Mayday Mayday,
SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOODS AND AMATEUR RADIO VOLUNTEERS TRAIN FOR EARTHQUAKE
PREPAREDNESS
SATURDAY MAY 11, 9
AM – 12 PM
Ballard and Crown Hill have proposed a total of six emergency preparedness hubs. Two of those hubs will be participating in Saturday's exercise. Show up, or call ahead if you are interested in participating:
Loyal Heights Community Center
2101 NW 77th St, 98117
Contact: Cheryl Dyer / 206-684-4052
Shilshole
7001 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117
Plaza area behind the main building, probably with a flashing yellow light.
Contact phone: Jim Doub / 206-979-9016
Other Ballard / Crown Hill Hubs not participating this time:
Gilman Park
Contact phone: Linda Frank / 206-778-3350
Crown Hill
Contact phone: Dennis Galvin / 206-706-7663
Kirke Park
Ballard Commons
Neighborhood emergency
preparedness groups across Seattle assisted by two amateur radio emergency
communications teams will test their skills Saturday in an exercise based on a
simulated catastrophic earthquake. This
exercise titled Mayday, Mayday is the spring version of this semiannual event. The goal of this exercise is to practice
preparedness and response actions that will contribute to community resiliency
in surviving a significant disaster.
An
estimated 125 people from disaster preparedness groups and volunteer response
teams including the Public Health Reserve Corps and ham radio emergency communications teams will
participate in the event. The amateur
radio teams are sponsored and trained by the Seattle Office of Emergency
Management. Their purpose is to provide
emergency communications when cell and landline phones become overloaded or
damaged due to catastrophic events.
The scenario for the event
is based on the impact of the 6.3 magnitude, 2011 Christchurch earthquake in
New Zealand applied to the Seattle area.
That disaster took the lives of 185 people and severely damaged the
central city buildings and infrastructure as well as causing massive
destruction to its suburbs.
Responding to Saturday’s
simulated disaster event are community volunteers forming neighborhood “Hubs”.
Participants have practiced solving neighborhood problems that could
occur during a disaster, responding to needs affecting life and property,
sharing community resources, and reporting simulated emergency messages to the
Seattle Office of Emergency Management using ham radio.
“In a real event,
information communicated by ham radio from the Hubs could be used by City
response planners to help assess conditions throughout the city and develop
response plans”, said Cindi Barker, a member of the design team for the
exercise. Exercise designers have built in some twists and turns involving
communications networks and several challenging issues at Hub sites which will develop
during the three hour training event.
These exercises provide an
opportunity for preparedness new-comers to work alongside their more
experienced neighbors to gain experience and learn skills. “It’s all about neighbors helping neighbors”
said Carl Leon, one of the drill organizers.
“We set up neighborhood Hubs where people can come to get information
and share resources or skills to help those that have been affected”.
Seattle Auxiliary
Communication Services (ACS) amateur radio teams will set up portable, battery
powered radio networks at neighborhood Hub sites providing communication links
with the City and to other Hubs.
Messages will be transmitted on ham radio systems using both voice and
digital formats. Computers are connected
to send and receive e-mail like documents.
The second participating ham
Radio group is the Western Washington Medical Service Team (MST). Its purposes are to provide emergency
communications to and from area hospitals and medical facilities in the Seattle
area, as well as coordination with the City EOC regarding hospital readiness
during this drill.
The
Public Health Reserve Corps of Seattle and King County will be participating
for the first time, offering both ham operators and medical professionals at
the Hubs. “Our goal is not to set up medical care, but to learn how the
community connections are made and where we can fit in during a disaster. Our
priority is to help stabilize people and move them into the established medical
system”, said program manager Dave Nichols of Public Health.
Participating Hub
locations include Beacon Hill, Broadview, Capitol Hill, Fremont, Lake City,
Loyal Heights, Magnolia, Maple Leaf, Queen Anne, Shilshole, Wedgwood and West
Seattle. All Hub locations welcome visitors and people who would like to learn
and participate in emergency neighborhood preparedness during this drill.
For more information about
preparedness – please visit:
For more information about
amateur radio – please visit:
