Greetings to all emergency communicators!
It’s been nearly a year since our last in-person EmComm meeting – and what a year it was! Our meeting facilities weren’t allowing building use during the pandemic, but restrictions have eased to the point that we can again use the church where we meet as long as we continue to use masks and observe sensible social distancing. I thought about utilizing Zoom or other video conferencing platforms to keep the meetings going, but the consensus was to hold off until we could meet in person.
A lot has happened in emergency and disaster communications recently. Between tornadoes, international computer hacking, terrorist attacks, Texas losing power for days due to unprecedented cold weather and much more, comm folks have seen that this is no time to let down our guard. We spent a lot of time in meetings last year training and learning new techniques, but many of you have mentioned that it’s time to get out in the world and practice our skills.
To that end, I’d like to assign some homework before you come to the meeting. Please take some time to think about public service events that EmComm groups have participated in over the years. Various groups have provided communications for bike races, foot races, walk-a-thons, festivals and road rallies. I already have some events on the calendar – the Section Emergency Test is coming up in October, the Rangely Rally America event looks like it’s proceeding and of course Field Day will be coming up in June (in one form or another). But bring a list of events that might welcome our technical expertise and we’ll get in touch. Events have been reduced due to the pandemic, but there must be opportunities for training that we could join.
As usual, we welcome communicators from any agency, whether hams or not. Most of our members are hams, but a number of agencies have non-ham communicators as well – everyone is welcome. If you know any EmComm folks that aren’t reached by these e-mails or on the radio nets, invite them along. We welcome members from RACES/ARES, AuxComm, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Civil Air Patrol, MARS, REACT, CERT and more. Everyone brings something to the table!
If you have any questions, let me know. Ideas for meetings are welcome as well.
The meeting will be Saturday, February 27 at 0900 at:
First Christian Church
1326 N. 1st Street
Grand Junction, CO 81501
That’s next to Sherwood Park off of 1st and Sherwood.
We look forward to seeing you all – and we’ll have donuts!
Thanks.
Chip Ferron NØWKR
Emergency Coordinator
Colorado ARES
Region 9 – Northwest Colorado
At 10:17 a.m. on October 17, 2019, thousands of people will participate in the Great Colorado ShakeOut, the state’s largest earthquake drill ever! We’ll join participants from across the country to prepare for earthquake response and recovery. As part of ARES, it’s important that we know how to launch a communication response to assist local, state and federal officials as they mobilize for damage control. In Mesa County, all ARES members should monitor the Western Colorado Amateur Radio Club’s W0RRZ repeater at 146.94 MHz (107.2 tone) for information on how to respond. The only catch? No public AC power! The first thing to go in an earthquake is public power, so please respond with battery, generator or solar power only. Even a handheld will work, so we should all be able to respond. 
