09-10-2001, 05:43 PM
KD5KUF (kd5kuf@arrl.net) writes "Have you ever been listening to your 2 meter or 70 cm radio and heard the storm spotters and chasers reporting in, with their eyewitness accounts of tornados and severe weather? Did it make you want to hide in the cellar, or go see for yourself? If you are the type that is going to be out there anyway, you can do your community and area a great service by becoming a weather spotter. I am assuming you are new to ham radio and are not sure how to get into this dangerous but rewarding aspect of Amateur Radio.
Please don't go out there without first signing up with your local Emergency Management Operations Center or local SkyWarn or A.R.E.S. group. They need to know who you are and where you are at all times during an emergency, which means you need to learn to know where you are, at all times, so you can report your exact location. If you don't kow who to talk to about singing up, ask the net control operators of your local repeater nets for assistance in contacting the right people. You might be amazed how happy they will be to help you get in touch. You will be encouraged to participate in training, in how to recognize what you are seeing and how to accurately report it. Also what to do in the event your life is in danger because you are in the danger path.
If you are thinking about it from the standpoint of it being adventure and fun and games, please don't join. You are more likely to be one of the casualties or cause one. But if awareness of the danger to yourself and others, and an ability to keep safety first in your mind is your main priority, you are very much needed in any part of the country where severe weather and other natural disasters occur frequently.
Be aware that as a ham in an emergency situation, for example a car wreck or tornado touch down point, your first priority is to report the situation and get help on the way. (Using the words "Break Break" or "Mayday" on ham frequencies to signify an emergency and to get help.) Maintain contact, even in life threatening circumstances. Remember you are a licensed communicator that must keep the lines of communications open. NOT be the hero that tries to save everybody's life singlehandedly. (Unless you are a trained EMT or Rescue person also.) And that teenager with a cell phone can't take over your responsibility, he or she is probably too shook up to even tell authorities how to get there. And the saddest thing to hear over a scanner is the ambulance or police saying, "can you get us better directions, I can' t find the place I'm supposed to go to!", and there is no one in contact to ask, for those extra directions. Life saving seconds and minutes can be lost when the communicator stops communicating.
When the proper emergency personnel arrive, be available to answer questions and offer your assistance in directing traffic or trying to disperse the onlookers (politely, you are not a cop). But also be prepared to leave the scene upon being ordered to, even though your efforts may seem to be unwanted and unrewarded. They are not ungrateful, just trying to deal with a bad situation and probably don't know who you are or why you're there. But remember that the good you do will come around back to you. And that your fellow hams heard and know that here is a HAM that we can depend on when the chips are down. And we will be proud to call you one of our own!
73, and keep looking up. Joe KD5KUF"
Please don't go out there without first signing up with your local Emergency Management Operations Center or local SkyWarn or A.R.E.S. group. They need to know who you are and where you are at all times during an emergency, which means you need to learn to know where you are, at all times, so you can report your exact location. If you don't kow who to talk to about singing up, ask the net control operators of your local repeater nets for assistance in contacting the right people. You might be amazed how happy they will be to help you get in touch. You will be encouraged to participate in training, in how to recognize what you are seeing and how to accurately report it. Also what to do in the event your life is in danger because you are in the danger path.
If you are thinking about it from the standpoint of it being adventure and fun and games, please don't join. You are more likely to be one of the casualties or cause one. But if awareness of the danger to yourself and others, and an ability to keep safety first in your mind is your main priority, you are very much needed in any part of the country where severe weather and other natural disasters occur frequently.
Be aware that as a ham in an emergency situation, for example a car wreck or tornado touch down point, your first priority is to report the situation and get help on the way. (Using the words "Break Break" or "Mayday" on ham frequencies to signify an emergency and to get help.) Maintain contact, even in life threatening circumstances. Remember you are a licensed communicator that must keep the lines of communications open. NOT be the hero that tries to save everybody's life singlehandedly. (Unless you are a trained EMT or Rescue person also.) And that teenager with a cell phone can't take over your responsibility, he or she is probably too shook up to even tell authorities how to get there. And the saddest thing to hear over a scanner is the ambulance or police saying, "can you get us better directions, I can' t find the place I'm supposed to go to!", and there is no one in contact to ask, for those extra directions. Life saving seconds and minutes can be lost when the communicator stops communicating.
When the proper emergency personnel arrive, be available to answer questions and offer your assistance in directing traffic or trying to disperse the onlookers (politely, you are not a cop). But also be prepared to leave the scene upon being ordered to, even though your efforts may seem to be unwanted and unrewarded. They are not ungrateful, just trying to deal with a bad situation and probably don't know who you are or why you're there. But remember that the good you do will come around back to you. And that your fellow hams heard and know that here is a HAM that we can depend on when the chips are down. And we will be proud to call you one of our own!
73, and keep looking up. Joe KD5KUF"