Public Service Operating Guidelines

The following is a list of general guidelines, suggestions, and operating procedures for use during Fort Ward Amateur Radio Club Public Service Events.

Public Service events can be fun, rewarding, and educational as we set up stations in the field, work together to pass traffic which helps coordinate a worthwhile event, and practice some of the techniques we might use in an emergency. The techniques and protocols we use at a public service event are only minor variations on our everyday ham radio practices, but there can be a bit more emphasis on being brief, clear, and professional, with less time spent on rag chews, as we sometimes get busy with a lot of event traffic that has to be passed quickly and efficiently.

LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO/BE ATTENTATIVE AT ALL TIMES

Always keep a continuous watch on your primary assigned frequency, so that field operators and net control can get hold of you if needed, and so that you can know what is going on with the event. If you ever have a reason to listen to other frequencies, do that in a way that doesn't inhibit your ability to hear a call from field operators or net control. Multiple receivers can sometimes be useful. Even when net control is talking to someone else, keep listening to your radio. It can be easy to get caught up in local non-radio conversations, but always be aware and attentative of who's transmitting messages and what's being said on the radio. Keeping situational awareness can help you understand what's going on and anticipate requests that may be coming your way.

When net control calls you, one response they enjoy hearing is, "copy" or "intercepted", meaning you heard and understood the previous conversation with another station, and you understand the implications it has on you. This can save net control having to repeat the message to you.

Try to listen to as many public service events as possible, even on days when you're not participating. You will sometimes hear exemplary operating practices, and other times you will hear the distinct sounds of learning going on. Either can be educational.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

The most important thing to do in most medical emergencies is to get professional help on its way ASAP, and then to provide first aid to stabilize things until the professionals can arrive.

EMEGENCY RESPONSE APPROPRIATELY AND STRATEGY USED

Calling 911 as quickly as possible, from a location as close to the victim as possible. Relaying messages over distance or via the radio slows down communications with emergency dispatchers, and may make it difficult to answer a dispatcher's questions. Use a relay only when necessary.

If 911 can be called from the scene of the emergency, then 911 should be called from the scene of the emergency!

This is the best way to get help on the way quickly. Someone at the scene can answer the dispatcher's questions most reliably. Since a cell phone call to 911 will have GPS coordinates readable by the dispatcher, it allows the dispatcher to locate the emergency quickly.

If you get a report of an emergency and 911 hasn't been called, then call 911 if you can.

If you cannot call 911 yourself, then call net control and ask them to make the call to 911.

Make it clear to them that you are unable to call and you are giving them that responsibility. Make sure they acknowledge taking that responsibility.

If you need to report an emergency over the radio, break in with the word Emergency Traffic. Be prepared to state the nature of the emergency, a description of the injured party, and the precise location. Tell net control what you want them to do, and briefly tell them what you have done and/or will do. Keep transmissions short so that net control can ask questions and/or suggest what to do. Do NOT hold the transmit button down for a long time while volunteering lots of unneeded details, making it impossible for net control to come back to you and help.

911 DISPATCHERS REQUIRED REPORTING INFORMATION:

The location of the incident. They can't do anything without this info. Usually this will be the road or trail name, nearest intersection, direction and distance from the intersection, whatever is appropriate. All public roads in the rural part of the county have mile markers on the side. Dispatchers are familiar with these mile markers and you can use them to describe the location of an incident.

The nature of the incident

A description of the injured party or parties.

Sometimes, you'll hear second-hand information from a participant, reporting an incident on the course, maybe a few miles away from your location. He may be unsure of details, and/or unsure if 911 has been called. Use your judgment about whether to call net control first, or 911 first, but keep net control informed, regardless.

If there are two of you at a rest stop, sometimes it may be appropriate to send one of you to the scene, with an HT or mobile radio. If you do this, use judgment, and have a communications plan. Will the radio operator on-scene have cell service? Will he be able to call the repeater directly? Will he be able to contact the radio operator at the rest station via simplex? Will the radio operator at the rest station be able to monitor both a simplex frequency and the repeater frequency simultaneously?

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR ASIGNED STATION

Net control may need to call you to try to find out important information on behalf of the emergency dispatchers.

After professional emergency services have been called, it's still important to report the incident to net control as soon as practical. Getting the emergency onto the air may make it possible for nearby first aid resources to come to your aid before the professionals arrive. It helps us avoid having multiple people independently reporting the incident to 911 dispatchers. Also, there may be less urgent logistical details which net control can help coordinate after the primary emergency is dealt with ” things like arranging transportation for bicycles, belongings, participants who had been accompanying an injured participant, etc. In any case, event staff will want to stay informed of any emergencies that happen during their event.

If you hear someone call with emergency traffic, do NOT transmit, unless you're net control, or unless you really and truly have some vital lifesaving information to offer as assistance, or unless you have your own emergency traffic to report.

If one emergency is being dealt with, and you have your own separate emergency that comes up, do a quick assessment of priority, and break in as appropriate.

HANDLE RADIO TRAFIC ACCORDING TO EVENT PLAN

Each event has slightly different details, but before your specific event, you should get a plan containing the frequency list, with some guidelines about what kinds of happenings net control wants to be kept informed of. If any details of the even's plan conflict with the general guidelines in this list, follow the event's plan. Typically, net control may want to know when the first participants start to arrive, the registration numbers of any participants who drop out and/or require medical attention or transport, when the last participants come through, the arrival and departure times of course monitors or sag wagons, etc. With races (as opposed to untimed hikes/rides) they may want to know the bib numbers and times of the first five or ten leaders as they pass through each checkpoint. In addition, event staff will have varied messages they'd like you to deliver, often involving requests for supplies and similar.

And of course you should always report emergencies or any issues relevant to safety.

MULTIPLE FREQUENCY USE/BE ATTENTATIVE

Usually, we try to stay together and keep all event traffic on one single repeater, often the club's main simulcast system. This item only applies to events that are spread out beyond the range of a single repeater's coverage area, where we may use more than one repeater. If multiple repeaters are in use on a given event, try to listen to them all if that is possible from your location. That way, you will be more aware of what's happening elsewhere in the event, and you will be able to avoid calling net control with routine traffic while they're busy with other traffic on the other repeater.

However, make sure you're continuously listening to your main assigned frequency at all times. Don't put your primary radio in scan mode if that would mean that a long conversation on an alternate frequency could prevent you from hearing a call from net control.

Having separate receivers dedicated to each repeater is nice if you can arrange that. This might be a great use for a spare HT that isn't quite powerful enough to transmit to the repeater.

INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND RADIO OPERATOR TO EVENT STAFF

Often, you'll be working at a rest stop or checkpoint where there will be event staff serving food and beverages, keeping track of participants, timing a race, etc. Usually, you and the event staff will be arriving and setting up well before event participants arrive. Introduce yourself to these people, and let them know that you are there to provide communications. Find out who has first aid training. Ask them all to be alert to any safety or medical issues among the participants. Have them notify you and/or their rest stop captain of anything that needs to be communicated. Also ask them to keep an eye on their supplies, reporting shortages long before they become critical, so that any requests for food and supplies can be coordinated and bunched up to minimize the number of trips that may be required.

BE ACCESSIBLE AT ALL TIMES

Don't operate at a fixed rest stop from inside your vehicle; instead get outside, and make it easy for people to see you and talk with you.

BE ALERT FOR MEDICAL RESPONSE ISSUES

You're not expected to be a doctor or nurse, but try to be alert and notice if someone's condition stands out as different from the normal level of fatigue that most participants are displaying. When a participant decides to drop out of an event and requests transportation, don't assume he's just tired. Even if he looks fine, ask him how he's feeling, and talk with him briefly. If he seems to have a medical condition that may need attention, let net control know, and inform local event and/or medical staff. On the other hand, if someone appears to be having difficulties, but insists on continuing the event anyway, that's another thing to communicate, so that staff at the next checkpoint may keep an eye out for that personâ€™s well-being.

You may also ask other event staff ” food servers and such ” to be similarly alert and to notify you if they see anything of concern.

It's not your responsibility to determine whether someone should continue or drop out. But if someone asks for your advice, you may point out that it's safer and more comfortable to wait for transportation at an established rest stop rather than out on the course somewhere.

PRRIORITIZE RADIO TRAFFIC

Most transmissions are routine, and can wait until there's a suitably long lull in traffic before being aired. If the transmission isn't urgent, then give yourself time to plan exactly what you'll be saying. Allow enough space between transmissions so that another station with emergency traffic can break in if required. This means waiting for all squelch tails to drop entirely before keying up. If you're the one with the emergency, you don't need to wait for the squelch tails to drop. Since you are always carefully listening to your radio, you will have a feel for how busy things are, and what kind of traffic is being passed. This should help guide you as to how to rate the priority of your own message against others. It also lets you get a feel for when there is so little going on that you have time to exchange brief pleasantries, or when things are so busy that you really have to be as quick and efficient as possible, because others are likely to be waiting to use the frequency.

Know the difference between urgency and importance. They often go together, but not always. A medical emergency is both urgent and important. A tired rider who has decided to drop out and is comfortably at your rest stop waiting for a sag wagon is important, but not urgent (we must pass the traffic, but it won't be a serious problem if it's delayed a few minutes).

PLAN OR PRIORITIZE MESSAGES BEFORE SPEAKING

For routine messages, you may want to write down your message, or at least jot down notes of key points you want to make, before transmitting. It's good to jot down things like bib numbers to minimize the chance of getting them wrong. It's not a bad idea to write down requests for supplies and have the event staff check what you wrote down, to make sure you correctly understood the request before you put it on the air. If you don't do so on paper, at least make a mental plan of what you're going to say before you key up.

SPEAK CLEARLY AND SPEAK, SLOWLY

If your listener will have to write down details, like bib numbers, phone numbers, etc., speak at pencil speed so that the information can be written down.

Shoot for clarity, then brevity. There's an art to passing traffic while minimizing the amount of time you occupy the busy repeater. It's important to keep your transmissions short and simple, but it's even more important to keep them clear. Don't rush things so much that the other party has to ask you to repeat information.

COMBINE ROUTINE RADIO TRAFFIC APPROPRIATELY

If event staff tell you they're running low on some food item, ask them what else they're running low on, so that the requests can be combined into one. This not only reduces radio traffic, but it may also reduce road traffic as the scarce drivers and vehicles deliver supplies around the course.

USE PLAIN ENGLISH

Generally speaking, avoid radio jargon, particularly if the jargon isnâ€™t widely known by hams. This is not the time to try to impress everyone with your ability to use the â€œinsiderâ€ terms that not everyone knows.

CHECK IN/OUT SIGNING OFF

Call net control when you open your station. Call them just before you close for the day. If you are alone at a station, and you'll need to be away from your radio a moment for biological necessities, let them know you'll be temporarily out of service (you don't need to say the reason ” we'll all know), and let them know when you're back in service. If you have multiple operators who can cover the radio, nobody needs to know if one of you will be away for a moment. What we're trying to avoid here is a situation where net control calls your station repeatedly without getting an answer. Then they not only can't get their traffic through, they've got to debate how long to wait before sending somebody to check on your well-being.

USE DIRECTED NET CONTROL PROTOCOL

All calls should go through net control, unless you ask net control for permission to contact another station directly. Keeping conversations as two-way with net control reduces the confusion about who is supposed to speak next, thus minimizing the number of doubles where two stations transmit simultaneously and neither is understood.

USE "REACT" TACTICAL CALLSIGNS or "FCC" ISSUED CALLSIGN

To initiate a call, use your tactical call sign, assigned for the event. To conclude a call, state your tactical call sign followed by your FCC issued ID. We always operate under the FCC Part 97 rules, and nothing about these rules is suspended for a public service event. Section 97.119 requires us to use our FCC-issued call signs at least every ten minutes and at the conclusion of a communication. Part 97 rules do not require any particular ID at the beginning of contacts. For the purpose of efficiently passing information, we address and identify each other by the tactical call signs at the beginning of transmissions. During an event, it's more important for everyone to immediately know your tactical role (a particular rest stop, a course patrol, net control, a sag wagon), than to know which individual you are.

In the unlikely event an exchange extends for ten minutes or more, follow Part 97 rules and state your FCC-issued call sign as required.