IMPRESSION

There clearly is an opportunity for Amateur Radio to benefit as we work in support of Citizens’ Corps activities.  At the same time, we will need to be advocates on behalf of the services we can offer through the Corps.  At least in Ohio, the Coordinators have essentially no understanding of the services we can perform.

MEETING

I met with the Ohio Citizens’ Corps Coordinators this past Tuesday afternoon (10/7/03).  I was not certain what to expect and, frankly, didn’t hear anything to astound me.  A few notes:

1.   Each of the two women who are the Ohio Coordinators has been on the job less than a year and are still figuring our what is going on.

2.   Their concept of operations is to coordinate the several organizations and agencies that exist in the state.  EMA, Red Cross, senior groups, sheriffs organization, etc., etc.

3.   Their idea of what they are to do in emergencies is to serve as a provider of workers.  In doing this, they plan to use a practice of the Florida EMA which draws volunteers who otherwise are not already occupied in helping served agencies to an assembly point some distance from the emergency.  Here, the volunteers will be logged in, screened for type of job they can best perform and held until a need for them is called in from the emergency area or other controller.

4.   The Florida plan calls for a telephone bank through which it is supposed that calls for supplies and personnel will be funneled into the volunteer assembly point.  Volunteers will subsequently be dispatched to fulfill these needs.

5.   Neither of the women had any concept of Amateur Radio, but both were impressed with the descriptive paragraph on ARRL and Amateur Radio contained in the list of colleague organization distributed in Citizens’ Corps literature.  They received this literature in a meeting of state coordinators held a short time ago in Chicago.  This region is Region V and consists of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

6.   After the women had described their ideas on Citizens’ Corps operation, they asked if there was a way in which we could assist, in particular, by relaying information from a disaster area back to the volunteer assembly point.  This signaled my opportunity to talk.

7.   I described amateur radio and how we can operate (in our terminology) in base, portable, handheld fashion.  They were instantly impressed and obviously thrilled.  After a 3-way discussion, I showed the ART video.  Again, they were enthralled and wanted to show it to more people.  They asked if I could leave the CD-ROM and, of course, I gave it to them.  They also asked how much the charge for our service is.  I jokingly (with some serious intent) told them the only charge was for them to talk about us when the opportunity arises so that others may become interested in joining us and from this come to assist the Citizens’ Corps as part of our team.

8.   The Ohio Citizens’ Corps people plan two or three trials of the Florida plan during the coming few months.  One is to be in the Youngstown, OH area and another in the Newark, OH area.  Details of these and all planning for the third have yet to be set; however, ARES as representative of Amateur Radio has been asked to participate in all three of these.

I had invited Ohio SM Joe Phillips, K8QOE, to attend the meeting with me; however, he was unable to do this for a week or so.  We agreed that I should go to the meeting so as to avoid the impression we were not interested.  During the meeting I discussed his role as well as that of the Ohio SEC.  At the conclusion of the meeting I commented I would forward the information I had received to Joe and that he would follow up on it.

Joe is out of the city and will contact the Coordinators soon after his return.  He is aware of the coming exercises and their tentative dates.

I also obtained the name of the Michigan Coordinator and will pass this to Vice Director Mondro and SM Williams for possible follow-up.

It was an interesting and fruitful meeting that shows promise for the future association between the Citizens’ Corps and ARRL in Ohio.

73,

Jim, K8JE