Hawaii ARES Communications Exercise set for 16 April 2022.
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Accessed on 08 March 2022, 2105 UTC.
Content supplied by Stacy (KH6OWL) and Michael (KH6ML).
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Stacy 808-224-0344
ARES® Hawaii News Release
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) February 26, 2022
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Drill
Kawailani ‘Ino Hawaii (Heavenly Water Storm)
Hawaii Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) will conduct a training EXERCISE on April 16th, 2022 between 9 AM and Noon that will exercise and train using the Incident Command System Structure. This EXERCISE will simulate a 4-day period of catastrophic rain and wind covering the Hawaiian Islands from Kauai to the Big Island with loss of power, internet and cell towers in order to train ARES® members and non-members in radio operations and procedures.
ARES® is made up of Amateur Radio operators, who register their equipment and qualifications with the ARES®. organization. (HawaiiARES.Net) These operators provide volunteer communications services in times of disaster or civil emergency.
The ARES® national organization is comprised of smaller regional organizations, each being within an Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) Section. (www.arrl.org/sections) This web page serves the Hawaii Section, covering the entire state of Hawaii, managed by the ARRL Pacific Section Manager (SM).
Hawaii ARES® is segmented into four counties. Each County is organized into districts, each having an assigned District Emergency Coordinator (DEC). Each district may be further divided into communities, having a Community Emergency Coordinator (CEC).
Amateur Radio is not a replacement for normal communications channels (such as phone and internet) used by Public Safety or governmental agencies; it acts to serve agencies in a subordinate capacity when those channels have been destroyed or compromised. It thus enables Public Safety agencies to focus on their primary role, maintaining critical services. It also serves private agencies such as American Red Cross and Salvation Army whose disaster relief efforts would be hampered by not being able to communicate effectively.
In recent history, Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. Amateur Radio proved to be a vital resource for Fire, Police and local Government and private agencies in providing communications across the islands when phone lines, power lines, and cell towers were almost completely blown away.
There are over 778,000 amateur radio operators in the United States, Guam, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and over 3,800 in Hawaii.
Media Contact: Stacy Holbrook cell (808) 224-0344; kh6owl@arrl.net
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Stacy
KH6OWL
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HamRadioHawaii/