Search and Rescue

(This article ran in Worldradio, July 1998)

Let's do a little teaching this month concerning how to prepare for and conduct an event. I've received several requests for "how to" ideas and believe this might be of some value. I'll define an event as just about anything you may be asked to do that involves others. This includes regular meetings, training presentations, exercises, community events, an actual response, etc. 

You can find a number of texts and studies on how to plan for and conduct an event. There's even a career path that delves into project management - but we're not talking this complex an activity. What we want to do is present a brief guide to approaching an activity that, when completed, makes it of value to those who attend. The reaction you want from participants is that they'd be willing to attend again because it was not a waste of time. 

I've used a rather simple four-step process: plan, implement, evaluate, revise. There's nothing complex about the process and it applies to every event I've been asked to undertake.

The first step is plan. Here you define exactly what you're going to accomplish. I usually list two or three major objectives. Limit yourself to no more than five major objectives. I once reviewed a training exercise plan which listed over 50 objectives - far, far too many to track, implement, or measure. Two or three is a good number. Part of the planning is then to decide what you're going to do to create an environment to accomplish your objectives. 

The next step is to implement your plan. This includes getting your materials together, contacting others to help, preparing handouts, obtaining a meeting room or exercise site, etc. This step is also where you communicate with your helpers, participants, your group leadership, and do any advance publicity as may apply. An important part of the implementation is to delegate as necessary and motivate your helpers as best you can. The final part of implementation is the activity itself.

Third in our process is evaluation. Often you'll get immediate feedback from the participants. If they've stayed awake and stayed with you through the whole event you can learn from their reactions whether or not your event was worthwhile. Some activities lend themselves to a formal evaluation sheet or you might just contact some of the participants in person and simply ask for suggestions, ideas, and their reaction to the event. 

Finally, you will want to take the suggestions, your observations, any ideas, and changes and roll them into your original plan. This is the revising step in the process. This is where you "learn" how to do it better for the next time. If you've done well, chances are you will be asked to do a similar event again and you want to make it even better.

A Test Case

Let's go through a scenario. You've been asked to conduct a 90-minute seminar on grab-and-go equipment for emergency response. In the planning step, you determine who your audience will be, how many might attend, and where the event will take place. You decide that your objectives are to teach the inexperienced radio operator some of the basics and secondly give the experienced hands some ideas. Based on previous seminars you know that an overhead projector is needed as well as several large tables so you can demonstrate equipment ideas. You also know it's nice to have a couple of others help with the seminar. You decide on a tentative outline of what you want to discuss and list the equipment you'll use as show and tell. 

As you implement your plan, you call a couple of helpers and divide up the equipment needs. You assign what topics each will cover and agree on a time and place to meet to get set up for the seminar. The event sponsor will take care of the advance publicity, the tables, and the overhead projector. You prepare your handouts and overhead slides, gather your gear, check with your assistants, and when the day comes, conduct the seminar. 

During the seminar you watch the participants. You see nodding heads in agreement as you make particular suggestions. You are asked many questions. The experienced participants offer their ideas that compliment your presentation. After the formal presentation, many of stay around and the discussion continues. One of the event sponsors asks if you'd do this again for another group. You get the impression those attending felt it was worth their time to attend. You still ask what they thought and ask for ideas for "next time." A couple of experienced folk say they'd like to see more show-and-tell examples. One of the "new" guys wants more handouts with how-to-do-it instructions. 

Finally, you take your observations and the suggestions and revise your plan for the next presentation. Over time you become better skilled at the process and presumably your presentations also improve. 

You can apply this process to group meetings. Look around your next meeting and see if the expressions reflect that the meeting was worthwhile or was a waste of time. Ask for opinions. Change your plan as necessary and make the next meeting even better. Often we do meetings because "we have to" or someone "assigned us to." This does not mean the effort must lead to a boring or non-productive event. Success in any event is often related to the time you spent in planning and preparation before the event and the extent of evaluation you did following the event. These two steps are, in my opinion, the most important.

Family Radio Service

Let me put in a plug again for the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and the Family Radio Service (FRS). These two services operate on UHF-FM in the 462-467 MHz range and even share some frequencies. GMRS requires a license from the FCC and allows you to use increased power, base and mobile stations, and use repeaters. FRS does NOT require a license but limits you essentially to portable use with limited power. Each service has advantages and drawbacks.

FRS radios are getting cheaper by the day. You share ten channels with all users (a problem in congested areas) and you can use this for family or business. The range is poor because you're limited to portables and less than a watt of power. It's a quick-and-easy way to set up short haul links without licensing problems. I'd recommend these for base camp or command post coordination. 

GMRS gives you ability to use base stations, gain antennas, mobiles, increased power, and repeaters. It involves a little more planning because you also need a license. GMRS is only licensed to individuals which means your club, business, or government agency cannot get a license. Users are limited to members of the immediate family so you cannot legally lend your license to others in the group. With some planning, a number of your group could become licensed and use the service as an auxiliary channel for coordination and logistics. Many public safety volunteers make good use of GMRS and it's a great way to coordinate between volunteers of diverse, but coordinating, groups. (As a side note, the FCC did grant licenses to organizations in years past and continues to renew those licenses. Some groups still have those licenses and they allow group members to use GMRS for group business. The FCC does not currently issue new organizational licenses in GMRS - so if your group has one, it's a good idea to renew it and keep it current.) 

One example would be working with Radio Emergency Associated Communications Teams, or REACT. Often considered only a Citizens Band Radio Service group, REACT often gets involved in emergency events and GMRS is a good way to coordinate.

Getting Involved

Some of you have written asking how to get your Amateur Radio group involved in more traditional groups' emergency activities. My answer is to simply call them and look for ways your groups can work together. Your first step is to attend some of their training sessions and perhaps play a small role in an exercise or two. The key is to take tiny steps and do an effective job as you discover your niche.

Sheriff groups, Civil Air Patrol squadrons, government agencies, and private groups such as Mountain Rescue, are all often reluctant to invite "the public" into their circle of responsibility. Sometimes it is to protect their turf and other times it is a fear of the unknown. You've got to prove you're not a threat to what they do and must show you can benefit their effort. 

Communications is often the weak part of any response and often what Amateur Radio does best. From my experience with public safety, CAP, and volunteer groups, communications is critical but often done poorly if NOT done by Amateur Radio. Let's look at your typical CAP or sheriff group. Their emphasis is most likely on flying or technical rescue and that's where they spend most of their money and time. You, as a radio person, spend your time on radios, feedline, antennas, and the like. You're probably not going to buy an airplane to carry your radios around in and you're not going to rappel into your communications center. You're not a threat to their search and rescue focus. The key is to integrate with the group in a non-threatening manner. 

Sometimes it's almost impossible. Many groups are highly territorial and will not admit they either don't know it all or cannot do it all. These groups often get offended if you even suggest that you could help them. You must also guard against this attitude in your group. I once heard from a mid-western group that became highly upset when another radio group was started within the same county. Each group would jam the other group's events, make rude comments, and generally re-enact the Hatfield and McCoy battles. The bottom line is that both groups were finally ignored and the radio service in question still retains a black eye. The sad part is there was far too much for one group to do and they could have easily cooperated and contributed greatly to the public service arena. It would have made sense to encourage each other rather than try to protect some perceived turf.

My best suggestion is that you work through a governmental agency. Most agencies are, at some level, led or influenced by an elected official. If you can get your foot into a door, you often get the chance to prove your mettle. Again, start slow, do a good job, and make a name for yourselves. If, for example, the county emergency services integrates you into their responses, you can often then begin to work with the sheriff and the sheriff SAR teams. It takes time. It takes work. It takes a lot of doing little things right, but it's the only way I know that you can get involved on a regular basis.

Gadget Happy

Years ago when I would report to work as a police dispatcher, my first task was to tidy up my operating area. As I look back on why I did what I did, it was simply removing distractions and gadgets. I could do my job better when I focused on the task at hand. But I didn't learn the lesson of having too many distractions until later in my communications life. 

In the mid-1970s I built what I thought was a super station. I was the CAP's state communications officer and literally filled one room with gear. It took several years but I saved my hard-earned money and purchased six Heathkit HW-18 radios. (They were state-of-the art then!) These radios were loaded with tubes and kept the room nicely heated. The various antennas allowed me to monitor vast areas of the country, or so I thought. 

As I was cleaning out some storage boxes last week I found a photo of that "radio room." It brought memories of vast amounts of time spent keeping the equipment operational but not much time operating the equipment. I was always tweaking and tuning and replacing tubes. The room needed some special wiring to handle the load and before long there were simply too many gadgets to efficiently operate. These HW-18s also generated copious amounts of audio static making it almost impossible to focus on traffic on any one particular channel.

The lesson learned was simply simplify. As you construct mobile command centers, emergency communications trailers, or pack your gear for field deployment, carefully consider the distraction, or gadget, factor. We're obviously not going to leave all our gadgets home, but use some common sense in deciding how many you're going to include. 

A critical factor is the setup and "fiddle" time required for a non-essential gadget that you've placed as a critical link. Take for example the remote switch someone brought to a field comm center. It was great, during the rain storm, to remotely select antennas from inside the tent. However the gadget was home brew and poorly constructed. It often did not correctly select the desired antenna and caused equipment failure when two transmitters' outputs were connected directly together when the gadget glitched. We spent valuable time trying to get this gadget to work or trying to fix it. It might have been uncomfortable connecting antennas in the rain but more efficient to the operation than having damaged equipment and associated distractions with the additional gadget.

When you add components you increase the number of failure points. A simple setup is easier to use, easier to maintain, easier to get operational quickly, and easier to troubleshoot. I've often discovered that system complexity creates its own problems. When you set up a communications system or site, ask yourself, is this additional item needed and what will it contribute to the purpose of the installation? Often you'll discover simplicity saves you time and creates fewer problems. You might have to go out in the rain but that inconvenience outweighs having the whole setup fail.

Keep it simple.

Until next month, have a great summer. Get out in support of Field Day, find ways to be of service, discover ways to do better what you do. Best wishes from Salt Lake City!