Volunteer Emergency Communications Service

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Delaware County ARES / RACES
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

• Volunteer Emergency Communications Service
• FCC Licensed Amateur Radio Operators
• Trained in Emergency Protocols
• FEMA Certified ( NIMS, NRP, etc.)
• Assigned to County EMA
• Affiliated with American Radio Relay League
• RACES Affiliation Dept. Of Homeland
  Security

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Mission of Delaware County ARES / RACES
The Delaware County Amateur Radio Emergency
Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency
Service (RACES) are organized units of
FCC-licensed, FEMA-certified volunteer Amateur
Radio operators dedicated to providing an
alternate means of communications
during emergencies or disasters in and around
Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Delaware County
ARES / RACES operates in support of the Emergency
Service infrastructure in Delaware County and in
compliance with operational directives of the
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA),
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
and in coordination with the Eastern Pennsylvania
Section of the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL). Delaware County ARES / RACES provides
communications support at the request of a
served agency such as the American Red Cross or a
qualified public safety service agency. It is not
the responsibility of Delaware County ARES /
RACES to organize, direct or coordinate the
activities of others.
Service, Commitment, Readiness
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Why is ARES / RACES Needed ?

• Failure of Communications Infrastructure
• Weather-related or Natural Disaster
• Chemical, Biological or Nuclear Crisis
• Widespread Emergency Response
• Agency Request (Red Cross, County EMA)
• Public Service Communications Support

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Floods and other Natural Disasters
Weather-related disasters cause widespread
problems requiring activation of ARES / RACES
units. In recent flooding in Bucks County ARES
units manned Red Cross shelters, provided
communications for local governments and set
up radio operations at auxiliary EOCs. They also
provided rover units to monitor river and stream
levels.
Delaware River swamps Yardley, Bucks Co.
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Disruption of Power and Phone Service
ARES units are often activated to relay fire and
ambulance dispatch when 911 service is disrupted
at fire stations. This is a frequent problem in
Chester County.
When wind and ice storms wreak havoc on power
lines, ARES / RACES units are often activated to
provide critical public safety communications.
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Industrial Accidents
Delaware County is heavily industrialized along
the river corridor with oil refineries and power
plants dotting the area. The potential for
accidents requiring evacuation of
large populations is high. ARES / RACES must be
ready to respond to provide any shelters with
communications.
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ARES / RACES Supports Red Cross
ARES / RACES supports Red Cross and victims of
disasters by sending welfare messages
from shelters to family members throughout
America.
ARES / RACES provides communications to support
Red Cross shelters when large populations are
displaced in disasters and other emergencies
involving evacuations.
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ARES / RACES Supports NDMS
The National Disaster Medical System is a
federally coordinated system augmenting the
nations medical response capability. NDMS
operates in support of local and state
authorities in dealing with the medical impact of
natural disasters and other emergencies requiring
a large medical response. ARES / RACES supports
NDMS when requested to supplement communications
capability.
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Emergency Preparedness Communications
Ray Jones KB3NFE of Folsom uses Amateur Radio
to route patient buses to area hospitals during
the 2008 Philadelphia Airport Emergency
Preparedness Exercise. More than 120 patients
were transported to hospitals in Delaware and
Philadelphia counties.
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Supporting Regional and National Agencies
Bob Wilson W3BIG of Folcroft relays a
patient transport status report to the
Philadelphia Airport Operations Manager
during the Airport Emergency Preparedness
Exercise. The federally mandated drill is a
joint exercise testing emergency response
of local, county and federal agencies.
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SKYWARN Supports NWS Forecasting
Delaware County ARES / RACES supports the
National Weather Service by relaying observations
through the SKYWARN net during severe weather
events.
SKYWARN reports are relayed to the NWS office in
Mount Holly, New Jersey where the timely data is
used by staff meteorologists to prepare detailed
and accurate local forecasts.
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Supporting Public Service Events
Joe Ames W3JY radios position reports to
event officials during MS Walk held each year at
Ridley Creek State Park. Delaware County ARES /
RACES supports charities and other agencies
by providing communications for various public
events.
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Mutual Aid to Other ARES / RACES Units
Delaware County ARES / RACES personnel are
sometimes asked to assist sister units in other
counties. To support an important public service
event in Pennsylvanias Endless Mountains, a team
from Delaware County deployed to provide
communications for a sled dog race. The event
provided excellent cold weather training, testing
personnel and equipment performance under severe
conditions.
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Formal Message Traffic Handling
When emergency communicators determine a need for
a record of important messages in a
standard format, they use the ARRL Radio- gram,
in use for more than 50 years. More recently,
ARES / RACES units have started using the ICS-213
form preferred by emergency managers and other
personnel with the federal government. ICS-213 is
the general message form adopted by FEMA and the
Incident Management System.
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ARES / RACES Whats the difference ?

• The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and
• the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)
• are both comprised of Amateur Radio operators
  trained
• in emergency communications. So why are two units
• needed to provide the same type of service?
• Its a function of governmental
  jurisdiction

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Amateur Radio Emergency Service ( ARES )
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service is affiliated
with the American Radio Relay League and provides
communications support to local, county, state
and federal agencies when requested by
government officials. ARES units are supported
at the local level by county emergency management
agencies. Training and organizational structure
is administered by the American Radio
Relay League. Delaware County ARES is part of the
ARRL First District of the Eastern Pennsylvania
Section.
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Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)
RACES was created by the federal government
following the conclusion of World War II. It was
designed to function as an integral part of
local, state and federal Civil Defense
agencies in time of national emergency or
war. This arrangement provides local, state and
federal emergency management officials greater
flexibility and control over Amateur Radio
volunteers. Most volunteers belong to both units.
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ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section
Delaware County ARES is organized under
the Eastern Pennsylvania Section of the
American Radio Relay League. Delaware County is
one of five counties in the First District
comprising the Philadelphia Metro Area.
Leadership at the county level is vested in the
EC or Emergency Coordinator.
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ARES / RACES Resources in Delaware County
LOCAL ASSETS
Personnel Repeaters Field Deployable Communicati
ons RMS Packet (Telpac) Nodes EOC Radio Room
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Delaware County EOC (911 Center)
Located in Middletown Township (Lima), the
Delaware County 911 Center is the focal point for
emergency operations and communications in
Delaware County. Emergency management officials
here at the Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) would request activation of ARES if
an emergency required deployment. ARES / RACES
maintains a sophisticated communications station
here with VHF, UHF, D-Star and HF capability as
well as a telpac node for WINLINK operations.
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ARES / RACES Radio Room at EOC
Communications equipment in the ARES / RACES
radio room at the EOC includes an HF and two
VHF/UHF stations and a dedicated telpac node.
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HF Operations in the EOC Radio Room
Bob Famiglio K3RF of Media contacts a
PEMA radio operator at the agencys headquarters
in the state capital in Harrisburg during a
severe weather drill. The HF station at the
EOC enables ARES / RACES personnel to contact
public safety agencies almost anywhere in the
world.
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VHF / UHF Operations at the EOC
Ray Jones KB3NFE contacts deployed ARES units
in Delaware County via one of two VHF / UHF FM
stations at the EOC. Mobile and field
stations can be directed from the ARES / RACES
radio room at the EOC and reports from deployed
units can be relayed to the 911 Center via
telephone intercoms.
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WINLINK System keeps emails flowing
The WINLINK System enables ARES / RACES operators
to send and receive critical email messages for
agencies when telecommunications have failed or
become overloaded. Amateur Radio frequencies and
systems are used to transmit emails into and out
of disaster areas.
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Benefits of WINLINK to Served Agencies

• Continuation of critical email service
• Transparent operation to end users
• Even when internet is down in disaster sites
  emails can be transmitted into and out of area
  via Amateur Radio digital nodes.
• Very valuable when transmitting patient lists and
  other lengthy data sets.

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Amateur Radio Service
The Amateur Radio Service was created by the
federal government when radio was in its
infancy. The government saw a need for a trained
pool of skilled radio operators to experiment
with technology, to make advances and to assist
with emergency communications. Operators are
skilled technicians and many are broadcast
engineers or former military radio operators.
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Amateur Radio Frequency Spectrum
Amateur Radio operators have at their disposal a
frequency spectrum second in size and scope only
to the U.S. military. For local communication
out to 100 miles, VHF and UHF frequencies are
used. To extend range, Amateur Radio
repeaters provide excellent coverage even
when using hand-held transceivers. For long
distance communication, radios are used on the
high frequency bands known by many as short-wave
radio. Amateurs use many different modes
of operation including FM, SSB, CW, slow and
fast-scan TV, FAX and many digital modes like
packet, Pactor and others.
Amateurs use HF, VHF, UHF and microwave
frequencies
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Technical Expertise is a Requirement
Amateur Radio operators have been advancing
communications technology from the beginning
of the electronic era. Digital protocols in
Amateur Radio messaging were used 20 years before
the internet.
Roger Jordan W4RFJ, a retired Navy Chief
Electronics Technician, serves as a technical
specialist with ARES / RACES.
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ARES / RACES relies on Knowledge
ARES / RACES units must rely on experienced
operators from adjoining counties during joint
operations. In the Philadelphia Airport
Emergency Preparedness Exercise in November of
2008, personnel from Bucks and Philadelphia
counties joined Delaware County to make the drill
a major success. Charlye Johnson K3CJ of
Philadelphia used his extensive knowledge of the
city to help direct patient buses to hospitals in
Center City.
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Experience and training make the difference
ARES / RACES personnel are not only FCC-licensed
Amateur Radio operators but they are required to
be certified in the same emergency
management protocols as county, state and federal
public safety employees. Frequent drills and
training keep skill levels of personnel high.
The ARRL requires ARES members to complete
comprehensive training in communications
for emergency operations.
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ARES Uses Resource-based Planning
During the Philadelphia Airport Emergency
Preparedness Drill Amateur Radio repeater
systems were selected for use in routing patients
to area hospitals based on their proximity to
routes and for their coverage from the base of
operations at Tinicum FD. Much of the success of
the exercise communications was due to
availability of repeaters. Resource-based
planning is crucial in communications management.
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Teamwork is ARES / RACES Protocol
No man is an island and that philosophy is second
nature to units involved in public safety
communications. Although some ARES and RACES
personnel deploy individually to emergency sites,
they are reinforced as soon as possible. Teamwork
is crucial.
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Experienced and Well-equipped
Amateur Radio operators use a wide array of
specialized communications equipment to send
messages locally or over great distances (around
the world).
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Just the facts
The logo at the right says it all. ARES /
RACES personnel are trained to relay information
for public service agencies. They dont
speculate or editorialize. They pass only facts
and never add to confusion by spreading rumors or
unsubstantiated information. Credibility
and trust are part of the creed of emergency
communicators.
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Amateur Radio Equipment is Versatile
Transceivers used by ARES and RACES operators
are rugged, dependable and more capable than
those used by typical public safety agencies. The
military-grade unit shown is powered from 12 VDC
batteries and can operate on all HF bands as well
as VHF and UHF. Power output can be adjusted
from 5 to 100 watts. All modes are possible
including FM voice, SSB, CW and digital data.
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ARES / RACES Alternative Power
ARES / RACES operators are skilled in using
alternative power systems when they deploy in the
field and to disaster sites where commercial
power systems have failed.
Solar arrays charging batteries
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Antennas Must be Compact and Rugged
Antennas used in emergency communications must
be versatile, compact and reliable. Rapid
deployment is critical and operators must be
practiced in speedy installation of HF, VHF and
UHF antenna systems. The HF antenna shown
is useable from 3.5 to 30 Mhz.
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Specialized Communication Techniques
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Airport Exercise PHL EPEX 2008
This exercise, held every three years, is one of
the most important examples of cooperation
between local hospitals, emergency services
personnel and ARES / RACES. Bob Famiglio
K3RF served as liaison between Airport Management
and ARES communications and was stationed in
the Ramp Control Tower at the airport.
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PHL EPEX Transport Communications
ARES / RACES was tasked with providing
communications for coordinating the transport of
patients from the simulated disaster site to area
hospitals. The value of Amateur Radio was
affirmed during this drill when bus managers
could not contact drivers using cellular phones
or the Nextel system. ARES dispatchers
provided seamless communication from the base of
operations near the airport to all buses.
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ARES / RACES Serves Local Hospitals
Delaware County ARES is dedicated to serving six
hospitals located in the county.
Crozer-Chester Hospital Del. Co. Memorial
Hospital Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital Riddle
Memorial Hospital Springfield Hospital Taylor
Hospital
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ARES / RACES Services for Hospitals

• Transmitting patient data from disaster triage
  sites
• Coordinating patient transport from disaster
  sites
• Providing alternate means of EMT / hospital
  communications during infrastructure failure
• Providing WINLINK email service during local
  internet failure (critical high-priority
  emergency messages)
• Providing auxiliary transport coordination for
  medical staffs during severe weather events

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How Hospitals Can Support ARES / RACES

• Hosting Amateur Radio repeater installations
• Installing VHF / UHF FM transceivers and antennas
  to facilitate emergency communication from
  hospital to disaster sites
• Hosting Telpac nodes for WINLINK capability
• Participating in emergency communications drills

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How RMS Packet (Telpac) Nodes Can Benefit
Hospitals
Telpac nodes are specialized Amateur Radio
communications stations enabling ARES / RACES
operators deployed in the field to transmit and
receive email messages from disaster sites
or other locations lacking internet access. A
Telpac node consists of an FM transceiver, an
antenna, a power supply, a Terminal Node
Controller (TNC) a PC with cable modem and local
internet connection. By locating Telpac nodes at
hospitals, patient data lists can be sent from
the field via Amateur Radio directly to medical
facilities. Staff at hospitals can receive the
data in emails without the need for a radio
operator to be stationed at the medical facility.