There is some grant money available to us from the county and a prioritized wish list has been compiled.
Nate is working with the county and state personnel to streamline the Red Card process and find missing cards.
PBEM (Portland Bureau of Emergency Management) has published their NET guidelines, which had to be completed before the county frequency template could be finalized. Helen KE7SCS has been working on this.
Helen is also acting as liaison to the local hospitals regarding their amateur radio emergency communications.
We are working with PBEM to test the radio equipment in their new building and get their Winlink system up and running.
Helen KE7SCS and I represented MCARES at the State AUXCOM training in Salem on December 7 and 8. The course was presented by two fellow hams from the Department of Homeland Security and most Oregon counties had ARES representatives in attendance. The two 10-hour days were grueling but we learned a lot. The main goal was to educate the volunteers on how to work closely with the public safety community so that communications between the two will be interoperable. We learned how to fill out a lot of ICS forms and had a tour of the state OEM facility.
It was also a great opportunity to network with ARES folks from other counties and the Oregon Section leaders. They are taking notice of the good things happening in Multnomah County ARES.
Congratulations to Ann KF7RBV and Paul N7NTW for completing ARRL EC-001 class. Ann reports that she learned a lot and the course was very worthwhile. We have asked Ann to share some of what she learned at a future meeting.
The ARRO and Net Control Certification check-off lists have been posted. We are still fine-tuning our teams. All members who have stated on their membership forms that their first service priority in a disaster is ARES are on served agency teams. All members with other first priorities, (NET, workplace or other agency), will be assigned a new team that we are forming. All team leaders will be ARRO certified and trained in helping their team members to get certified.
Thanks to the 30+ members who participated in Multnomah County for the Fall Oregon Section SET. We had a great turn out, including over 10 stations on our VHF voice net. We also had Winlink connections on VHF and HF, as well as some HF voice stations participating on the section net. Thanks to all of our served agency partners who worked on Saturday to support this radio exercise.
Bruce N4PDX has informed me that he needs to step down as West Multnomah County AEC. I really want to thank him for all of his efforts as we put together the team concept. His efforts have been invaluable! He will continue in his role as PIO and Web Manager. Adam KF7LJH has agreed to take on the AEC position. I have full confidence in his ability.
The October Drill from Home, in which we tested the practicality of operating simplex on the repeater output frequency, if the repeater goes down, went very well. This is now part of our Standard Operating Procedure.
The new weekly NET script has been tested and has been well received. With a few minor adjustments, it is now officially adopted. You can get a copy from our website.
I hope to see you all at the November monthly meeting on the 21st.
Nate N9VCU is trying to find a way to streamline and track the Red Card process. He is working with the County Emergency Manager on this issue.
Adam KF7LJH and Deb KK7DEB have decided to work as a team and spread their unique talents across the whole county, rather than be classified as East and West County AECs. Robert WX5TEX will also be Deputy AEC for the entire county.
A new membership classification proposal was reviewed and adopted and is as follows.
PROVISIONAL Members
- Have a valid amateur radio license and have filled out and submitted a membership form
- Are working on IS-100, IS-200, and IS-700. If a Red Card is desired, the background check request form may be filled out when this step is completed
- Are working on the in-county ARO certification requirements
ACTIVE Members
- Have completed all of the steps above
- Have participated in at least three drills and/or SETs per year and inform team leader if unable to participate in deployment drills
- Attend at least 4 meetings per year
INACTIVE Members
- Have a valid amateur radio license and have filled out and submitted a membership form
- Have limited participation and do not meet the requirements for Active status. NOTE: If there is no participation of any sort for a full year, membership will be canceled.
SUPPORTING Members
- Have submitted a membership form and may or may not have a valid amateur radio license
- Come to occasional meetings but not enough to achieve Active status
- Provide support for the organization. Examples might include members of the emergency response community who have other roles to fill in incidents or events, or persons interested in amateur radio and emergency communications who do not yet have their license and could help with support functions.
There has been a bit of a reorganization. The City of Gresham Team now includes the entire City and not just the EOC. Its team leader is Ed N7TL.
The East Communities Team covers Fairview, Wood Village, Troutdale, and the unincorporated area east of the Sandy River, including Corbett. Eli W7ELI is the team leader.
We welcome new members Andy KG7AST and Mark AE7UM. Andy is with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Mark is with the Oregon Defense Force and is also an ARRL VE (Volunteer Examiner).
Twila KD7EYN took the state nursing board examination in September. We are pleased to announce that she passed.
The ARES Oregon Section developed a training plan in October, 2011 as a way to verify to served agencies and other counties who may need our assistance that all ARES operators have a minimum skill set and consistent knowledge base. We have adapted this state plan to meet the needs of Multnomah County. We have developed a skills and knowledge check-off sheet or qualification card for basic RADO (radio operator) with add-on certification for Net Control. Other add-ons will be developed to include HF, Digital, CW and MAT Team. We hope to have all our members certified by the end of March. This program will be explained in detail at our October general meeting, so please attend!
The Gresham team has been working with Scott McPherson from Gresham Emergency Management for the last two years. Scott’s funding has expired and he has moved on to another career path. During his time with Gresham he has been a huge advocate for Multnomah County ARES and amateur radio in emergency communications. He has helped us focus on the needs of the city and opened many doors for us. We will miss him. We look forward to working with Kelle Landavazo and Todd Felix to continue our served agency relationship with the City of Gresham.
