Encourage Member Preparation

In the planning guidelines found on the Church's Provident Living website, we learn that wards and stakes should prepare for natural and man-made disasters that are likely to occur in their respective areas by creating an emergency plan. These plans are prepared under the direction of the bishop or stake president. They should be updated periodically. Each plan should:

• Identify likely disasters.
• Gather critical information.
• Outline assignments and procedures.
• Identify emergency communication methods.
• Encourage member preparation.

Ward and Stake emergency planners are encouraged to use the Stake and Ward Emergency Planning worksheets at preparedness.ChurchofJesusChrist.org in their planning efforts.

The remainder of this blog post will focus on the 5th bullet point, encourage member preparation.

How can we encourage preparation among members of the ward? One of the Wards in the stake has used their newsletter as a means to this end, by including emergency preparedness messages from the Ward Emergency Preparedness Specialist.

Likewise, the Ward Emergency Communications Specialist could use that forum to remind ward members that planning how they will communicate with their family members when the emergency occurs is equally important, and to explore options that do not rely on the internet or cellular networks when they develop a family communications plan.

It's also important to share with the ward members what will happen at the ward level when an emergency occurs. In the 3rd bullet point above, outline assignments and procedures, it specifies that ward emergency managers are to account for all persons living within the ward boundaries. This includes an assessment to determine if there are injuries to persons and damage to homes. Gathering this information will help the emergency managers understand the needs in the community, and determine how to respond.

You could also use a ward newsletter to share details of the ward emergency plan, such as how your ward plans to complete the assessment of each household after an emergency has occured, and how those contacts will be made.

If your ward is not publishing a newsletter, consider using the email messaging tool in Leader and Clerk Resources to share preparedness and response information with the ward members. Sending these messages by email can be accomplished with the assistance of the Ward Executive Secretary.

I encourage each of you to work with your bishop and ward council to develop, or review your emergency preparedness and communications plans, and share the pertinent details with the members of your ward. For additional infomation about the planning and response process, follow this link to the Emergency Preparedness Guide.

Thanks for all you do to help your ward be ready when an emergency occurs! If I can be of assistance please reach out by email via greg.fabricius@gmail.com.

Radio Service Options

The Church respects and may defer to civil authorities and their response efforts in an emergency, but Church leaders may also take independent action on behalf of Church members. Ward and stake councils have responsibility to account for all persons in the boundaries of the wards and to help with life-threatening circumstances.

Using Newton 1st Ward as an example, this will be accomplished by completing an assessment of the homes in the ward boundary. The ward has been sectioned into smaller groups of homes, generally close in proximity to each other. While Fire and EMS personnel will be active across the community handling the situations requiring their expertise, ward members will be assigned to the sections, making contact with each residence to account for the occupants and to assess damage to homes and infrastructure.

The persons completing these assessments may encounter life safety situations that require immediate intervention. If communications systems are operating as usual, a cell phone call to the town’s command post will alert the emergency managers of critical needs, but what will we do if the event has disrupted normal communications?

When planning for an emergency response, It is important to identify backup communications systems to use during an emergency, and develop those resources as much as possible. While amateur radio offers a significant advantage with its voice and data communications capability, the reality is there may not be enough licensed amateur radio operators available in each community.

With that in mind, tonight we will discuss how Family Radio Service and GMRS can contribute to the success of an emergency response, again using Newton as an example.

Each ward in Newton has a licensed radio operator assigned for emergency communications, and there are several other licensed radio operators in each ward, but still there would not be enough for one radio operator to accompany each damage assessment team.

It can take time to recruit more persons who are willing to study for and take the amateur radio license exam. In the interim it would be wise to consider the Family Radio Service and General Mobile Radio Services as a means to bolster emergency communications during an emergency response.

The Family Radio Service (FRS) is a two-way, short-distance communications service for facilitating family and group activities. The service is licensed-by-rule so the general public can use the devices without having to obtain a license. FRS radios are limited to a maximum transmit power of 2 watts, or less, depending on which  of the frequencies available to the service are used.

The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a licensed radio service using the same frequency range as FRS, but the licensing procedure does not include a license examination. A GMRS license is valid for the immediate family members of the licensee, offering higher transmit power compared to FRS. Similar to amateur radio, it offers the use of repeaters. In the Cache Valley area there are several repeaters available allowing for extended range of communication.

Even though FRS radios are limited in their transmit power, they could help the teams working closest to the command post of each ward relay critical information back and forth using that service, while the licensed amateur radio or GMRS operators can accompany the teams working the more distant portions of the community.

The area covered by this radio net has two FRS available for use, and any GMRS license holders in our area have been assigned to use the Mt Logan GMRS repeater. The P.A.C.E. Plan found in the Benson Stake Emergency Communications Plan details these frequency assignments. If you need these frequencies please let me know.

Another consideration is that the Benson Stake encompasses a fair amount of geography. FRS radios will not cover the distance between the communities of the Stake. Using one of the GMRS repeaters would allow voice communications between the ward buildings and the stake, so long as a GMRS licensed operator is present at each building, but this service does not allow sending data the way amateur radio does. 

For communications between the wards and the Stake, or from a city to the county EOC, it is recommended to staff each command post with an amateur operator, preferably with Winlink capability. The ability to send messages by Winlink frees up the voice channels for teams with life safety traffic, instead of operators reading and copying damage reports line by line.