> But, the government ISNT supplying communications in this case. That > is the whole problem. They SHOULD be. Not you. Or at least not requiring > volunteers to do a job like that. Yes, its nice if they are available, but > that is a big IF. I think that this is EXACTLY what the Army/Airforce > Reserve and National Guard should be prepared for. Hang the price of > equipment, they have to be trained anyway - train them to operate military > radio equpment. > > Its nice that we are available when something crops up in our neck of the > woods, and can go in and sit at a hospital, police station, etc. But I > think its getting carried away expecting that much help for volunteers, who > themselves may be directly affected by whatever the emergency is. Our > families are important, and they SHOULD be first. Then and only then, am I > available for emergency service elsewhere. > > Danny Douglas N7DC
The DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) concept is an interesting one from which we might extrapolate. http://www.oep-ndms.dhhs.gov/ Staffed by volunteers they train on government equipment, medical and communications, and are paid for required training and during all deployments (when deployed are also covered by Federal insurances). Personal communications equipment is not allowed on deployments. OTOH: The existence of a large and geographically distributed network of radio-equipped Hams, many trained, many with portable gear and home generators is also important. No one can predict where disaster may strike, or if multiple disasters may strike. To be able to temporarily bridge critical communications needs until the "professionals" arrive is valuable. IMHO, YMMV ... 73, doc KD4E Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/