-mike. (4) Spare batteries for 24 hours operation. (5) Power adapter connectors -- both cigarette lighter and clip-lead for direct battery connection with cables at least 10 feet long. Recommended: Anderson Power-Pole connectors. (6) 5/8-wave mag-mount antenna with 15 feet coaxial cable AND extendible pull-up antenna for the HT, as well as the regular HT rubber duck antenna. RB179-180 DESIRABLE TRAITS IN A VOLUNTEER "What are the desirable traits for a Level 1 volunteer?" A management workshop, based on Harvard business school techniques, divided 110 people into eleven groups of ten people each. The groups were asked to list all of the attributes that came to mind. After a period of time they were told to stop writing lists and vote on their top eight. Then all eleven groups combined their results into the following top eight attributes: 1. Reliability. 2. Participation. 3. Being a team player. 4. Dedication and commitment. 5. Ability to cooperate. 6. Acceptance of responsibility. 7. Support; speaks well of his/her organization before others. 8. A success in his/her vocation. RB 098 STRESS AND TRAINING ORIGINAL CAPTION:"FALLING OVERBOARD" by Lois Clark McCoy, WB6MME My awareness of emergencies and disaster began at a very early age. I was born and brought up on an ocean-going 42 foot yawl and never lived ashore until I was eight years old. During those years my father taught my sister and me about emergencies and how to avoid disaster. Emergencies at sea were expected and prepared for. Disaster was to be avoided at all costs. As he said, "You only get to fall overboard once." What's the difference between emergency and disaster? An emergency is when the resources available are inadequate to contain and recover from an event, but, in time of disaster, the American citizen volunteers to fill that shortfall in resources. The American tradition of volunteerism is one of a community's greatest strengths; the Amateur Radio family has a long history of disaster and emergency service. However, in the aftermath of a recent urban wildfire where the emergency response phase of the operation spanned only three hours, we found ourselves short of trained emergency responders. You notice that I said trained emergency responders. The wildfire was terrible, scary, and burned more people out of their homes than any other fire in the United States except the 1906 San Francisco fire. But it was only one canyon. It was only one day. Essentially, the emergency response was over in three hours. The mop-up took days and recovery is still going on. But as a disaster it was a short-lived event. Even so, we were running out of trained emergency communicators. As Amateur Radio operators who think yourselves capable communicators, many of you will volunteer when disaster strikes. I must tell you that in my experience you will be disappointed in your performance unless you train as an emergency radio operator. Without that needed disaster and team training you will not perform up to your expectations. The reason for your disappointment will be a physical one, one that training can minimize. It is that unexpected physical reaction to stress and sudden disaster that all experience -- astronauts as well as Amateur Radio operators. Astronauts train and train in order to make the time between the shock of the unexpected and the later recovery to trained action as short as possible. Firemen, policemen, and paramedics are so highly trained that after they've been years in their services they forget what their early days were like. They have shortened that gap between the unexpected incident and the trained reaction to become almost unnoticeable. One of the reasons for volunteers needing to shorten this momentary gap between shock and reasoned or trained reaction is that the body recovers ahead of the mind. Therefore, the body will react in senseless ways immediately after, unless the mind is trained to reason instantaneous control and to order the body to take trained action. I want a lot of you to sign up, to serve in a great or small capacity, and to get all the training you can because, until you take this training, you won't understand how different the task is. It is much different, running a communications post, under stress, worried about your family, worried about your home or your neighbor's, worried about your own safety. Responding to emergencies is not what you normally do on a day-to-day routine. You do not normally put yourself in harm's way. This response will have a different feel, and until you can learn to focus, to concentrate all your energies on the emergency matter at hand, you will continue to be disappointed in your own performance under stress. To successfully perform under stress takes training and spirit. I know you have spirit. You need training, and training is not something to be done once and forgotten. You need to train and keep training to concentrate and focus all your abilities on an emergency at hand. In the last analysis, coping with unexpected disaster does not so much test a community's advance state of preparedness as it does its reflexes -- those actions undertaken as a result of its training and readiness. This is the most persuasive argument for preplanning and training. So, rather than "falling overboard," let's dive in together, take the training, and be prepared for the unexpected. ---WB6MME ---- About the author: Lois Clark McCoy is a nationally recognized veteran emergency services/civil defense professional and search and rescue expert. She is in Santa Barbara, California. ---Stan Harter, KH6GBX. RB 169 to 173.