GAREC 2014 REPORT GAREC August Huntsville, AL

Transcription

1 GAREC 2014 REPORT GAREC August Huntsville, AL 1. TITLE: Shows Logos for IARU and Regions 1, 2 and 3. ALM EMERGENCY DISASTER SERVICES 2. IARU FACTS: International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is the UN body responsible for international telecommunications and telecommunications technology policy, including global frequency coordination. International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) represents the interests of amateur radio to the ITU. IARU has 160 member societies such as the ARRL. IARU has been charged by the ITU with developing an emergency communications system that is fully independent of all existing communications infrastructure. 3. ITU / IARU REGION MAP Region 1 covers Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. Region 2 covers the America s North, Central and South. Region 3 covers Asia and the central and western Pacific.. 4. GAREC FACTS: GAREC Conference is sponsored annually by IARU Meets in a different IARU Region each year. Designed to be an informal gathering of international emergency communications experts. Goal is to advise IARU on emergency communications and help them meet their goal of developing and maintaining an independent global emergency communications system. This year s conference focus was on the application of advanced technology in amateur radio emergency comms. About 20 people attended including representatives from the UK, Malaysia, Russia and Finland..

2 5. TITLE: IARU REGION REPORTS 6. REGION 1 REPORT: Represented by Greg Mossup, GØDUB, Region 1 EMCOR Region 1 is Europe, Russia, Africa and Middle East. Region 1 has 40 countries / member societies. Spain has the most amateur radio operators in Region 1 with over 4,000. Kenya has the least with only 6 licensed operators. Notice I said, licensed. There is a lot of unlicensed activity in Kenya. 7. REGION 1 REPORT (continued): Region 1 experienced several major disasters since the last GAREC conference in June 2013 in Zurich, Switzerland. Europe experienced a major hurricane-like storm the equivalent of a high-end Category 3 hurricane - on October 2013 that affected the UK, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Germany and Russia. 18 were killed with 1 missing. 1.3 million people were without power in the UK and Europe. There was serious disruptions of mass transit including roads, rail, seaways and airways. Many NGOs responded but amateur radio was never called upon. 8. REGION 1 REPORT (continued): The Balkans had a major ice storm on 03 February 2014 that affected Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia which was the hardest hit. Major impacts included 250,000 without power Half of Slovenia s forests were damaged by the ice. Cell phones and public service radio had major disruptions. Several countries responded with aid. Austria requested amateur radio assistance from both its own operators and those in Slovenia.

3 9. REGION 1 REPORT (continued): The island of Kefalonia in Greece experienced two M6.0 earthquakes on 26 January and 03 February 2014 with numerous aftershocks of Magnitudes 3, 4 and 5.0. Some 600 buildings were damaged damaged by the ice. However, amateur radio was not used in the response. 10. REGION 1 REPORT (continued): From May 2014, southeastern and central Europe experienced the worst rain event in 120 years of recorded weather reports, resulting in major flooding. Some 2,000 landslides were recorded and 1.6 million people were impacted in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia with 62 killed and hundreds of thousands evacuated. The power grid was disrupted for 60% of Serbia. There was a massive international relief effort deployed Amateur radio had a major role in the response, providing local and regional logistical communications, aiding in search and rescue coordination. Amateur radio operators at Belgrades EOC handled over 25,000 pieces of traffice. 11. REGION 1 REPORT (continued): Issues in Region 1: Amateur radio in Europe may lose shared use of the 23 cm band because GPS uses many frequencies in that band. Show map on slide. Leadership in Region 1 member societies is constantly changing with resulting changes in experience levels. There is very poor coordination of the Center of Activity (CoA) frequencies in Region 1 and none between the three IARU Regions. Region 1 has recommended that IARU set specific CoA frequencies for emergency communications but no action has been taken on this yet.

4 12. REGION 1 REPORT (continued): Issues in Region 1: Global SET is the ONLY international emergency communications exercise that practices traffic handling between countries. Region 1 believes this should be a normal practice rather than a once-a-year exercise. There is too much emphasis in Region 1 on public service communications (e.g. informal) traffic and very little emphasis on formal traffic handling. There is a need to standardize power plugs for both 110 VAC and 12 VDC internationally. It is too difficult to send equipment between countries and have the power plugs match. 13. REGION 2 REPORT: Region 2 covers the America s North, Central and South America. The IARU Region 2 EMCOR, Dr. Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P, was not present. Therefore, there was no official report for Region REGION 3 REPORT: Region 3 represented by Johnny Tan, 9M8DB, Region 3 EMCOR Region 3 covers Asia and the central and western Pacific, including Australia. Region 3 experienced a number of disasters, including: 15. REGION 3 REPORT (continued) On 24 September 2013, Pakistan experienced a M7.7 earthquake followed on 28 Septmber by a M6.6 earthquake. A total of 847 people were killed. Pakistani amateur radio operators were deployed to assist with logistical communications support.

5 16. REGION 3 REPORT (continued): On 12 October 2013, Typhoon Phailin struck the eastern coast of India as a Category 4 storm the second strongest storm to ever strike India. Up to 12 million people were impacted with 600 shelters opend. Some 550,000 people were evacuated from the Indian coast the largest evacuation in 23 years. Teams of amateur radio operators were used even though normal communications were not disrupted. 17. REGION 3 REPORT (continued): On 15 October 2013, the island of Bohol in the Philippines was struck by a M7.2 earthquake producing energy equivalent to that of 32 Hiroshima nuclear bombs. There were 222 killed 976 injured and 8 missing. There were 73,000 structures damaged with 14,500 of those destroyed. The Philippines Amateur Radio Association (PARA) was activated and used 2 meters and 40 meters to provide emergency communications for many days. 18. REGION 3 REPORT (continued): Three weeks later on 08 November 2013, the Philippines, including the island of Bohol again, was struck by the strongest, deadliest typhoon in its history - Typhoon Haiyan (called Yolanda in the Philippines). There were 11 million people impacted with 6,300 killed and 2,000 missing. Once again, the Philippines Amateur Radio Association (PARA) and its Ham Radio Emergency Operations group the equivalent of our ARES - was activated and used 2 meters and 40 meters to provide emergency communications for many several weeks.

6 19. REGION 3 REPORT (continued): On 08 March 2014 Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared in route from Malaysia to China with 222 passengers and 12 crew members. The Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitting Society or MARTS (like our ARRL) was asked to provide communications from the airport to the hotel where a family reception center was. The Malaysian Amateur Radio Emergency Services (MARES) asked amateur radio operators all over the area where MH-370 might have flown to pass on any information they had on special 20 and 15 meter nets they established. 20. REGION 3 REPORT (continued): Issues in Region 3: The first issue was whether amateur radio emergency communications is becoming irrelevant in the modern age. This sparked a broad discussion that I ll expand upon later. As an adjunct to that discussion Region 3 is recommending to its amateur radio operators that they become trained in operating other non-amateur EmComm systems. However, despite those concerns, Region 3 believes that amateur radio is still a vital emergency communications link for rural communities especially those prone to flooding and landslides. Both 2 meters for local communications and 40 meters for regional communications are used frequently. 21. International Emergency Communication Handbook: The ARRL wrote a 300 page Emergency Communication Handbook. It detailed how emergency communications should be done in the United States The IARU is adapting the ARRL document into a 3 page HF International Emergency Operating Procedure. It is only 3 pages because ARRL book was for one country. IARU book is for 160 IARU countries / societies. Writing uniform procedures is nearly impossible. For example, Q signals were eliminated in favor of plain language because Q signals do not translate well into many languages.

7 22. International Emergency Communication Handbook (continued): Training in international message handling is needed. The only time it is practiced is in the annual Global SET. International message handling should be a routine task, not an annual exercise. Current handbook does not tell how to route traffic to e- mail or to social media. But the internet does have challenges. A sender has no way of knowing for sure an was received or read by the recipient. A sender has no way of knowing if the internet is disrupted at the receiving end. The IARU recommends Point-to-Point communications whenever possible. 23. International Emergency Communication Handbook (continued): There is also a great deal of confusion globally about third party traffic handling. For example: There is international confusion about what actually constitutes third party traffic. Is a WinLink to or through a foreign country third party traffic? Some countries have very wide permissions on whom their amateur radio operators can send third party traffic to or what constitutes third party traffic. However, many of those same countries do not have a reliable message handling network Other countries, like the U.S. have a reliable message handling network (our NTS) but have very limited international third party agreements. However, it is generally agreed that amateur-to-amatuer traffic that does not come from or go to someone else is almost always acceptable.

8 24. International Emergency Communication Handbook (continued): There have been a number of recommendations made for the new IARU International Emergency Communication Handbook: No single mode should be chosen as the mode. The more communication tools in the tool box, the better. However, the Handbook does need to address the newer modern modes, particularly the digital modes that are becoming increasingly popular and useful. It should retain the instructions on information gathering during emergencies. It should add links to the Red Cross, law enforcement and other sources of disaster relief, as suggested during GAREC Organization Reports ARRL: Dan Henderson, N1ND, ARRL Legislative Affairs Manager Has also been responsible for events such as Field Day Took two years to negotiate the recently signed MOU between FEMA and the ARRL. ARRL Board is directing its staff to create a plan for education and mentoring of new hams particularly young hams from diverse communities This is the result of Board Minute 36 from the June ARRL Board Meeting. 26. Organization Reports SATERN: Bill Feist, WB8BZH, Southern Territory SATERN Coord. Focused on how SATERN and The Salvation Army is using or planning to use new technology. During the 20 th Century, SATERN used primarily SSB on HF for Health & Welfare traffic and FM on VHF / UHF for tactical communications and support. In the 21rst Century, the communications needs of The Salvation Army changing, becoming more technologically sophisticated. SATERN needs to keep up in or to remain useful and relevant to The Salvation Army s needs.

9 27. Organization Reports SATERN: Some of the new modes being embraced include WinLink and WinMor, digital modes such as Olivia, and linking modes such as EchoLink and IRLP in different parts of the world. It also includes the use of non-amateur communications modes such as UHF business band on all of our vehicles and two UHF business band repeater Go-Kits, and satellite-based communications such as the Satellite / Radio Communications Trailer and two Satellite Tech Packs to provide internet and VoIP telephone support to command posts 28. Organization Reports SATERN: Includes the use of new state-of-the-art internet remote control amateur radio station WB5ALM - at our Divisional EDS Center in Jackson, MS. Provides 1500 watts on HF, digital modes, and VHF and UHF locally. Despite the embracing of all this new technology, SATERN is NOT abandoning the tried-and-true methods such as HF SSB for Health & Welfare or VHF / UHF for tactical support. In fact, SATERN currently supports several HF SSB Nets, as well as a number of EchoLink, IRLP and digital nets around the country. 29. Organization Reports MARS: Paul English, WD8DBY / AAA9B / AAR6PG, Program Manager and Deputy Director for U.S. Army MARS. Within the last few years, MARS has been tasked with supporting the six (6) U.S. Combat Commands NorthCom, SouthCom, AfricaCom, EuroCom, CenCom and PacCom during HADR or Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief missions. The concept is simple. In many foreign countries, local amateur radio operators are often the first people to provide situational awareness reports from an impacted area. That information can be useful to the U.S. military when it is planning or implementing a disaster relief mission in that country. MARS is the military s link to the local operators.

10 30. Organization Reports MARS: MARS uses programs such as the UN s Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) and the Department of Defense All Partners Access Network (APAN) to gather initial information about a disaster. That information is passed on to the appropriate military command which then decides whether to implement a HADR. If the do, MARS is tasked with contacting local amateur radio operators for additional situational awareness. The process has been exercised several times in the last few years including Pacific Endeavor in 2013 and 2014 and this year s Rim of the Pacific exercise. It has also been tested but not actually used during several real-world disasters such as Tropical Cyclone Phailin in India, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the Balkan Flooding in May During the first two MARS practiced its real-world notification procedures. During the Balkan Flooding, MARS provide EuroComm with information about the disaster based on local amateur radio reports. However, they found that the lack of a common language was a barrier, especially without translaters. As a result of the exercises and real world practice, the military has gained a renewed appreciation of the role of amateur radio during disaster relief. 31. Organization Reports MARS: The military and MARS continues, however, to be aware that the information they receive from local amateur radio operators is unconfirmed information that may or may not be entirely accurate. They are having to find ways to vet or confirm the information they receive and that can be challenging. There is also some recognition that the work the IARU has done in the past for training may be useful to MARS and its operators..

11 32. GAREC Lessons: The issue of relevancy opened up a discussion about how amateur radio might widen its base of potential partners and served agencies. Obviously the partnerships amateur radio has developed with government particularly within emergency management at all levels has been generally successful. Other partnerships, for example with local CERT programs is another possibility. Likewise, amateur radio s partnerships with major nonprofit organizations such as the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army have been successful. However, there is always the potential to partner with additional non-profits and that is encouraged. However, there were other partnerships discussed. For example, it may be possible to partner with for-profit entities that provide critical infrastructure, such utility companies and forprofit hospitals. Developing partnerships with education institutions is another possibility. There is already some of that going on with Amateur Radio Clubs and classes in middle schools and high schools. Partnerships are also possible with higher education institutions. College Amateur Radio Clubs as part of a university s electronics or technology program are not new. From an international perspective, there are those in the IARU who believe that better partnerships, coordination and cooperation between the three Regions is also necessary. 33. GAREC Lessons: The trend towards social media is becoming more prevelant everywhere, including in amateur radio. Using social media has been described as sometimes being like putting a message into a bottle and throwing it into the sea. Sometimes people get the message; sometimes they don t. And sometimes they do something with that message and sometimes they don t.

12 Slide 33 (continued): It is possible, however, to target social media to specific audiences to effectively distribute information to those who need that information. However, it is must be done quickly within about 15 minutes to be truly useful, according to FEMA. Slide 33 (continued): A good example of this are some of the DX Spotting Networks that use various forms of social media to quickly distributed information. Internationally, DX Clusters have used social media to quickly inform their members of an ongoing disaster and what frequencies to avoid. The problem is that sometimes this information continues to be distributed long after it is no longer valid information. The ARRL and many other non-profits also use social media to good advantage in a similar manner. There is a need for amateur radio and amateur radio groups to continue to explore how this new tool can be used to best advantage. 34. Amateur Radio needs to do a better job of promoting itself. Amateur Radio s involvement in public service events especially emergency communications has been and remains a very good public relations tool. That public service can also be used to promote amateur radio to young people, people of diverse backgrounds, and people who have found their niche in amateur radio yet. Submitting After Action Reports to the served agencies and media can be another important public relations tool that promotes the activities of amateur radio. This would include submitting reports to the ARRL who can use that information to support such legislative and regulatory matters as frequency allocation and bills such as H.R

13 35. Relevancy of Amateur Radio: One of the major issues that kept coming up over-andover throughout the two days of discussions was the relevancy of amateur radio in emergency communications. As the communications infrastructure becomes more reliable, robust and technologically sophisticated, there is great concern that amateur radio will either be perceived, or actually become, irrelevant to our served agencies during times of disaster. Some are finding it increasingly difficult to convince the government and non-profit agencies they serve or want to serve that they can provide a service that is relevant to the sophisticated communications needs of the 21rst Century. Although this has been a personal concern of my own for some time, I was very surprised to see how many have this same concern on a global scale even in what are considered to be third-world countries with limited communications infrastructure. One of the problems discussed is that many government, non-profit and other served agencies believe that amateur radio is the communications option of last resort. The When All Else Fails syndrome. For many years, this was the ARRL slogan. Dan Henderson, N1ND, created that slogan and told the group that the slogan took on a life and a meaning all its own that was never intended. He indicated that the slogan was never intended to mean that this was the ONLY time amateur radio should be used. But that is what the result has been in many places, including within amateur radio itself. It has become how many amateur radio groups sell themselves to potential served agencies. A better slogan might be, Amateur Radio: Your Partner In Emergency Response But that doesn t have to be the case. This was clearly demonstrated to me in a talk at the National Hurricane Conference two years ago. Discuss the stories of the two speakers from New Jersey and Massachusetts. This story is, I believe, a cautionary tale and one that amateur

14 radio needs to take to hear. The question is, How does amateur radio become more proactive? 36. Relevancy of Amateur Radio: First. We need to eliminate the When All Else Fails slogan from the discussion. That doesn t mean we don t do it, but it is not reason for existing either. Which means we need to find other reasons for existing and serving. One of the best ways to do that is to begin offering services that our served agencies may not have access to or need more of. For example, people willing to go out and provide situational awareness. People to provide services such as WinLink or D-STAR internet access to small command posts that may not have access to satellite communications vans in small or short-term events. Video imaging? Drone video via amateur radio? Point-to-point semi-secure digital communications via D- STAR and related programs (D-RATS, etc.). Providing technical support (SATERN / ARES in 1997 Red River Valley Flood). Another option that was explored by the group was the use or support of non-amateur radio communications. This can be a little more difficult, but not impossible. The Salvation Army is looking for people to staff the Communications Trailer. There is also nothing wrong with doing tasks that are totally unrelated to communications. (e.g. Twin Cities EDS/SATERN Team). Shelter managers who also do comms. 37. GAREC-2015: It will be the Tenth Anniversary of GAREC. GAREC-2015 will be held in Tampere, Finland, in the same location that the first GAREC was held in The dates are June 2015 The theme is Cooperating With Authorities A draft program will be available in January END SLIDE

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