Northern Ireland WAB Committee Member helps rescue injured motorcyclist in Wales On 30th June, WAB Committee Member, Esther Harper, GI0AZA was engaged in a Worked All Britain activation of a rare square in Northern Ireland on 40m, when she picked up a 'Mayday' call from Richard Haynes, MW6RBH/M. He had come across an injured motorcyclist in an area of North Wales where there was no mobile phone signal. Esther called 999 and asked for air ambulance Wales - which she says is a bit odd for their 999 in NI! They put her through and she gave them the grid reference. The operator said she had never had this before. Esther had to go back and get nearest town details from Richard and when the air ambulance control heard her talking to him, they realised that this was genuine. The air ambulance was dispatched, and the motorcyclist lifted out. This truly was in the spirit of the WAB motto “To assist others”. http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/july/wab-committee-member-receives-mayday-call.htm
Congratulations to radio operators Esther Harper GI0AZA and Richard Haynes MW6RBH for bringing in the helicopter rescue! HF ham operators and NVIS work
Anyone remember when, in the USA, amateur radio was the amateur radio service? We desperately need to get back to this mindset. As a once EC/AEC in one of Florida's most populated regions, no question that voluntarism is....ah....."diminishing" rapidly. Great job Esther & Richard!
But remember, hams only ever interfere with emergency response and get in the way, and no emergency professional wants anything to do with hams. /TehZed
Ye Yes I remember...a different time...a different world...a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. The sad thing is that I don't think the recent generations understand the concept of service.
All the FCC allocations are called "Services". FRS - Family Radio Service. GMRS - General Mobile Radio Service. MURS - Multi-Use Radio Service. And the Amateur Radio Service. This has NOTHING to do with volunteering or serving. Because the word "service" exists in the FCC's naming is no different then your local utility providing electrical "service" at your "service" panel. It's a noun, not a verb. It's great that people DO serve, but it's not part of the FCC's mandate.
