Operation Frozen Iceman

Electrical power went out on the 4th of January 2005 at approximately 21:30 CST due to Ice Storm.  The following is about dealing with winter storms and power outages that can occur any time of year.

OPERATION FROZEN ICEMAN- Better Prepared -

• Automatic Standby Generator 220/110 VAC
• Gas engine with alternator and battery (to start vehicles and recharge batteries)
• 12 VDC heaters (warm small areas)
• 12 VDC lights (use led modules, brighter and longer lasting)
• Use MRE heaters to prepare food (water activated heaters).
• Develop some sort of chemical package that could be placed in a freezer to keep cold (frozen) for up to three days or more.
• Window Solar Heater
• Notebook computer with 12 volt battery power supply.
• Solar Power / Wind Generator with battery bank.
• Phoneline power (what can be operated by it?)
• Space Blankets
• Heater for Pump House
• Chemical toilet
• Battery backup for
  • telephone
  • wireless router
• Siphon pump for 50 gallon water drums.
• Emergency Fund
  • at a secure location yet accessible
• Chain Saw
• Wash Board
• Rope, tackle and block

The electrical power was restored on the 7th of January 2005 at approximately 20:15 CST.

This particular outage was “short term” when compared to the couple of weeks plus that some in Western Kansas have endured during this winter of 2007.

Are you prepared for the possibility of long term outages?

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Dynamic Paths …

Just like other living things there are good and bad times for dynamic paths that are taken.

One can opt to be static yet knowing dynamic paths will move you.

What does this mean to those that work in the area of emergency response?

Be flexible with the methods that are used, yet maintain the basic standards that allow a incident operation to be conducted safely. Standards which remain static can be used as a basis for operation integrity and also represent a road map to a successful mission.

Standard Operation Procedures provide the static portion for operational planning yet they should also be dynamic so that when new methods are presented they can be placed into the Standard Operation Procedures as soon as possible.

Every situation, every incident is different, thus the need for being dynamic in operational style. At times incidents will take place that are not amongst the normal operational situations. This indeed is one of the times that we need to be dynamic in readiness and response.

Flexibility is a key ingredient to readiness and the “all hazard” approach to emergency response and planning.

As a organization which path are you opting for: static or dynamic flexibility?

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Welcome Back …

Welcome Back the blog was offline while we migrated to a different server.  Getting the database to cooperate in the transistion is always the toughest part.   We will see what we can bring back into the mix as time goes along.

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High Speed Multi Media – HSMM

High Speed Multi Media (HSMM) is often referred to as being the Hinternet (Ham Internet), as it is primarily used under FCC Rules & Regulations Part 97. Under Part 97 commercial off-the-shelf equipment can be used at higher power and higher gain than the more common Part 15 802.11a/b/g operations.

The primary purpose for HSMM and Hinternet is to augment emergency communications via long range high speed wireless data networks that can handle voice, data and video communications. HSMM can also be used in the day-to-day aspects of Amateur Radio Communications.

The Fit …

With the rapid expansion of Asterisk PBX into the relm of radio communications the added flexibility of having a wireless linking system has also expanded.

It is now possible to have a network of repeaters and link stations that never touch a standard public switched telephone network, yet at the same time this network of repeaters and link stations has all the standard features one will expect to find with any telephone system.

By integrating HSMM along with Asterisk PBX a truly transportable network can be delivered to any location where communications is needed, with voice, data and video all being available to the agencies and organizations being supported.

Learn more about High Speed Multi Media (HSMM)

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