At the last Officers meeting it was mentioned that RACES RICS Form 40 and 80 were not on the web site. Well here they are. These forms are for Certified Net Control Operators use during drills and activations. Of course this post will eventually scroll off the page but you can use the site search box to find this post and thus these forms at a later date.
RACES RICS Form 40
RACES RICS Form 80
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Starting at approximately 12 noon on Sunday September 19, 2010 and continuing for about six hours, volunteers from the Huntington Beach Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), will conduct a yearly drill to demonstrate its ability to provide a backup radio system to dispatch Fire Department resources and maintain communications if the City’s existing two-way radio system fails.
HB RACES Chief Radio Officer Dr. Steve Graboff briefs the volunteer radio operators in preparation for the 9-1-1 drill this coming Sunday, September 19.
Incoming Fire 9-1-1 calls will be handled by RACES communicators and relayed via ham radio to the Fire Operations Center, where the supervising Fire Department officer will assign units to respond to the call. The units will then be dispatched using the ham radio network to the RACES communicators at the stations and riding on the fire apparatus. Status and availability, as well as city-wide tactical communications, will be maintained via RACES Amateur Radio emcomm.
Dr. Steve Graboff, the HB RACES Chief Radio Officer, said, “This is a ‘Shadow’ exercise, in which our group of volunteers work in parallel with the existing radio system. It is important to know this is a practice run, with a simulated shutdown of the existing system. The existing MetroNet system and their operators will continue to receive and dispatch 9-1-1 calls normally.”
In years past, the RACES team has responded with equal or better dispatch times compared to the existing system, and because of this, the fire department has improved their system by modifying dispatch protocol to improve Fire Department response times.
“With communications support from HB RACES, the citizens of Huntington Beach can be assured that the Fire Department will respond to their calls even if the City’s communications systems fail,” Graboff continued.
About Huntington Beach RACES
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, or RACES (pronounced “RAY-sees”) is an all-volunteer Amateur Radio emergency communications group that is part of the Huntington Beach Fire Department Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security. RACES communicators provide their own Amateur Radio equipment in support of emergency communications for the City of Huntington Beach.
For more information on HB RACES, go to www.hbraces.org
For further information contact:
Steven R. Graboff, MD
Huntington Beach Fire Department
RACES Chief Radio Officer
ocbonedoc-at-gmail-dot-com
Wayne Yoshida
Huntington Beach Fire Department
RACES Public Information Officer
310-357-4761
kh6kine-at-earthlink-dot-net
| September 19, 2010 | ||
| 12:00 pm | to | 5:00 pm |
Huntington Beach RACES, (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services), a volunteer emergency communications amateur radio group that is part of the Huntington Beach Fire Department Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, will conduct a yearly communications exercise to demonstrate it’s preparedness to provide the fire department with an independent backup radio system to dispatch resources and maintain solid communications should there be a complete failure of the 800mhz radio system.
Affectionately called the “Shadow Drill,” RACES communicators will setup amateur radio equipment and be stationed at the Huntington Beach Police Department 911 communications center, the Fire Department Operations Center, and at each of the 8 fire stations throughout Huntington Beach. Radio operators will also install temporary amateur radio communications gear on each fire apparatus in the city.
Fire 911 calls will be intercepted at the PD comms center by RACES communicators and relayed via HAM radio to the Fire Operations Center, where the supervising Fire Department officer will assign units to respond to the call. Those units will then be dispatched using HAM radio calls to the RACES communicators at the stations and riding on the fire apparatus. Status and availability, as well as citywide tactical communications, will be maintained via RACES amateur radio emcomm.
Since this is a “Shadow” exercise, MetroNet will continue to dispatch in it’s normal manner. In years past, RACES amateur radio emcomm dispatch has been better or equal to the MetroNet dispatch times, and in fact based on previous RACES Shadow Drill experience, modifications have been made to the actual 800mhz MetroNet dispatch protocol to improve Fire department response times.
RACES communicators are all volunteers who provide their own amateur radio equipment in support of emergency communications for the City of Huntington Beach, and as such, amateur communications (“HAM radio”) will always function even during a complete disruption of telephone and electrical services.
With the emergency communications support from Huntington Beach RACES, the citizens of Huntington Beach can be assured that the Fire Department will be dispatched to their calls even in the event of a catastrophic citywide commercial communications failure.
Technical details of ham radio antennas on fire apparatus: antenna_concerns_-_k5pz_fire_vehicles
For further information contact:
Steven R. Graboff MD
W6GOS
Huntington Beach Fire Department
Chief Radio Officer
ocbonedoc at gmail dot com
| September 13, 2010 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 7:30 pm |
EOC Officer’s meeting. New RACES Fire hat and decal will be available for pickup if you have not already done so. (Remember, the old “orange” city of HB hat is no longer the official uniform hat for HBRACES and you need to have the new hat)
| September 11, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 1:00 pm |
Shadow Drill MANDATORY prep meeting at Gothard station – FDOC parking lot. Talk-in on channel 1. We will discuss all the details for this year’s shadow drill, including assignments and radio protocol. Bring all the gear that you plan to use for the shadow drill. From 0900-1000hrs we will practice on the engine from station 1, and then from 1000-1300hrs you will go to your assigned station/apparatus and install your radio gear to ensure rock-solid communications. Help will be available to you to setup and install your gear.
