Tragedy comes in unexpected ways, and leaves traces that may never be uncovered or understood. We can only be prepared to the extent we are able to anticipate the details of a hypothetical event, yet inevitably there are scenarios we can’t anticipate. Working backwards, examining an event thoroughly in hindsight will be one of our best tools to being better prepared for the unexpected, which will happen again. Any examination will reveal that radio communications (and their effective use) are almost universally integral to any event. Can you imagine a scenario where timely, accurate, widespread, and effectively used communication is not profoundly important?
We had devastating fires in my hometown recently, and being of the first responder crowd I heard the event unfold in real time. While literally suiting up to respond with my department, I had to start preparing to evacuate my family as the fire’s erratic progression became a threat to my neighborhood. This occurred, like much of this fire’s behavior, quickly and without any meaningful warning. County reverse 911 and other citizen alert programs were not activated, and for many there was no informed escalation of readiness; the only warning some got was a police unit driving down a street announcing “get out now” over the p.a. system. People who were in their home didn’t even hear that. Miraculously there were only 3 deaths among approximately 4,000 effected residences and neighborhoods. This is a testament to the actions of first responders who with limited resources and an infrastructure in cascading failure feverishly worked to stop the fire but often were only left with the option of getting people out of the path. How did this work? They communicated, constantly, efficiently, and with honed skills; this is something that many folks don’t think about until too late. And don’t think it was by cell phones, landlines, and social media; it was 2 meter public service radio that made the difference between life and death for over 40 hours during the primary fire event. There is no substitute for this mode of communication, and it is an acquired skill, not simply picking up a radio in place of a phone.
How you communicate over a radio is a distinct and exclusive use of language. The use of prowords, and radio discipline (also see Radiotelephone Handbook in resource library) are fundamental skills to radio communication. It must be learned, practiced, and trained regularly. And when you’re training, you have to ‘train as you would fight, so you fight as you’ve trained”, not just go through meaningless and habitual radio checks as unfortunately I have encountered in some amateur radio emergency services in my area. If you cannot operate a radio correctly, you have no business using a radio in an emergency as you’re a liability and a detriment to anyone who is depending on you. It’s the same with any tool, like a firearm or a vehicle: if you’re not trained and proficient in its use, you will likely harm others and cause the ‘mission’ to fail with horrible consequences. And folks, it’s not rocket science, but its not optional for a radio operator. So learn it, practice it, train with it, repeat. There is no excuse not to.
After the fires, many people weren’t able to return home due to the closure of the affected area. As agencies worked to account for outstanding missing persons, monitor flare ups, maintain safety and security, and address contingent issues, we still were unable to find reliable sources of information about almost all aspects of the status of our neighborhoods. The county still had no other way of giving public updates than their Emergency Operations Center website. Text alerts from the county were non-existent still, and commercial citizen alert programs were only used by a few municipalities so relevant information was not available to many. Interestingly, local broadcast radio stations had almost no usable information for residents, only vague summary statements at the top of the hour. So much for being community oriented, Jefferson Public Radio, a NPR affiliate station; seems your national programming is more important than local events or disasters. So when it came to immediate and important information to help the public, there was little provided by the powers that be, commercial or governmental. Imagine what important information we don’t get during day to day programming: only what they want us to hear.
I for one, being temporarily displaced, had no regular access to internet, and was sending email updates on my family’s status via Winlink Express from my 2 meter portable station, and later from my HF station. Imagine if more people in the community had a 2 meter radio they could send emails from using a laptop or pad or even a smart phone, hooked up to their radio? They could send reports on their well-being and location to family outside the area to a Winlink station connected to the internet. Even without an internet connected Winlink station as I had access to, a community/individual can set up a radio station to serve as a message store and retrieve center. In lieu of that, a simple net (a meeting of radio operators on air, managed by a net control station, that connects on a predetermined frequency and a predetermined time) can gather and disseminate vital information and maintain community coherence and function in many scenarios. Please grasp the significance of this: a community can communicate among its members without the dependence on any other agency, i.e. solely by our own means, using a technology that is completely self-directed and autonomously maintained. Think of the implications of this simple infrastructure being free of control by outside agencies subject to the myriad corruptions of our fallen world and its powers and principalities, as the failures above exemplify. Think of its growing necessity in our times. Think on this and make a decision to act; acquiring the skills and technology are not difficult but require people of integrity to step up. Everything needed is available now but tomorrow may be a different case.
After some days, I was able to return to our home, and grateful to God for it having been preserved. 0.23 miles away there is complete devastation. Having been prepared for such a situation, we were some of the few who were able to return home early. I have water, food, backup power sources, tools, radios, etc. We would not see potable water for 10 days, no grid electricity for 7. Only a few people were in the neighborhood, and with ongoing arson and emerging incidents of looting, I set up a neighborhood net on a FRS channel. Thankfully I had extra radios to share as the few others in the neighborhood didn’t have any radios whatsoever. (Don’t be that guy!) We were able to monitor our neighborhood from multiple vantage points for bad actors. We maintained our net and neighborhood watch until weeks later when the majority of residents had returned.
Since the fires have ended, in the aftermath we continue to experience tragedies in our community. Missing persons, suicides, looting, more arson, domestic violence, and myriad expressions of inconsolable grief and loss. These are not unique events but are heightened among the consequences of a community that has been so damaged. This is a unique junction between community service as a Minister, Chaplain, church member, etc. and radio communications. The need for pastoral care is as important as it ever, but in our current situation it must be able to adapt to the new context of our recovery needs and issues. Personal and family emergencies require qualified church members who can be mobilized and can communicate in any circumstance and scenario, from helping find a lost elderly grandmother to quickly coming to the aid of members who are experiencing a emotional or psychological emergency. Pastoral care must become more dynamic and responsive, and radios can facilitate that.
The role of a church community first responder has never been more important for communities across the world. While public service agencies are staffed with qualified and de facto heroes, they can’t be everywhere and they can’t provide the pastoral care our communities need. The trauma we’ve experienced requires people who are able to respond in a timely, relevant, and effective manner as spiritual physicians, as counselors, as prayer teams, as volunteers to help get groceries and sundries, to protect the vulnerable and needy as Christ has called us to. In short, we need to be a mobilized and effective body of Christ ready to minister in very immediate terms to the members in our community who are spread out on our reservations and in rural areas, who have a wide array of physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs. This means a fail safe, robust, and effectively used radio infrastructure. Don’t misunderstand, a radio won’t make you a good minister or church member, but it can facilitate you being of far more effective service as one. And right now you are needed. Answer the call.
Sons Of Thunder Signal Corps Ministry 