Monday, Sept. 28, 2015

This past weekend, CT ARES fielded a team of 5 ARES Members to go down to Camden, New Jersey to support Southern NJ ARES in their medical communications mission under Emergency Support Function
(ESF) 8 - Heath & Medical during the Papal Visit in Philadelphia.

Our Connecticut ARES Team Members included (by Region):
Dave – W1DVE (Region 1)
Kevin – KB1YCA (Region 2)
Bob – N1RGS (Region 2)
Douglas - WA1SFH (Region 2)
Jon – WF1H (Region 3)


Left to Right: Douglas-WA1SFH, Kevin-KB1YCA, Bob-N1RGS, Dave-W1DVE, Jon-WF1H


WHERE IS CAMDEN?

Downtown Camden is located right across the river from Philadelphia, PA and is connected to Philadelphia by the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.


Getting There
All, except Dave W1DVE, met at your DEC’s house in Milford, around 10 am on Friday morning (9/25). We had previously agreed to rent a car and split the travel expenses. This is a great way to travel economically, get to know folks, and have fun.

I rented a GMC Acadia (SUV) that morning, and we hit the open road at 10:15 am. This provided for a leisurely drive down to Camden during a window of opportunity that avoided NYC traffic hassles that typically present themselves on Friday as people leave/escape New York City for destinations West and South.

Arriving well in time to check-in, we were offered a walking tour of the sites where we would be stationed. With a very heavy police presence already in the city, we felt somewhat comfortable as we traveled around on foot. The furthest site was just under a mile and a half from where we were staying. There was no transport service available for us to get to and from our assignments. While the original plan called for a Gator type vehicle to be at our disposal, it was assigned "elsewhere". Many of us put on 6 miles a day, and some did more! We found the streets to be surprisingly uneven in places, and there were several times when I almost turned an ankle.


ACCOMMODATIONS

Left side view of Room, early set up on Friday
Note Cot Layout Plan with Names on White Board

We got to use a large "Multi Use Room" at the Medical Students building that we set up "shelter style" with rows of folding cots with blankets, sheets and pillows that were provided. We were given meal tickets to use at the Cooper University Hospital Cafeteria. Shower facilities were limited to a room (one each for men and women) with two shower stalls. Scheduling your shower was definitely art form.


SNJ ARES MISSION
The primary mission was to provide voice and data communications in support of the 4 EMS Medical Aid Tent sites, 1 EMS SMED location, and the Southern (NJ) Medical Coordination Center (MCC) EOC.


EMS Aid Station 1 with ARES Communications tent in the park of the Whitman Museum




NJ EMS Task Force Surgical Medical Emergency Department (SMED) tent complex with ARES communications tent

Briefing, "T Cards", FEMA ICS Forms, and More... OH, MY!
Those of you who have taken the "CORE 4" courses and the AUXCOM course, would have in very familiar territory during the Briefing. Clear and concise information was provided by the use of the "Fill in the Blank" ICS Forms. Mission, Organizational Chart, Assignments, Duration, etc . were all presented using ICS Forms.

Working in 12 hour shifts, our CT ARES Team was able to provide the equivalent of 24 hour coverage for 1 POD(see below) plus having another person able be deployed elsewhere.

“Change is Constant”… and IT CERTAINLY WAS!
During the Friday evening Briefing, we learned that there had been many changes to the developed plans as more assets were brought in and other groups began exerting their influence.

For the SNJ Planning Team, it seemed that their plans were needing revisions almost every day for the 2 weeks prior to the event And, starting Friday morning, they seem to kept changing every 3 hours. A primary factor was the lowering of the expected visitors for the Papal Visit (originally pegged at 4.5 million) as the City of Philadelphia had closed down the city and the media was scaring people away from the event.

Camden's original role was to provide off-site parking for thousands of buses and cars, with thousands and thousands of people walking into Philadelphia, crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Then, at the last minute, it seemed as though that the City of Philadelphia realized it had created a problem for itself and made sweeping changes to allow buses and cars to be parked at sites in and around the city.

The result of that change was that the flow of visitors to and through Camden was greatly diminished.

In retrospect, this was a “Good Thing” for SNJ ARES. This permitted our operation to effectively turn into a shake-down cruise for the 5 newly delivered “PODs” and Radio Drill. This allowed SNJ ARES to see what the problems were, discover fixes to be made, and see how long it took first-timers to get the Pods opened-up, set-up, learn the radios, and become operational.


"T CARDS"

The "T Card" is an index card that has a wider strip (about 1") at one end. The wide strip has the person's name/Callsign on it and is visible above the pocket in which the "T Card" sits. These were used by all personnel to denote operational status (Green = On Assignment, Red = Off Assignment, White - Not Available). The "T Cards" were kept in a roll-up fabric case that had rows of pockets sewn into one side. The "T Cards" were kept in the pockets (one pocket per volunteer), and the open case was hung on a tripod inside the entrance to the building where we were staying. All we had to do was to make sure that the front card was showing the correct color as we came in or out of the building. The board status periodically was relayed to the EOC.


The POD-RUNNER (AKA: "POD")
- An All in One "Go Box" and "Go Kit" on Wheels






SNJ ARES has 5 POD-RUNNERS. These are metal boxes (about 2 feet wide x 2 feet tall x 5 feet long) that each sit on a four wheeled carriage with an adjustable height mechanism. The top lid is hinged at the rear and swings up to the vertical position, and the front folds down to the horizontal position to provide a solid working surface. There are additional supplies strapped to the top (1 Canopy Shelter, 2 chairs, and a solar tripod - if so equipped)

When opened up, you see a 3 rack across arrangement of drawers and panel mounted radios. The PODs have been outfitted with a variety of VHF/UHF mobile radios, an HF radio, HTs, and associated antennas. The two mobile dual band 144/440 antennas, the mobile 220 antenna, and the 1.2 gig antenna mount on the top of the lid lip. The HF radio uses ParZ end-fed single band or quad band wire antennas.

Got Drawers?
There are drawers for organization of gear – several with foam cut-outs to specific equipment. For example, there is a Microphone drawer, an HT drawer with powered base chargers and a couple cut-outs to store the HT antennas. There are two drawers for Netbook size computers (one each) that have a power strip included and a port to pass the power plug thru to reach the computer any place on the fold-down table. There are other lined drawers used for travel storage items that would be set up upon arrival (e.g. HF wire antennas, or the remote HF radio head). There is also a drawer that has a packet of manuals for each radio, and has Dry Erase markers (and eraser) for the white board that gets mounted to the inside face of the top lid when opened up and vertical. It is held in place with Velcro patches.

Got Lights?
There are three rack-mounted LED lamp drawers that slide out from the panel. Each as a dimmer knob mounted on the face of the drawer, and contains a mixture of White LEDS and Amber LEDs for less harsh lighting. There also three large (truck size) White LED lamps mounted to the underside edge of the Pod lid lip.

Got Alternate Power?
Of the four units, two have 2 solar panels packed inside, and others have a gasoline generator to provide power when “Shore” (commercial) Power was not available.

POD Transport
Each POD has a specially designed Trailer hitch mount that is used with a vehicle’s Class 3 / Class 4 Trailer receiver. This allows the POD to be cranked up and set down on the mount for transport – no trailer required. Then, the 4 wheel fittings are rotated up to the horizontal position and pinned in place for ground clearance during transport There are also trailer lights mounted to the carriage (look for the long narrow red LED strips).

The PODs with solar panels can be slung underneath a helicopter for aerial transport. The others cannot due to their generator gasoline tanks.

POD-RUNNER LINK
ARES/RACES Field HAM Communication Console
Built for: Cooper University Hospital, NJ
thepodrunner.com/recent_builds/cooper/

CONCLUSION
WE DONE GOOD.
There were several lessons learned through this experience, and I look forward to reading the SNJ ARES After Action Report.
For me, this event reinforced the absolute NEED for all ARES Team Members to go "CORE 4" by completing the on-line FEMA courses (IS-100b, 200b, 700a, 800b).

and

"Without a doubt we did some good both for the weekend, and to demonstrate the benefits of amateur radio as an AUXCOM asset. The mission was executed with consummate professionalism by all."
- Tony Otlowski (KD2AFY),
Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator,
ARES - Southern New Jersey

1BCG
And finally, we took a detour on our ride home on the Merritt Parkway. We turned South on North Street in Greenwich to visit a Connecticut Amateur Radio Landmark at the intersection of North Street and Clapboard Ridge Road.
HISTORY
radioclubofamerica.org/rca-history/1921-...transatlantic-tests/
www.redwaveradio.com/4_b0fdb0c908ac7760_1.htm