This is Not a Drill

Jerry Wellman, W7SAR

During the EmComm05 gathering in Reno earlier this year, one presenter discussed the impact on volunteers with regard to how many “events” we can tolerate a year. His advice was to limit events to four a year so as to not burn out your people. I’ve been burned out this year — and the year is not yet over. I do have one observation. I prefer the unplanned emergency to the planned emergency!

It all began with EmComm05. A couple of folk from EmComm05 suggested I take my Emergency Preparedness: What If? presentation to the Utah Hamfest at Ruby’s Inn at the end of July.

All was going well. There was a good crowd and everyone was enjoying a good fest. Saturday morning Mel Parkes, the Utah ARRL section manager, conducted the ARRL forum and Bob Craven, N7GTE, held a great forum on IRLP and EchoLink. It was my turn. Bob kindly let me use his computer and projector and I dived into the “What if” presentation.

About 45 minutes into the presentation, a fellow knocked on the door and said there was a hazardous materials leak and the facility was being evacuated. My first reaction was: “This is a real funny joke, folks, but I’m not amused.” I wanted to finish my seminar, answer a few questions and then go see the sights with my son, Adam.

The fellow said, “Really, we need to evacuate. You all need to go now!” Everyone picked up a handout and left. Bob and I stayed behind to gather up his computer and projector. (In hindsight, we probably shouldn’t have done that, but we did.) As Bob and I went down the stairs, a couple of the Inn’s employees gave us a look of “why are you still in here” and hurried us out. Outside, there were several hundred people, most of them Amateur Radio operators, milling around and volunteering to help.

Along the line I bumped in to Mel Parkes, AC7CP, who was near the fire trucks and other hazmat vehicles. He and I visited and then he dropped the bombshell — he said, he was feeling lightheaded and was awaiting treatment. Here I was, not paying attention to Mel’s condition, thinking he was just there watching the scenario unfold.

So we got some oxygen on Mel and he was put in the line to be taken to the hospital. Eventually 51 people would be taken from Ruby’s Inn to nearby Panguitch (a small town in southern Utah) for treatment. You can imagine the impact this had on their 20-bed hospital! Panguitch Hospital had scheduled a disaster drill for the following weekend. At last report, they decided this “real” one qualified.

Meanwhile, various Ham Radio folk were helping with the triage and evacuation, and even providing communications for the emergency responders. In a true sense, many of the Hams became first responders because they also had medical or emergency roles in real life. The use of their “emergency kits” contained medical equipment, not radios.

Because so many operators were victims, there was soon a solid link between the Inn and the hospital. Don Blanchard, WA7GTU, sets up a portable repeater system on UHF and VHF for the hamfest, and it quickly became a blessing as communications through the well-placed repeater were full quieting between the hospital and handhelds at the site.

An interesting twist developed when the State of Utah emergency management was contacted with regard to the hazmat incident. The on-call person at the state gave the sheriff a list of names, saying in effect, we already have six people there. All of these people were attending the hamfest! I think the sheriff was very impressed there were so many resources at the event. Many complimentary remarks and follow-up comments were made thanking the Hams for helping. One employee at the Inn said this was the most orderly emergency she had ever seen. I didn’t ask her how many emergencies she’d seen, but it was a nice compliment!

Among those evacuated and taken to the hospital were foreign visitors to Bryce Canyon. One family couldn’t speak English and they were quite upset. One Ham took the whole family under his wing and stayed with them at the hospital and made sure they got back to the Inn safely.

At the hospital, everyone was decontaminated in a hazmat booth and all of their clothes were bagged and kept. The people of Panquitch were very supportive; they went to a local thrift store and got clothes for them to wear. Many of those returning to the Inn were dressed in odd-fitting clothes and had no shoes (even the shoes were kept).

Meanwhile, back at the Inn, responders could not identify the hazardous substance. The pool was not leaking chlorine. The photo lab wasn’t missing any obnoxious gas or chemicals. Authorities were taking no chances. The hamfest adjourned to a nearby grassy knoll and resumed activities. No one could check in or out of the Inn; traffic was diverted, ambulances and emergency vehicles continued to come and go.

A specialized team was requested from St. George (several hours away) and even after they arrived, the substance wasn’t identified. Finally, I’m told, a room-to-room search turned up the source of the evacuation — pepper spray! It seems a guest had, probably inadvertently, discharged some pepper spray. The Inn’s air conditioning system hadn’t been working. About 11 a.m. some ventilation had been turned on and the pepper spray was dispersed throughout the building with some of the exhaust going to the pool area where the most severe symptoms were reported.

Some people complained about the evacuation for “pepper spray,” but no one knew it was pepper spray until the next morning. Until then, it was unknown and all precautions were taken. It was quite unsettling and very real. None of us slept well Saturday night knowing we had been exposed to something evil. There was a big sigh of relief when it was known it was pepper spray.

The last news report was that the Inn’s guests, who checked out that Saturday morning, had been identified and were being contacted by the sheriff. The best news was that the guests were not affiliated with the hamfest!

Meanwhile, back in northern Utah, a massive organizing effort was underway to conduct an all-out, final effort to find the body of a missing boy. Garrett Bardsley (www.findgarrett.org) was last seen on a church camping trip in August 2004. Extensive searches failed to turn up any clue of Garrett’s whereabouts.

The family wanted to make one last effort so that the boy’s remains might be found and the case could be closed. They began to appeal for volunteers. What caught my eye was their request for Amateur Radio operators. So I got involved and persuaded a number of others to likewise get involved. Lorrin Sisam, KD7CPG, became the communications coordinator and attended meetings with the family.

Gary Hayes, KC7EPY, was one of our main resources as the search area was within Summit County where Gary functions as the main liaison between the Sheriff and Red Cross. Jim Samuels, K6TUG, began rallying the forces and arranged for operators to be in place at all of the major search camps, from which searchers would be dispatched.

My job was that of writing a communications plan and then staffing the net control. Lorrin was to be at the command post, some four miles down the valley from where the NCS would be. All of the search camps were hike-in only locations. The terrain is rough. There are no repeaters in place that cover the area which ranges from 8,800 feet to almost 11,000 feet. It is very rural country!

In essence, this became a “planned” emergency. We knew the dates, we knew the place, we had maps, we had an objective, and there would possibly be up to 1,000 volunteers.

Some of the initial fears included the terrain. The Salt Lake valley is about 4,500 feet, about 6,000 feet lower than the search area. We feared health problems because of the altitude. Another threat are the storms that frequent the area, usually every afternoon. A few days prior to the search, a Boy Scout was killed when lightning hit a nearby Scout camp.

And then, there were the logistics of keeping reliable communications for three days using portable stations. Some of the issues involved personalities and “who is in charge” and “who is doing what” type of questions. I find it easier when we “just respond” and sort it all out later. It gets very cumbersome dealing with personalities and politics when you have a variety of groups and agencies all wanting to be involved.

I am happy to report the event went well. It was sad that Garrett’s body was not found, but not for lack of volunteers. And no one was seriously hurt. There are a lot of great stories of service and cooperation that I could relate — let me just say I was very proud of the Amateur Radio community for their response and support. We had great communications and were able to respond to changes, providing much needed links to various supply points and other points where searchers were staged and dispatched.

Initial reports from the sheriff were positive and family members were full of praise. A year prior, when Garrett was initially reported missing, the effort lacked reliable communications and that impacted the effectiveness. There were no complaints this year.

A couple of notes. I discovered that monitoring FRS gave me a headache. Many, many teams used FRS. Other people fishing at nearby lakes (not associated with the search) also made great use of FRS. All of those beeps, chimes, cute tones, etc., drove me nuts.

Gary’s wife did manage to escape death when she was coming out of the search area on horseback. Apparently there was a mini-lightning strike, or a discharge of static electricity as she neared the Pass Lake command area. The discharge affected her short-term memory and gave some concern as she was taken to the hospital along with another individual similarly affected. The horse was taken to a vet, where the horse was reported suffering from severe muscle stiffness. Gary reports his wife is doing much better and the memory loss does not appear to be severe and is possibly improving.

In future columns I’ll try to report other lessons we learned. Me? I’m tired. I’ve been to Reno, to Ruby’s Inn, to the wilds of northern Utah, helped in a parade, have an upcoming exercise or two, another endurance run, and I’m thinking of all the naps I’ll have to take to recover! Hey folks, it’s all about serving others. I jest when I say I’m burned out. It takes its toll, but I’m proud to serve alongside a great many others who likewise give time and talents to serve others!

Until next month, best wishes from Salt Lake City.

— Jerry Wellman, W7SAR, can be reached by sending mail to: P.O. Box 11445, Salt Lake City, UT 84147; or by sending e-mail to: jw@desnews.com