Glendora Emergency Response Communications

Communication tips

Note: The following Communication tips were posted on the ARES usersgroups  by Scott Hanley, WA9STI. I strongly suggest that GERC members read and follow these operating practices. 

73, Mark N7YLA

 

While attending the 2010 ARRL Southwestern Division Convention in San Diego last month, I attended a seminar on emergency communications. Two local area hams, one of whom is a police dispatcher and the other who is a retired police officer, gave a presentation on how to talk on the radio as a professional and avoid superfluous language. Some of their suggestions would be applicable during our ARES drills and real world incidents.

Scott, WA9STI

 

NOTES RE: EMCOMM SEMINAR

ARRL SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION CONVENTION

SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

 

 

ABC’s of communication:

 

Accurate – Do not change the facts.  Do not give an opinion.

 

Brief – Use proper terminology and ITU phonetics. Use clear language.  No ham jargon

 

Clear – Speak like a professional.  No “uh’s” or “um.”  Speak in a clear voice at a speed where you imagine others are writing down what you are saying.

 

          Proper terminology on radio so it could be understood:

 

Affirmative   instead of    Yes

Negative       instead of     No

Advise           instead of     Tell

Standby        instead of      Hold on

Expedite       instead of      ASAP,  right away

Female          instead of      Woman

Male              instead of       Man

Vehicle          instead of       Car

Say Again     instead of       Repeat 

I say again    instead of       I repeat

Incident        instead of       Event

 

Saying numbers:  (Example – 1376)   First say “One Three Seven Six”

Then repeat as a group “Thirteen Seventy Six”

 

No “Please”  or “Thank you.”

 

Avoid saying  “I think”  or “I believe.”

 

Do not make transmissions over thirty seconds.  Say “break”, let up on the mike for a few seconds and then start again by saying “Continuing.”

 

Allow one second after you press the mike button before speaking especially over a repeater.  To yourself say “One thousand” before speaking.  Example:  You want to say “We do not need help.”  You start talking as soon as you press the mike and your first words are clipped so all that comes through is “Need Help.” 

 

As a Net Control Station/Dispatcher, talk calmly to an emotionally charged person.  Do not ramp up the situation.  This reassures the talker.  If you feel excited because you are passing on critical information, take a deep breath before speaking.

 

When an official or requester asks you to pass on a message or obtain information: Go out of earshot of the requester, call your station to get the information, and then go back to the requestor with a concise summary of what he needs.  Do not stand there right in front of him calling in your information or query.  Why?  The requestor might be busy with other matters going on.  You do not want to keep him “trapped” in front of you while you are trying to call a station who might not respond right away or may have difficulty in copying you.

 

Instruct all of your participants to come to the exercise or incident with all their radios programmed with the correct frequencies.  Everyone should know how to manually program their radios and not be dependent on a computer to do it.  The simple instructions for programming all radios are VFTOM:

 

VFO -           Go to your VFO mode

Frequency –  Set your frequency

Tone -            Set your tone

Offset –         Set your repeater offset

Memory -     Save to memory

 

Consider having a Citizen Band (CB) radio as part of your deployment package.  Often venders are hired to bring in supplies by truck.  All truck drivers usually have a CB radio in their vehicle.  If you are assigned to a supply point, you would be able to directly communicate with any truckers bringing in their loads.