Backing up Emergency Radio Communications

Today's radio communication systems are reliable marvels of modern technology. However, being technology, they are subject to failure. What do you do when the answer to "Can you here me now?" is "No"?

Whether you work with a rural agency the is using a Very High Frequency, VHF, simplex system (direct point to point communications without repeaters), or are in a city with an 800 MHz digital trunked system, you have to be able to work when your radio system does not. Many departments have back-up communication systems that seamlessly switch over if there is a failure; other systems have to be manually changed over, and many have no back-up at all.

System-Wide Failures

First you have to identify if there is a problem with the communications system at all. If there is no radio traffic going on, is there a problem with the system or is it just a slow shift? If your radio transmissions to headquarters/dispatch go unacknowledged and other units are saying they hear you, there is a good chance that it is dispatch with the problem, and not your unit. Hopefully, you or another officer can just call dispatch on your mobile phone and advise them that there is a radio problem. But, what if you are in a rural area and there is no mobile phone service available? You may then have to find a public pay phone, if they still exist, or ask to use the phone of a business to call in.

Once it has been established that it is dispatch and/or a system-wide failure, it is time to activate your back-up plan. If your agency does not a contingency plan, now would be a good time to start drafting one.

Some options to consider: if your radios are multi-channel, have your surrounding agencies' frequencies programmed into them. Both agencies' radios need to be on the same band, such as VHF or UHF. Then, during an outage, you can use that agency's channel to operate on. This option works best with smaller agencies, as it would be difficult for two large departments to share a frequency for an extended period of time. Radio coverage would have to be evaluated beforehand to verify that it would be adequate in time of need. It is suggested that this solution needs at least two separate dispatch consoles or radios. The rationale is that if one of the radio consoles fails, then all channels on the console may not work.

Before this option is put into operation, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) should be signed off by all agencies involved. The MOU should state that each participant grants the others the right to use their radio frequencies and communications system at time of need, and that all radio logging records can be shared. But what if this option does not work for you, because the surrounding departments' communication systems are too old, too new, or just not compatible? Now is the time to find out.

Another possible point of failure in communications systems is the infrastructure that supports it. This would include radio towers, back-up generators, telephone lines, etc. It is possible that all of your communications systems are functioning, but something outside of your control is affected. An example would be if your transmitting tower is not at the same location as your dispatch center. If the radio messages are carried over a telephone line to the transmission tower, and a telephone pole gets knocked down from a car accident or windstorm, your communications can be disrupted. Also, if a backup generator fails to start or runs out of fuel at the dispatch center or a remote radio site, it could impact your system. This happened with Hurricane Katrina. Radio towers were left standing intact, but when their emergency generators ran out of fuel and could not be refilled, the communications system failed.

Another solution would be the use of volunteer amateur radio operators, commonly referred to as Hams. These licensed radio operators belong to organizations such as Radio Amateurs Civil Emergency Service (RACES), or Amateur Radio in Emergency Service (ARES). They are radio operators trained in emergency operations, and very important and self-sustaining in an emergency. They have their own radios--handheld, mobile, and base stations, as well as their own radio towers. They conduct exercises year-round to simulate actual emergency condition, such as raising temporary radio towers and then powering their radios with generators.

Recently the State of New Jersey, Office of Emergency Management, in conjunction with the New Jersey State Police conducted a Simulated Emergency Test, SET. This exercise had amateur radio operators at their local Emergency Operation Centers (EOC), sending simulated emergency messages through the State of New Jersey.

Michael Adams, Coordinator of the Ramsey, NJ Office of Emergency Management and Emergency Coordinator for Bergen County, NJ RACES and ARES stated, "Exercises like this prove the value of amateur radio. On September, 11th, with Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami in Asia, amateur radio was only means of communications that worked each time."

As you can see, there are several options that can be considered to keep your communications system up and running during your daily operations or during an emergency. The point is to plan ahead and to test your plan before your communications system goes down. During an emergency, you don't want to be asking "Can you hear me now?"