1. Pres Gordon B. Hinckley “… the time has come to get our houses in order.... There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed“ Ensign, November 1998

2. September 11, 2001

3. Northeast US Power Outage 2003

4. Hurricane Katrina 2005

5. Hawaii Earthquake 2006

6. What is Emergency Communications? Emergency Communications is when a critical communications system failure puts the public at risk.

7. Radio Communications  Emergency Warning System  Scanners & Special Radios  Cell Phone  CB  FRS  GMRS  Amateur Radio

8. Emergency Warning System  Emergency Alert System (EAS) Radios  NOAA Weather Radios  Both Systems Warnings cover local emergencies or major disasters –Weather alerts from NWS –Child Abduction (Amber Alert) –Release of Radiological Material –Civil Unrest –Earthquakes S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) recommended feature

9. NOAA Weather Radio  Network managed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  Retransmits emergency alerts from from the National Weather Service and EAS  Local weather forecast 24 hrs/day  Uses 7 frequencies in the 162MHz band for broadcasting to public  Tested every Wednesday around 12 noon

10. Scanners & Misc Communications  Scanners (listening only) Fire & EMS Dispatch (Trunking) Police Amateur Radio  Misc Communications  Satellite Broadcast Radios (XM / Sirius)  Shortwave Radios  TV Audio Radios  Direct TV (Satellite)  IMPORTANT: Keep plenty of batteries on hand (spares in refrigerator)

11. 2-way Communications  Satellite Radios  Handheld (Globalstar, Iridium)  Lugables (briefcase w/antenna)  Alphanumeric pagers  Laptops / PDA’s  Wifi (802.11 a, b, g)  Internet Connection  VOIP  Email

12. Cell Phone  Shared infrastructure with Telephone (landlines)  When telephones are out, cell phones usually are too  Short range (Cell tower must be relatively close)  Battery life limited  Call volume overload very common in emergencies  Cell phone inexpensive $  “Air Time” usage can get expensive

13. CB  Citizens Band Radios  Been around for years  Radio Equipment: not expensive $$  5 watts legal limit  Range: 4-5 mile range (normally)  40 Channels  Channel 9 – for Emergencies only  FCC license not required  Most conversations not fit for family consumption!

14. FRS  Family Radio Service  Radio Equipment: Inexpensive $  Millions in use!  Very low power – ½ watt  range (1-2 miles unobstructed)  14 channels  Channel 1 – emergency channel  No FCC license required

15. GMRS  General Mobile Radio Service  Readily available  Radio equipment: Not very expensive $$  Power: 5 watts maximum  Range: 5-25 miles  Channels  7 shared FRS channels plus…  8 GMRS channels  FCC License required  Covers the whole extended family  $80 for 5 years

16. Amateur Radio (‘Hams’)  FCC License and call sign required to transmit on Amateur Radio Bands (no cost)  Written Examination ($14) required for license  Technician  General (NO Morse Code requirements)  Amateur Extra  Lots of Amateur Radio Frequencies  Power: up to 2,000 watts on some bands  Range: worldwide on some bands  Wide range of cost for equipment, hand held radio can be relatively inexpensive $$$

17. Emergency Communications Amateur Radio in Action  Hurricane Katrina – September 2005  Hurricane Isabel - September 2003  Northeast blackout - August 2003  Shuttle Columbia recovery effort - February 2003  Wildfires in Colorado - June 2002  World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks-September 2001  Hurricane Floyd - September 1999  Tornadoes in Florida - February 1998  Western U.S. floods - January 1997  Hurricane Fran - September 1996  TWA plane crash - July 1996  Oklahoma City Bombing - April 1995 Amateur Radio Operator WTC 2001

18. Emergency Communications is Teamwork

19. Family Communications Plan  9-1-1 for Emergency Services  Family & Relatives  Home, Work, Cell Phone  Friends & Church Members  Schools that Children Attend  Those Outside the State You should always have these phone numbers on paper with you at all times:

20. 72-Hour Family Emergency Kit

21. Family Emergency Communications  Battery Powered AM/ FM Radio  All Hazard Radio (NOAA Weather Radio)  Scanner for monitoring  Police  Fire  HT (Handy Talkie/ Walkie Talkie) Radios  FRS Radios  GMRS Radios (requires FCC license for talking on)  Ham Band Radios (requires FCC license for talking on)  Spare batteries  How to charge Cell Phone with no electricity?  DC Power Adapter  Family Communications Plan

22. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark. -- Howard Ruff -- Remember…