Thanks everyone for participation in this weekend's simulated emergency test.

We had the following operators from Delaware County involved with the exercise:

Bob Famiglio 
Richard Caruth *
Sonya Fazio 
Nadine Atkinson 
Tom Barrett 
Tammi Maciolek *
Nathaniel Prentice 
David Ingram *
Michael Pentimall *
Matthew Carango 
Chris Kelleher *

Those with an asterisk next to their names were at the ARES trailer at the 911 center in Media.

Here are a couple of photos from the event:


All members of ARES of Delaware County should review the following to be prepared for an emergency:

Review our Emergency Procedures (delcoares.net), the Delco ARES Manual (delcoares.net), especially the Delco ARES Annex A (delcoares.net) for procedures during a failure of commercial power and/or communications infrastructure, as well as Emergency Communications (delcoares.net) from the ARES Handbook.

If you were able to participate, please remember to send in your completed ICS-213 message to maciolekt@co.delaware.pa.us and w3ctk@delcoares.net.  The 213 message should be a written copy of what you reported when you checked in (Name, Call Sign, County; If you are available to deploy if this was a real emergency; If you can deploy, for how many hours/days can you function independently; Your deployment capabilities such as: County provided Go Kit, bands you can operate on such as VHF/UHF and HF, if you radio(s) are handheld, mobile or base station units, portable antennas available and antenna masts.)

Also, please fill out the following Google form for an evaluation of the exercise.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhbu4UePCXJdCRHCNePcwYlfvxpi6qHIeNxzrZUi0OyY-TEg/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&usp=mail_form_link.  These small steps after the exercise help us to document the effectiveness, and will alllow us to apply for grant opportunities for the drill.

Here's a thank you note from our SEC, Robert G Wilson 

First, a big thank you and congratulations to the ARES volunteers who made this year’s Fall SET on Saturday, October 7th another success story. It’s always humbling to witness the dedication and professionalism of amateur radio emergency communicators. The efforts of ECs and their crackerjack teams was more than evident.

We’re still waiting for final tallies and reports from Jay King, W2AFE of the American Red Cross and Philadelphia County ARES, to fully assess the response. Jay did a fantastic job designing the SET plan and organizing the entire event. It’s a huge effort and his detailed analysis of the response is always extraordinarily valuable.

At this point, I can give you a brief overview of the participation. Of the 34 counties in the EPA, we have 25 active ARES units. Of these, 11 counties responded with 110 volunteers reporting their deployment availability. Most of the message traffic was handled via Winlink after callup in the early morning hours of Saturday.

We had participation from the following EPA counties:

Luzerne
Delaware
Dauphin
Lancaster
Lycoming
Philadelphia
Chester
Montgomery
Schuylkill
Bucks
Cumberland
 
Additionally, I would like to recognize Adams County for providing radio communications for a local public service event which precluded its volunteers from joining the SET. I’d also like to congratulate Lancaster County for robust participation in the SET while on the same day helping with the Red Rose Repeater Association Hamfest. Well done!

In the next few days we will be analyzing the response to determine weaknesses and strengths. Emergency Coordinators will be asked for a brief synopsis of their unit’s response with an opportunity to identify issues and make recommendations for future exercises or actual deployments.

Again, I’d like to congratulate each of the participating counties for making this important exercise a success, Please pass along our sincere thanks to all team members for their dedication and professionalism.

73 and be safe!

Bob Wilson,  W3BIG
ARRL – Eastern Pennsylvania
EPA Section Manager
EPA Section Emergency Coord.