Posted: 8/20/2009 7:07:08 PM EDT
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What method does your club/ARES/RACES group use for call-outs?
We're trying to figure out a better solution than what we've been using, which for whatever reason since before I joined, was email. I'm thinking that we may just have to fall back on a progressive telephone "alert" roster. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Shouldn't the call-outs be on radio? Even the land-line telephone could be down. Probably a stack of options: 1. Try email first 2. If that is not sufficient (i.e. not enough positive confirms) then go to telephone roster calls 3. If telephone is not sufficient (e.g. phones are down), then go to radio calls 4. If radio is not sufficient (e.g. can't reach enough contacts), then go on foot 5. If on foot is not sufficient, maybe you're the last person around, and it doesn't matter  |
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locally, for call outs. our club uses the local repeater first to see who is already mobile or monitoring..
our call outs are for WX related incidents. so, if it looks like we might be needed, chances are at least a small group of us will already be spotting or at least keeping an eye onthe wx.. if it's later at night we use the land line /cell phone .. We kind of "self dispatch" most of the time for WX events. |
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This arose because the city decided to try an emergency callout during the day. Most folks are at work. Few are near their radios, few are in the habit of having radios on and in earshot full time.
First did email––I was driving, got it 15 minutes after the deadline to check in––then telephone, but the phone roster is not up to date. So we were discussing how to improve callout responses at this week's ECRT meeting. (From which I posted the question.) Probably will end up with a variation of a progressive contact tree, with preferred means of contact listed in priority and/or chronological order. (I.e., when email is a poor choice, whether SMS works, when to use cell vice landline phones.) I was just wondering if anyone had a really innovative technique... |
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I have no experience with this stuff. Just my opinion.
If it's truly an emergency service, you need to be using simultaneous commo methods. E-mail, SMS, radio, pager, all at once. Screw the time it takes a person to go through a tree. Message should be formatted with ID code, notification number, priority code, cancel code, meeting place code (if needed) and contact phone number and frequency slots (if they change, and they always can). The ID code verifies it's from your organization. The notification number reduces confusion if numerous call-outs are received in a short time frame; updates should use the same code plus a -A, -B or whatever. The priority code lets you know if you have a bit of time to get ready or if you need to be stationed ASAP; the priority code should be a word if possible, not a number, as numbers are easily mis-typed. The cancel code can be used to indicate a test of the system, a canceled call-out, or end of duty. The rest is self-explanatory. A backup plan may be to have your responders in "cell groups", where the first one to get the initial notification will try to contact the others in their cell to verify they got the message. The cell members might send a reply to let the first cell member know they're aware. This "cell group" idea usually happens anyway, as people commo each other when something happens. But having a formal cell will make sure everyone gets notified or at least multiple tries to notify. It lessens central command's work load and responsibility. Central command should be on the distribution lists to make sure their e-mail, SMS, radio, pager, whatever is getting out. |
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This is how it works for us.
1) City or served agency decides they need our assistance. They call a phone number and that causes the pager on my belt and those that other leaders are wearing to go off. 2) The leadership gets together on the radio to discuss the need. 3) We use CallingPost automated phone tree service to record a short msg that instantly calls everyone in the list. The msg is generally something like the nature of the incident and which repeater to meet on. 4) In addition to CallingPost we use Jott to send SMS messages to everybody that has subscribed. We have two Jott lists for routine traffic (meeting/net reminders) and emergency traffic (activations, drills). We also have two primary repeaters that are used so most people know where to go if they hear about something. Which repeater we use is driven by the time of year. We use one during hurricane season and another outside this period. One of the repeaters is also used for Skywarn which is why we change from June to Nov. Of course we have backup repeaters in case the primary is out or having problems. We also do simplex nets (have one next week) so people don't freak out when they can't get through with the repeater because it's not there anymore. This works well for us and has been used for several real activations. We also use direct phone calls. For example, we have about 15 hurricane shelters throughout the city. If I don't get them all staffed via CallingPost or Jott I search our member database by zip code and start calling people in the local vicinity of the shelter. I had to do this last year during TS Fay. I spent a lot of time on the phone because some people could only work a little due to jobs/family and I was always having to backfill. So the long answer is that like FN said we use a variety of methods. |
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I think our plan is similar to others that were mentioned. The idea is to use the most sophisticated/convenient methods as a first resort and work down in technology from there.
So we have special Twitter accounts and have our cell phones set up so anyone can tweet to our group and it'll SMS all our phones. After that we have phone rosters. The theory here is that if traditional communications go dead, we're smart enough to turn on our radios and monitor the repeater output frequency. Even if the repeater is down, we'll still have simplex on that freq by disabling the repeater shift on our radios. Most everyone knows if there are Thunderstorms rolling through that we'll have a Skywarn net going. For non-weather things like chemical spills or neighborhood-sized events we'll likely still have Twitter and cell phones at our disposal for notification. But we ain't got no fancy pagers like them Doovall County boys.
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Quoted:
But we ain't got no fancy pagers like them Doovall County boys. Be grateful. I get mocked all the time. Well, at least I *think* it's because of the pager. I look like Inspector Gadget. Right now I have two Blackberries and a pager on my belt. Add on the HT and I get some looks.
I hadn't thought about tweets. |
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We use telephones.
The only event that's going to disrupt the phone system will be easy to detect. When you pick your butt off the ground following the shaking from the earthquake it's time to turn the radio on. We have people that are pre-designated to respond for the first 6-12 hours, retired single folk for the most part. Following the initial event we take care of ourselves, our families, our neighbors, gather our BoB gear and keep an ear on the radio to listen to what's going on. If everything is fine we muster with the Emergency Operations Center who deploys us to the field. |
| Thanks, guys, some food for thought here. Never thought of twitter, either. Part of our problem is that the city ain't paying for it, we can't budget for pagers, and a lot of us are in jobs where, if the call out come during the day, we aren't near email. I'll be transcribing some of this and forwarding to the ECRT leader. |
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Unlike Paul, we don't have many earthquakes in FL. We do have the luxury of advanced warning that a hurricane or severe weather is headed our way. About a week before a predicted landfall we start monitoring the storm. About three days out we make sure our families, homes, etc are taken care of. Assuming it makes landfall as scheduled we should have everything in order. One issue with us is that you can't get around much without using bridges. We have to make sure we've got the shelters manned before the bridges are closed due to high winds.
DW, we're unfunded also. One of our AECs pays for the Jott account himself. We get a small donation each year from one of the local malls and that helps pay for the pagers. |
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TX Army MARS sends out 'alert notifications' via e-mail if there is advance warning time - like hurricanes. For more immediate needs we use a telephone call down tree and e-mail. For the SHTF type occurances we have pre-designated 'rally-freqs', both state and regional, and any individual MARS station is tasked with opening an emergency net should the need arise. |
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Our rescue squad uses two tone sequential pagers (Motorola) from the county. Squad backup to the county repeater is to use the base radio at the building on the repeater output frequency to send the alert tones. Then if that fails, I have everyone's (who counts) cell number in my phone so I can send a group text to them. The local RACES guys have about three pagers on the county system. Then they used telephones and text messaging to get the word out. Another idea is to locate a cross band repeat radio at a repeater site and have the 2 meter out frequency on a DPL or PL. That way you could carry a WT on the freq with the tone and be "alertable" with ham gear. Just don't forget to talk back with net control comes on and requests a team to go on the normal repeater freq.
RS |
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Quoted:
3) We use CallingPost automated phone tree service to record a short msg that instantly calls everyone in the list. The msg is generally something like the nature of the incident and which repeater to meet on. I see that they have an app called "MSG911, is that what you use? (Doesn't look like it matters, as far as capabilities go. Prices are the same.) 4) In addition to CallingPost we use Jott to send SMS messages to everybody that has subscribed. We have two Jott lists for routine traffic (meeting/net reminders) and emergency traffic (activations, drills).
Which Jott app is that? (I see 3 on the website.) Does sending a message to 10 people count as 10 messages, or one? Does it matter to their pricing? |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
3) We use CallingPost automated phone tree service to record a short msg that instantly calls everyone in the list. The msg is generally something like the nature of the incident and which repeater to meet on. I see that they have an app called "MSG911, is that what you use? (Doesn't look like it matters, as far as capabilities go. Prices are the same.) We use the straight CallingPost application. 4) In addition to CallingPost we use Jott to send SMS messages to everybody that has subscribed. We have two Jott lists for routine traffic (meeting/net reminders) and emergency traffic (activations, drills).
Which Jott app is that? (I see 3 on the website.) Does sending a message to 10 people count as 10 messages, or one? Does it matter to their pricing? You know, things have changed since we started using it. I'd say that now we're on the Assistant plan using Jott Annual. We don't do voice recordings just SMS. I believe it's considered one message but I'll have to confirm. |