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The work on the emergency communications plan is moving forward. Our plan covers two main contingencies:
One of our team goals is put ourselves in a position where we can help the broader community during a wider emergency, such as a grid down situation after a hurricane or power station sabotage (like the next county over went through in 2022).
This plan is a step towards achieving those goals. Later phases of plan development should help address the communications divide between the CERT team and the greater community. These later phases should also incorporate some of the great ideas that were generated in the brainstorming / brainwriting work.
The rough draft of the plan is below. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
At time of muster, team members will be assigned to a group and a backup group based on available communications tools and radios.
At time of muster, team members will also be assigned a cell phone number for a command staff member, where they can confirm the communication channel they should be using. This communication should occur via text message. This cell number can also be used to short messages between command staff, as needed. Primary communication method is radio communication.
Teams Communications
Priority 1 (Group 1) — Zello Channel – “Lee County Emergency Response Team”
Priority 2 (Group 2) – HAM Radio using the KB4HG repeater – 441.9500 / +5 MHz / 136.5 Tone
Priority 3 (Group 3) – MURS channel #3 (151.94 MHz)
Priority 4 (Group 4) – GMRS / FRS channel #15 (462.55 MHz) [Note: limited FRS range]
Priority 5 (Group 5) – CB channel #22
(Backup) Priority 1 – No backup, go to other group
(Backup) Priority 2 (Group 2) – HAM Radio using the NC4ML – 147.240 / +5 MHz / 91.5
(Backup) Priority 3 (Group 3) – MURS channel #5 (154.60 MHz)
(Backup) Priority 4 (Group 4) – GMRS / FRS channel #17 – 462.60 MHz [Note: limited FRS range]
(Backup) Priority 5 (Group 5) – CB channel #24
Note: Group 2 – If both HAM repeaters are not available, switch to Simplex 146.58 FM
Command Communications
Priority 1 (Group C1) — Zello Channel – “Lee County Emergency Response Team – Command”
Priority 2 (Group C2) – HAM Radio using Simplex 144.400
Priority 3 (Group C3) – MURS channel #2 (151.88 MHz)
Priority 4 (Group C4) – GMRS / FRS channel #19 (462.65 MHz) [Note: limited FRS range]
Priority 5 (Group C5) – CB channel #21
(Backup) Priority 1 – Use command text message number to ask which alternate group to use
(Backup) Priority 2 (Group 2) – HAM Radio using Simplex 144.800
(Backup) Priority 3 (Group 3) – MURS channel #4 (154.57 MHz)
(Backup) Priority 4 (Group 4) – GMRS / FRS channel #21 (462.70 MHz_ [Note: limited FRS range]
(Backup) Priority 5 (Group 5) – CB channel #23
Use the following communications channels on the schedule below with a wilderness protocol (seeking to minimize power use in case the grid is down):
The work on the emergency communications plan is moving forward. Our plan covers two main contingencies:
One of our team goals is put ourselves in a position where we can help the broader community during a wider emergency, such as a grid down situation after a hurricane or power station sabotage (like the next county over went through in 2022).
This plan is a step towards achieving those goals. Later phases of plan development should help address the communications divide between the CERT team and the greater community. These later phases should also incorporate some of the great ideas that were generated in the brainstorming / brainwriting work.
The rough draft of the plan is below. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
At time of muster, team members will be assigned to a group and a backup group based on available communications tools and radios.
At time of muster, team members will also be assigned a cell phone number for a command staff member, where they can confirm the communication channel they should be using. This communication should occur via text message. This cell number can also be used to short messages between command staff, as needed. Primary communication method is radio communication.
Teams Communications
Priority 1 (Group 1) — Zello Channel – “Lee County Emergency Response Team”
Priority 2 (Group 2) – HAM Radio using the KB4HG repeater – 441.9500 / +5 MHz / 136.5 Tone
Priority 3 (Group 3) – MURS channel #3 (151.94 MHz)
Priority 4 (Group 4) – GMRS / FRS channel #15 (462.55 MHz) [Note: limited FRS range]
Priority 5 (Group 5) – CB channel #22
(Backup) Priority 1 – No backup, go to other group
(Backup) Priority 2 (Group 2) – HAM Radio using the NC4ML – 147.240 / +5 MHz / 91.5
(Backup) Priority 3 (Group 3) – MURS channel #5 (154.60 MHz)
(Backup) Priority 4 (Group 4) – GMRS / FRS channel #17 – 462.60 MHz [Note: limited FRS range]
(Backup) Priority 5 (Group 5) – CB channel #24
Note: Group 2 – If both HAM repeaters are not available, switch to Simplex 146.58 FM
Command Communications
Priority 1 (Group C1) — Zello Channel – “Lee County Emergency Response Team – Command”
Priority 2 (Group C2) – HAM Radio using Simplex 144.400
Priority 3 (Group C3) – MURS channel #2 (151.88 MHz)
Priority 4 (Group C4) – GMRS / FRS channel #19 (462.65 MHz) [Note: limited FRS range]
Priority 5 (Group C5) – CB channel #21
(Backup) Priority 1 – Use command text message number to ask which alternate group to use
(Backup) Priority 2 (Group 2) – HAM Radio using Simplex 144.800
(Backup) Priority 3 (Group 3) – MURS channel #4 (154.57 MHz)
(Backup) Priority 4 (Group 4) – GMRS / FRS channel #21 (462.70 MHz_ [Note: limited FRS range]
(Backup) Priority 5 (Group 5) – CB channel #23
Use the following communications channels on the schedule below with a wilderness protocol (seeking to minimize power use in case the grid is down):