| August 15th , I attended the meeting of all the EC's of the WPA Section of ARES, at Brookville, Penna. The following are the goals and project for WPA ARES, discussed at the meeting. |
| Em Comm Training |
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| EC.s Were asked to start and finished the following courses: |
| FEMA IS-100.a |
| Introduction to Incident command System |
| FEMA IS-700.a |
| National Incident Management System - An Introduction |
| FEMA IS-800.b |
| National Response Framework, An Introduction |
| FEMA IS-802 |
| Emergency Support Functions - Communications |
| ARRL EC-001 |
| Introduction to Amateur Radio Emergency Communications |
| These are the previous courses that EC's should be in the processing of taking. |
| It is also asked the AEC's should be taking the above courses, it is not mandatory at this time. |
| When the above sources are completed, we were ask to email John Szwarc, WPA SEC, with the passing documentation of the completed course. |
| NBEMS Digital Mode |
| WPA is asking to have a least two amateur radio operators in each county to be proficient with the NBEMS mode. The MBEMS is now mandatory mode for Emergency Communications. |
| I have the software on a cd, for anyone who can not download the software. I am looking for at least 2 others who are interested in the Digital Mode Communications. |
| SET is October 31, 2009 : |
| SET is being held on October 31, 2009, and will based on a freak morning Winter Snow Storm. More details will be forth comming. |
| Local Written Em Comm Plans; |
| WPA counties should have a written plan before the end of the year. Indiana County Em Com plan is finished and is located on the Indiana County ARES Web site, which is linked to the W3BMD web site for download. All Ares Members are encouraged to download a copy or if they can not download a copy, please let me know, I will download a copy for anyone who needs a copy and print one out for them.. Please feel free to contact me. |
| D-STAR |
| D-STAR is the Em Comm for Eastern Penna. The WPA ARES had begun the process of identifying and applying for grant funding to purchase D-STAR infrastructure and field equipment for each county in the WPA Section. |
| Please note that I will be adding this report in the October newsletter. |
| Robert Zugates |
| EC of Indiana County. |