It also broadens the circumstances under which any disaster volunteer could receive Workmen’s Compensation benefits and tort immunity in Colorado. While the new law is clear that the unit is comprised of unpaid amateur radio volunteers, it authorizes reimbursement of their reasonable and necessary expenses. In 20, Colorado amateur radio operators played key roles in responding to major disasters in Colorado, including wildfires that destroyed several hundred homes and a 500-year-flood that inundated much of north-central Colorado. Governor John Hickenlooper signed the measure into law on June 6, 2016.Ĭolorado’s General Assembly determined “a uniformly trained and credentialed unit of communication volunteers available for disaster response” would “materially assist emergency preparedness and disaster response efforts across the state.” “While maintaining their traditional roles as Amateur Radio operators, many of these volunteers assist with the establishment and maintenance of communication facilities, assist with programming public safety radios during emergencies, and act as radio operators on public safety channels,” the bill says in its findings.Ĭolorado Section Emergency Coordinator and State Government Liaison Robert Wareham, N0ESQ, an attorney, conceived this law while he met with DHSEM staff after completing the Emergency Communications Division (ECD) Auxiliary Emergency Communications course in 2012. The law implements recommendations in a 2012 FCC report to Congress regarding amateur radio’s role in disasters and emergencies. Peterson, DHS OEC Technical Assistance BranchĬolorado Law Enacted to Codify AUXCOMM Unit:Ī new Colorado law has created an Auxiliary Emergency Communications (AuxComm) Unit within the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM). I’m gathering information from several sources and putting into these sheets.John E. These job sheets are meant to give our members an insight into their job/position during our deployments. This added information is considered GOLD by our emergency managers. Each of our members are trained to use this system and act secondly as Observers for the Situational Status Unit of the Planning Branch. We use special format, borrowed from the fire service, called CAN-P. We’ve created our own AuxComm Team to be deployed during any and all MNVOAD disaster deployments. These will be generic with added locally/position specific information.Īs the ASEC-Liaison for MN ARES, I represent them and am currently the President of our Minnesota VOAD. I’m taking information and creating a statewide job sheet for our MNVOAD AuxComm Team. They are going to be the a single point of failure in that regard too, so I think that just like having a backup NCO it's important to have a backup Winlink operator as well. You can adapt a job description from the proficiency goals outlined in this document: Why do I think a Winlink operator is the 2nd most important? Well because in a way they are an NCO as well, but for digital traffic. Now some may disagree with this and that's OK but I consider the Winlink radio operator to be the 2nd most important position of those mentioned. It is quite possibly the most detailed description I have ever seen for an NCO! Their main website has quite a bit of resource material as well. Chapter 2 describes in great detail what a net control operator does, prerequisite training, etc and then Chapter 3 applies those attributes with basic instructions for running net control. I found this net control station training manual. Hi Ryc, Of all of those, the Net Control position is the most important one to get right.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |