Nationwide SET set for Saturday
Published 8:21 pm Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Chuck Stouse, W4TDE is at the radio console and Michael Henry, Georgiana Hospital maintenance staffer looks on. These radios have been installed as part of the Alabama Hospital Association’s initiative to provide backup communications at all Alabama hospitals in the event of a breakdown in normal lines of communications (telephone, cell phone, internet, etc.).
The Jim Bell Wireless Association will participate in a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Saturday, Oct. 2.
The SET is a nationwide exercise that will actively involve members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, the ARRL National Traffic System and other related groups that prepare for and respond to emergencies.
The Jim Bell Wireless Association is comprised of licensed Amateur Radio Operators from Butler, Lowndes and Crenshaw Counties, many of whom are members of ARES and have been trained and certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide radio communications assistance in times of local, state or national emergencies.
The Oct. 2 drill is to test inter and intra-state Amateur Radio communications, foster cooperation and coordination between Amateur Radio communicators in Alabama, Georgia, and North Florida in the event of a large scale disaster, and, on a local level, to test the ability for ARES to establish communications to support local needs and pass necessary message traffic between the local Emergency Operations Center and the State EOC at Clanton.
For more information contact Chuck Stouse, W4TDE, Butler County Emergency Coordinator, at 376-0612; Bob Luman, W4MPQ, Butler County EMA Director, at 382-7911; or Club President Bob Glasscock, WA4WLI at 382-8265.
