Welcome! And Thank You!!

Disaster Field Offices are quickly added to architecture to provide a robust field operating environment

Provide a minimum essential emergency communication capability among federal agencies, state, local commonwealth, and territorial governments in times of national, natural and civil emergencies

• Provide a minimum essential emergency communication capability among federal agencies, state, local commonwealth, and territorial governments in times of national, natural and civil emergencies

• FEMA monitors the FNARS HF frequencies on a daily basis

• FNARS is an Single Side Band (SSB) radio system that can transmit both voice and data, and that has the capability to operate in both secure and non-secure modes

• At the state level, FNARS radios are typically located at the state emergency operations center (EOC)

• http://www.emd.wa.gov/telcom/telcom_other_radios_systems.shtml

REACT is a national emcomm group

• REACT is a national emcomm group

• members include Citizen's Band (CB) radio operators, hams, and others

• In addition to CB and Amateur Radio, they may use General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), Family Radio, and the Multiple Use Radio Service (MURS).

• Organizational structure similar to ARES

• Mission is somewhat broader than that of ARES.

• Offer crowd and traffic control, logistics, public education, and other services that usually (but not always) include a need for radio communication.

Mission:

• Mission:

• We will provide public service communications to individuals, organizations, and government agencies to save lives, prevent injuries, and give assistance wherever and whenever needed.   We will strive to establish a monitoring network of trained volunteer citizen-based communicators using any and all available means to deliver the message.

• REACT and ARRL have an MOU

Current EAS system has evolved from the earlier Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) and the original "CONELRAD System" developed during WWII

• Current EAS system has evolved from the earlier Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) and the original "CONELRAD System" developed during WWII

• EAS relies on radio and TV broadcast stations to relay emergency alert messages from federal, state, and local authorities

• Messages may pertain to any immediate threat to public safety, including enemy attack, storm warnings, earthquake alerts, and wildfires

• Messages are relayed from station to station using automatic switching systems and digital signaling

State of Washington Emergency Alert System EAS Plan

• State of Washington Emergency Alert System EAS Plan

• Innovations in Washington State Plan:

• Broadcasters are not expected to originate messages, they just relay them. Government agencies originate all EAS messages at the both the State and Local levels. LP1 & LP2 stations may not be manned, but their equipment will still relay the proper alerts automatically.
• EAS messages pass through the network in the background and stay in the background as much as possible. What is called a daisy chain of broadcast stations is avoided except for backup.
• NOAA/NWS is fully integrated into the system, so events that were not originated by NWS are still routed through their transmitters.

VHF relay network that utilizes a Washington State Patrol frequency.

• VHF relay network that utilizes a Washington State Patrol frequency.

• This network is controlled from the Washington State Department of Emergency Services building at Camp Murray Washington.

• This network gives full state coverage.

• The decoder/encoder installed at the WSDEM not only can initiate EAS messages, it can also receive them and relay them.

• Decoders/Encoders are to be installed at all NWS offices through out the State

http://www.wsab.org/eas/eas.html

• http://www.wsab.org/eas/eas.html

• http://www.eas-wa.info/

NWR is an all-hazards public warning system, broadcasting forecasts, warnings and emergency information 24 hours a day directly to the public

• NWR is an all-hazards public warning system, broadcasting forecasts, warnings and emergency information 24 hours a day directly to the public

• Natural (e.g., tornado, hurricane, floods, earthquakes)
• Technological accidents (e.g., chemical release, oil spill, nuclear power plant emergencies, maritime accidents, train derailments)
• AMBER alerts
• Terrorist attacks

• NWR uses seven frequencies in the 162MHz band

• Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)

• remain silent until an alert is received for a specific geographic area