2019 Training Archive
- Winter Field Day
- FEMA EMI Courses active again
- 23rd Annual Severe Weather Symposium March 28 2019
- CDP Online HazMat Courses
- Nuclear and Radiological Events
- ARRL EC-001 course is back
- DHS AUXCOMM Course Hamvention week
- Open Culture Online Courses
- EMCOMM at Hamvention
- Red Cross Training 13-16 June 19
- ARES Connect
- Psychological First Aid Courses
- NIMS Update for Non-Profits
- ARES Task Books
- Vigilant Guard 2019
- Vigilant Guard/ Ohio Military Reserve
- EPIC
- Private Go Kit
- Disaster Donations
- Emergency Kit on a Budget
- ARRL HQ Emergency Manager
- NECP Webinars
- Great ShakeOut 2019
- FEMA Releases 4th ED of the NRF
- Check Your Credentials
1. Winter Field Day
Have you ever heard of Winter Field Day? Every January the Winter Field Day Association sponsors this event, which attempts to accomplish in winter what the June Field Day does each summer.
The 2019 Winter Field Day will begin on Saturday, January 26th at 1900 UTC, or 2 PM EST. It concludes 24 hours later on Sunday, January 27th. Setup may begin at 1900 UTC on Friday, January 25th.
Winter Field Day rules are a little different than summer. There are only three categories of station – Indoor, Outdoor and Home. The complete list of rules and other files are located at www.winterfieldday.com .
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
2. FEMA EMI Courses active again
For any Ohio District 3 ARES members who have been working on FEMA Emergency Management Institute Independent Study courses, the school has reopened for at least three weeks. They are rapidly catching up on their course completion certificate backlog, and you can safely submit course exams for credit again at training.fema.gov .
Some of January’s EMI residential courses have been cancelled due to the shutdown, while others are postponed until later in the year.
A second shutdown in just over two weeks is still a strong possibility, so I recommend that any hams who haven’t completed IS-100, 200, 700 and 800 use the time we’re spending indoors this winter to wrap those courses up. And don’t forget to share your course completion certificates with your County EC, District EC and with the Section EC at arrl.volunteerhub.com Our SEC takes this training seriously, and I doubt if that will change anytime soon.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
3. 23rd Annual Severe Weather Symposium March 28 2019
Each year I give a free plug on this net to the Ohio State Meteorology Club’s severe weather symposium. So why should 2019 be any different?
The 23rd Annual Severe Weather Symposium is now scheduled for Thursday, March 28th, 2019 in the US Bank Conference Theater at the Ohio Union, 1739 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio. Historically this event has been held on a Friday, and the club apologizes in advance to anyone upset by the break in tradition.
This free event runs from 9 AM through 5 PM and always features interesting speakers on a variety of severe weather topics. Past presenters have included well-known broadcast meteorologists, important weather researchers and National Weather Service staffers from Wilmington, Cleveland, Indianapolis, etc.
This symposium is not a substitute for either your local SkyWarn training or the regional advanced SkyWarn training in Cincinnati this year. But if you just can’t get enough severe weather then this event is for you. For further information, including registration, go to http://u.ous.edu/metclub/ .
4. CDP Online HazMat Courses
Greetings once again from Clark County, Ohio, currently celebrating 13 days without a tornado!
We haven’t mentioned FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama for some time now. The Center is the home of many residential disaster training courses, and a few that are taught away from Anniston.
Beginning on November 2, 2018 the CDP added four online courses to its catalog. Two of these free programs should interest many ARES members.
First, Hazardous Materials Awareness (AWR-358-dl) is required for anyone working at the scene of a HazMat incident. Ohio firefighters and members of law enforcement generally receive this as part of their initial training, but the rest of us may have trouble finding an opportunity to obtain it.
Next, the CDP offers a Hazardous Materials Refresher (AWR-358-dl-R) as an annual reminder of the important points of the awareness class.
Using your FEMA Student ID number, you may register for either of these at https://cdp.dhs.gov/ under Online Training. Your FEMA SID number may also be obtained here under the headline Apply for Training.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
5. Nuclear and Radiological Events
Greetings once again from Clark County, Ohio, which is now celebrating 20 consecutive days without a tornado!
This morning the West Central Ohio Regional Public Health Departments conducted a half day exercise, Nuclear Winter Blues, designed to prepare these agencies to handle a major radiological emergency. Just as this exercise wrapped up the federal Center for Disease Control offered a one hour webinar called “Communication for a Nuclear or Radiological Disaster”. And yesterday the Federal Emergency Management Agency released a PrepTalk entitled “Saving Lives after a Nuclear Detonation”.
These agencies have had relatively little to say about radiological events for several decades. Now the issues are back on the minds of these responders.
Amateur radio operators are required to learn some physics in order to pass their license exams. Since radiological events can impact ARES activities far more than many other emergencies, perhaps we should begin to study the area of physics involving radiological issues a little more than we have in the past few decades.
Do the members of this net have any thoughts one way or another along those lines?
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
6. ARRL EC-001 course is back
I bring you greetings on this Ash Wednesday from Clark County, today celebrating 27 consecutive days without a tornado!
Last year the American Radio Relay League was forced to temporarily withdraw its online Introduction to Emergency Communications course (EC-001) when their host learning platform abruptly shut down. A replacement platform has been found, and registrations are again being taken for 2019 offerings of an updated edition of this course.
The first session is scheduled to begin on April 1st and conclude on May 31st, with three more sessions scheduled for later this year. Registration is open for all, and names are being taken for additional offerings of the course if needed.
To check out or register for EC-001, go to http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration .
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
7. DHS AUXCOMM Course Hamvention week
I bring you greetings from Clark County, Ohio, celebrating 72 consecutive hours without a tornado! Fun factoid – as of Wednesday morning far more tornadoes have struck Clark County this year (4) than the entire states of Kansas and Oklahoma combined (0)! But they should catch up any time now.
Once again the US Department of Homeland Security is offering its Auxiliary Communications, or AUXCOMM course immediately prior to Hamvention. It will be held May 14-16 at the Beavercreek, Ohio Courtyard by Marriott.
AUXCOMM teaches radio amateurs the skills needed to integrate into the National Incident Management System, or NIMS. About 2500 hams have completed this three day course.
There are several prerequisites, and they must be completed and submitted for DHS review prior to the May 1st cutoff date for this session. For more information, go to: https://hamvention.org/auxcomm/%20
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
8. Open Culture Online Courses
I bring you greetings from Clark County, Ohio, celebrating 10 consecutive days without a tornado! Fingers crossed!
Several years ago I mentioned a website, www.openculture.com , featuring 650 free courses. That site has since grown to 1300 free courses, some of which should be of interest to ARES members.
For example, there are now thirteen online textbooks listed here for electrical engineering, as well as a large number of ebooks on that subject. In the area of computers there are an additional thirty online textbooks featuring various computer languages and topics. The authors represent many different colleges and universities.
If you get a chance to look over any of these selections, how about sharing your impressions of these with us here on the net.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
9. EMCOMM at Hamvention
Greetings again from Clark County, Ohio celebrating 24 days without a tornado!
Well, it’s May and a young amateur’s fancy turns to thoughts of Hamvention. If you are planning to attend, the very first thing to do is put together a shopping list. Hamvention always features some of the lowest prices in the amateur radio world, so why pay full retail for the contents of your go kit!
Many organizations are bringing their communications vehicles and trailers to Xenia for the EMCOMM EXPO, so look them over for ideas to improve your own mobile ARES setups.
There are nearly half a dozen forums scheduled for EMCOMM related topics. Friday features a presentation on Department of Homeland Security Shared Resources, or SHARES. Another program on DHS EMCOMM training begins at noon.
On Saturday the Salvation Army discusses their SATERN ham program.
Sunday morning’s forums include one entitled Tornado Alert, about storm detection technologies.
I’m scheduled to spend much of Hamvention manning a booth in the tents. Perhaps I’ll see you there.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
10. Red Cross Training 13-16 June 19
I bring you greetings from Clark County, Ohio, celebrating Hamvention week and one month without a tornado.
Many ARES members on tonight’s net are also enrolled as local American Red Cross volunteers. Those who choose to work in Disaster Services Technology will soon have a rare training opportunity.
This year’s ARC Indiana Regional Training Institute will be held June 13-16 at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana. Huntington is just a few miles from Fort Wayne in the northwestern part of the state.
On Friday, June 14th the institute will offer the five workshops that constitute DST101. This all day series prepares Red Cross staff to work incidents as members of Disaster Services Technology – the communications and computer component of Red Cross disaster response.
Those interested in learning more about this and other institute opportunities should contact their American Red Cross Disaster Program Specialist in either Dayton or Troy, as appropriate.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
11. ARES Connect
Greetings from Clark County, Ohio, with either two days or seven weeks without a tornado, depending on the outcome of two possible National Weather Service surveys in Pike Township. Either way, Clark County clearly got off lucky this Memorial Day.
The Memorial Day Edition of the Ohio Section Journal went into some detail about why all of us should register on the ARES Connect site. Over the years ARES members have gotten used to their county Emergency Coordinators and Section Emergency Coordinators submitting reports to track our ARES volunteer hours. In District 3 161 members are registered on ARES Connect and hopefully most of these are already submitting their volunteer hours directly. I submit my time checked in to various weekly ARES nets, and am scheduled to add several hours tomorrow for storm damage assessment.
To register on the Ohio ARES Connect site, go through this portal: https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/oh/
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
12. Psychological First Aid Courses
I spent the last two days participating in a National Academy of Medicine disaster workshop, and learned a few things that apply to our recent severe weather event. With thousands of Miami Valley residents impacted by the Memorial Day tornado outbreak, an epidemic of mental illness is likely to emerge soon.
Illnesses such as depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD may soon emerge in the affected areas. Psychologists estimate that 30 to 40% of the population and 10 to 20% of the responders may be involved There is something simple that ARES members can do to assist the mental health community in addressing these problems. We can take Psychological First Aid (PFA) training.
Your American Red Cross disaster staff in Dayton or Troy may be able to arrange an instructor led Red Cross PFA course. This Disaster Services class should be offered at no cost.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has an online 6 hour PFA course. It is free at present, but that may change at any time. Go to https://learn.nctsn.org/ , then click the Psychological First Aid link.
The World Health Organization offers a free PFA guide for download. Go to Psychological first aid: Guide for field workers
The Veterans Administration offers a similar guide at https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/psych_firstaid_manual.asp
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
13. NIMS Update for Non-Profits
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking comments on an update to the National Incident Management System Implementation Fact Sheet for Nonprofit Organizations. This 2019 update to the 2006 edition should be of interest to many ARES members, as it applies to incorporated ham clubs and non-governmental organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
All interested parties have until 5PM EDT on July 12 to submit comments on this document. The web address to view the Fact Sheet and its associated comment form is https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/180127
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
14. ARES Task Books
Some of you already know that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has published task books for people seeking certification as Communication Technicians (COM-T) and Communications Leaders (COM-L) under the Incident Command System.
Well, the American Radio Relay League has now produced an ARES Standardized Training Plan Task Book to certify ARES members. It lists optional and required training and experiences at the three current levels of ARES membership.
Two versions of the task book is now available for download on the ARRL website. For your copy, go to www.arrl.org/ares .
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
15. Vigilant Guard 2019
Between Monday, August 5th and Thursday, August 8th the U.S. Northern Command and the National Guard Bureau will be conducting Vigilant Guard 2019. Vigilant Guard is a major military and civilian exercise covering multiple states and territories. In Ohio eleven counties are involved, including Clark and Greene within ARES District 3. This cybersecurity related exercise will involve ninety local, state and federal agencies overall.
Individuals not activated as a part of Vigilant Guard 2019 may still notice unusual troop movements, including vehicles and aircraft. Radio scanner listeners will hear traffic on rarely heard frequencies and talk groups.
Every agency will be testing some aspect of their emergency plans. For example, Clark County will open its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Monday and Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, it will activate a Point of Distribution (PoD) center at the Clark County Fairgrounds.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
16. Vigilant Guard/ Ohio Military Reserve
Last week I mentioned that Vigilant Guard 2019 would take place between Monday and Thursday of this week. This multi-state cybersecurity exercise involves hundreds of Adjutant General and Emergency Management staff in Ohio alone.
Did you notice anything unusual on any ham bands this week? Ohio Military Reserve personnel were active on HF, VHF and UHF frequencies, as well as several rarely used MARCS radio talk groups. I didn’t get much chance to listen in, as I was part of the exercise, but I know that 146.55 MHz FM simplex was used, with a 440 MHz FM simplex frequency as backup.
Most folks know little about the Ohio Military Reserve ( www.ohmr.ohio.gov ). It’s an actual component of the Ohio Adjutant General’s Department, along with the smaller, more obscure Ohio Naval Militia ( www.navalmilitia.ohio.gov ). Both are all volunteer units that can be activated at the Governor’s request, and both seek to recruit adults below retirement age.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
17. EPIC
This afternoon I participated in a webinar sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emergency Partners Information Connection, or EPIC. The topic, Disasters – Keeping Volunteers, Workers and Responders Safe, is relevant to ARES assignments and other public events.
While all responses are supposed to have a person designated as the Safety Officer, it is important that everyone consider safety at an incident to be their responsibility.
To consider a recent example, I know of one recent tornado responder who needed a tetanus shot because, while looking at his computer tablet for damage assessment purposes, he stepped on a board with nails facing up instead of watching where he placed his feet! If you responded to any of the tornado locations, did you consider that large amounts of fiberglass and asbestos were blowing around those neighborhoods for weeks after Memorial Day?
Anyway, this webinar points out many things to consider about responder safety, including online resources and additional safety training available. This one hour program should be available in about a week at the EPIC website: https://emergency.cdc.gov/epic
18. Private Go Kit
Many of us have an amateur radio go kit ready for local emergencies, but how many of you also have a second go kit with the personal items that you might need for a week or so?
One of my strongest disaster memories was of the North Dakota police officer who dropped everything to respond to a flood halfway across his state. He arrived with three sets of underwear, only to discover that the loss of the city water supply meant that there was no hot water available to launder the two sets he wasn’t wearing. That was fine for the first week, but he was there for several. On top of that, the town was evacuated and there were no stores open to buy more. When I met him during week two he was already pretty unhappy. The overtime he earned did not make up for the chafing he experienced.
Pack your private go kit with all the socks and undies you might need, as well as protein bars, peanut butter jars, snacks, heater meals, all meds you need, water purifiers, a space blanket, etc. While disaster operations work hard to get food and clean water to everyone, it sometimes takes several days to organize that.
And keep your eye on Florida this weekend. Things are about to, if you’ll pardon the expression, go south there in a hurry with the approach of a major hurricane.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV.
19. Disaster Donations
Many hams are currently working some aspect of Hurricane Dorian. If you are unable to help directly, consider donating financially to one of the many legitimate charities shifting funds to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the southeast coast of the United States.
The American Red Cross and its worldwide partners are helping in all of the areas mentioned. You can make payments through their websites or via your local Red Cross offices. Many religious organizations are sending resources as well.
Veterans may not be aware that some veterans organizations have disaster funds to assist members and posts that suffer disaster losses. For example, this week I donated to the American Legion disaster fund.
This list just scratches the surface. But before you donate to an organization check them out through Charity Navigator. Fake charities love to chose names similar to their legitimate cousins.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
20. Emergency Kit on a Budget
Throughout the month of September, which is National Preparedness Month, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency Facebook page has been running a series of articles entitled Building a Kit $1 at a Time – Building an Emergency Preparedness Kit on a Budget.
Many ARES members, including yours truly, now have fixed incomes, so this series has some validity for us. Actually, some of the advice given is valid for everyone, so if you have access to Facebook take a look at the Ohio EMA page entries for September. You might even consider liking their page to receive future notices from them.
(Update: These articles are also available on the OEMA website:
Week 1 (Sept. 1-7) Hygiene
Week 2 (Sept. 8-14) Nutrition
Week 3 (Sept. 15-21) Emergency/Communications Planning
Week 4 (Sept. 22-28) All-Hazards Preparedness
The linked articles are downloadable PDF files)
On a related note, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention will present an EPIC webinar on the 2019 National Preparedness Month. It is scheduled for Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 1 PM EDT. For more information, go to https://emergency.cdc.gov/epic/
By the way, if you can’t join the webinar live, it is generally available on the EPIC site roughly one week later.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
21. ARRL HQ Emergency Manager
The American Radio Relay League is seeking an Emergency Management Director to lead a small staff at the Newington, Connecticut headquarters.
The ideal candidate will have a bachelors degree in emergency management, ten years experience and a General Class or higher Federal Communications Commission Amateur Radio Service license.
Other desired items include Department of Homeland Security credentials as a Communications Unit Leader and/or Communications Unit Technician. Additional credentials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the International Association of Emergency Managers are a plus.
To look into ARRL positions, go to: www.arrl.org/employment-opportunities
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
22. NECP Webinars
The Department of Homeland Security‘s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, has released the October 2019 update to the National Emergency Communications Plan, or NECP. For more information on this current plan, go to www.cisa.gov/necp
The CISA has scheduled three webinars regarding this plan. The first was this afternoon, and there were many hams among the 225 participants. The remaining two webinars are Tuesday, October 8th at 4 PM EDT and Wednesday, October 9th at 11 AM EDT. Each covers the same material and lasts under one hour. You must install Adobe Connect on your computer prior to joining a webinar, so allow fifteen minutes or so for that.
The link to the webinar video is Adobe Connect Login
For the webinar audio, call 800-381-7839 and answer the operator‘s name and affiliated agency questions.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
23. Great ShakeOut 2019
Tomorrow morning, October 17th at 10:17 AM local time, the annual Great ShakeOut earthquake drill will take place. Individuals, families, companies, schools and organizations such as ARES elements may register to participate at https://www.shakeout.org Also, those registered may chose to conduct their earthquake drills at other dates and times.
Some District 3 ARES members may be surprised to discover that the two most damaging earthquakes centered in Ohio occurred within the district. Anna in Shelby County suffered moderate damage from two quakes a week apart in March of 1937. St. Marys experienced another damaging quake in 1986. This area is known as the Western Ohio Seismic Zone.
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
24. FEMA Releases 4th ED of the NRF
The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently released the Fourth Edition of the National Response Framework. The NRF is the overall plan federal authorities use to respond to incidents such as aircraft accidents and wildfires.
Some additional resources will also be updated to support the NRF. To view or download copies of these items, visit National Preparedness Resource Library | FEMA.gov
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
25. Check Your Credentials
As we approach year‘s end, Montgomery County ARES training last night reminded me that it‘s a good idea to look over your credentials to see if any are expiring soon.
My FCC licenses, driver‘s license, ARES ID and most others are OK, but my Clark County Emergency Management Agency identification expires on December 31st!
I have two weeks to go, but most of the Clark County EMA employees will be on vacation until after New Year‘s Day. So I may enter 2020 without a valid EMA ID.
As a reminder, winter may present some fine opportunities to complete any FEMA Independent Study courses that you have postponed due to lack of time. To find any desired IS courses, visit http://training.fema.gov/is
Submitted by Michael Schulsinger, N8QHV
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