SOUTH DAKOTA ARES AND SOUTH DAKOTA AMATEUR RADIO COUNCIL STUDY ON HOSPITAL COMMUNICATIONS.

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1 SOUTH DAKOTA ARES AND SOUTH DAKOTA AMATEUR RADIO COUNCIL STUDY ON HOSPITAL COMMUNICATIONS. Objective: The following paper outlines the details of a study by amateur radio groups across South Dakota on the ability to supplement necessary communications between hospitals and the State EOC during times of emergency. This study also seeks to determine additional equipment that would be needed at remote hospitals/clinics to establish communications during an emergency. Several of those hospitals are located on Indian Reservations far away from amateur radio repeaters. Each year during the first weekend of October, amateur radio operators across the State participate in a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) whereby they test their communications skills under a simulated communications failure. The SET serves to hone amateur radio communications skills during emergencies while testing personal and shared amateur communications equipment across the State. FM VHF and UHF frequencies were mainly used for this study to test the emergency communications repeater infrastructure the amateur radio community has constructed across the state. Some testing of HF frequencies during the SET demonstrated the reliability and robustness of low frequency transmission across the state. Methodology: The 2013 SET was designed as an emergency communications drill in which the participants received an emergency alert through the SERVSD alert system and over the South Dakota Link System. Participants were then dispatched to the hospital or clinic in their area where they contacted an amateur radio control station located in Pierre with details on the equipment, power, and antennas they were using from the hospital or clinic. When participants were unable to contact the control station in Pierre from their designated facility, other amateur radio operators provided a relay to Pierre through their home stations. This data was then compiled and is available later in this report. Profile of responding participants: Amateur radio operators performed tests at 26 medical facilities in South Dakota on October 5, This date was not optimally timed for a communications emergency exercise, since many amateur radio operators were unable to respond due to emergency commitments during the blizzard in western South Dakota, and the severe weather and tornado in south east South Dakota. In the days that followed tests were performed from another 35 facilities as described below. In all a total of 44 amateur radio operators participated in the Simulated Emergency Test.

2 Results: While weather conditions in the state proved very difficult for amateur operators in the western half of the state due to blizzard conditions and road closures, as many medical facilities were accessed as possible. Amateur operators were called to action at the beginning of the Simulated Emergency Test first by a priority alert via phone and using the ServSD alert system. 1. Alerts were mostly received between 35 and 50 minutes from the time they were sent. 2. The phone number that ServSD alerts came from was not identifiable as a local number and was treated as a telemarket call in some cases. Approximately 25 minutes after the initial ServSD alert, a voice alert was sent out over the SD Amateur Radio Councils linked repeater system with excellent response. The hospitals/clinics/health centers that are included in this study are divided into 5 categories detailing the ease or difficulty of providing reliable communications to and from Pierre: 1. Reliable communications using handheld radios with small inefficient antennas. 2. Reliable communications using 5 watts of power and portable antennas. 3. Reliable communications using 20 or more watts of power and portable antennas. 4. Reliable communications using 20 or more watts of power and fixed or gain antennas. 5. Facilities that would require relay stations or HF communications to contact Pierre. Emergency communications could be established easily using handheld or low power radios from several medical facilities. This was mostly due to the nearby location of amateur radio repeaters. Other facilities were too far removed from repeaters for high quality communications to exist without the use of portable repeaters or our HF communications system. We found no facilities where emergency communications could not be established. While this study and Simulated Emergency Test was aimed at medical facilities, another purpose was to demonstrate the quality of communications from the city the facilities were located in. This would provide a reference point for future disaster communications that involved Emergency Operations Centers, Shelters, etc.

3 1 COMMUNICATIONS PROPERTIES YANKTON LEWIS AND CLARK YANKTON AVERA WINNER WESSINGTON SPRS WATERTOWN TEA STURGIS SPEARFISH SIOUX FALLS SANFORD SIOUX FALLS CHILDRENS CARE SIOUX FALLS AVERA HEART SIOUX FALLS VA ROSEBUD REDFIELD RAPID CITY BH SURGERY RAPID CITY REGIONAL PIERRE PHILIP ONIDA CLINIC MOBRIDGE MITCHELL MILLER MILBANK Martin Madison HURON GETTYSBURG FORT MEADE FAULKTON EAGLE BUTTE DEADWOOD DAKOTA DUNES CUSTER CHAMBERLAIN CANBY MN BROOKINGS BERESFORD ABERDEEN SANFORD ABERDEEN AVERA The above graph depicts each facility tested and its rating for ease of communications (1 = very easy to 5= moderate difficulty) from that facility to the Pierre EOC.

4 There were no facilities where communications were not possible. Below is a list of facilities extracted from our graph that would require an external base station antenna for high quality amateur radio communications to the Pierre, EOC. Lacking the base station antennas, a portable antenna would have to be installed to facilitate quality communications. 1 WINNER WAGNER VERMILLION TYNDALL SCOTLAND REDFIELD RAPID CITY REGIONAL RAPID CITY BH SURGERY PLATTE PINE RIDGE PARKSTON ONIDA CLINIC MILLER MILBANK Madison HOT SPRINGS GREGORY FAULKTON DELL RAPIDS DE SMET CLEAR LAKE CANTON BURKE BRITTON BOWDLE

5 Below is a clip from the graph of those facilities that are rated as moderately difficult. These facilities need a portable repeater or would have to rely on High Frequency communications and the large antennas that make HF a reliable means of communications. 1 SISSETON ROSEBUD Martin GETTYSBURG EUREKA EAGLE BUTTE DAKOTA DUNES Conclusion: Of the 61 medical facilities tested, approximately 50% would need additional equipment brought in to facilitate high quality communications. Most of these would simply require an outdoor antenna to be erected. A total of 11.5% of the facilities would require either a portable repeater or relay station to be installed between the facility and the closest repeater, or a large High Frequency antenna installed during times of emergency. It should be noted that a high percentage of medical facilities where emergency communications would not be possible without erecting portable repeaters or relay stations are located either on or adjacent to Indian Reservations. Some consideration should be given to building our existing infrastructure out to encompass those areas. The use of ServSD alert system will need to be included in future exercises which will help those of us who are administrators on the system determine the reason for the long delay in the priority alert that was sent. The alert system has many features and it is obvious I made an error when sending the SET notification. Jim KD0S