[Wakeares-list] State Fair - Red Cross - Amateur Radio Communications

[Gary Pearce KN4AQ]

                  AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNICATORS FOR THE
                      RED CROSS FIRST AID STATION
                         AT THE 2003 STATE FAIR

[for more information, or to volunteer, contact John Guerriero KG4HDT at:
johnguer at mindspring.com.  Please put "RED CROSS" in the subject line to 
catch his attention!!]
---------------

Once again this year, Amateur Radio will provide communications 
"dispatchers" for the Red Cross at the First Aid station at the State 
Fair.  We will fill two operators per shift, three shifts per day, for all 
10 days - a total of 60 shift/operators to cover (many hams cover more than 
one shift).

If you've worked the Fair before, we need you back!

If you've never done it before, we need you now!

John Guerriero KG4HDT is coordinating the Amateur Radio operation for the 
Raleigh Amateur Radio Society.  But you don't need to be a RARS member to 
help.  In fact, you don't even need to be a ham! We'll explain below.

And yes, this notice is going out very late.  Hurricane Isabel had both the 
Amateur Radio and Red Cross leadership scrambling just at the time we 
normally get things going for the State Fair.  So we're right up against 
the deadline.

Triangle area hams have given this operation strong support for well over a 
decade.  We know we can count on you this year, and we apologize for 
running late.  Please don't hesitate in volunteering now!

This e-mail will provide considerable detail about the operation.  First, 
the basics:

FAIR DATES:  Friday, October 17 thru Sunday, October 26, 2003.

SHIFT TIMES:  9 AM to 2 PM  (two hams on each shift)
               2 PM to 7 PM
               7 PM to MIDNIGHT

LOCATION:  Ah!  Good question!  If you've been to the fairgrounds in the 
past few weeks, you may have noticed a flat spot where the old Red Cross 
Lounge (and First Aid station) used to be.  They've been saying they were 
going to tear the building down for years, and they've finally done 
it.  But they haven't built anything new yet.  We believe that we will be 
in a temporary building set on the slab left below the old building.

JOB DESCRIPTION: The 911 centers call the job "Telecommunicators."  We 
handle the radios, some of the telephones, and intercoms at the First Aid 
station.  A more complete Job Description is listed below.

TO VOLUNTEER:
E-mail or call John Guerriero KG4HDT.  John is coordinating volunteers.  Be 
ready to tell him when you can work.

You can check the volunteer schedule at:
www.rars.org/public-service/events/statefair2003/
to see what's available.  That schedule is updated often, but not every 
minute, so a shift you want may have been filled.

John Guerriero KG4HDT contact information:

e-mail: johnguer at mindspring.com,  and put RED CROSS in the Subject Line
         (John's "kg4hdt at arrl.net" address is experiencing the
          Earthlink/Mindspring forwarding trouble)
home phone: 266-7687
work phone: 231-8000  (John's last name is pronounced Gu-RARE-oh)


MANDATORY ORIENTATION:
The Red Cross requires that all First Aid personel, including ham 
operators, attend an orientation session.  Since our job is unique, we run 
our own.  You have three dates to choose from, but you MUST attend one of 
them, even if you are a 10 year veteren.

SUNDAY, October 5th, 3 PM, State Fairgrounds.  John and Bernard W4BRB will 
run this session.  Talk-in on 146.64.  I don't know exactly where on the 
fairgrounds the meeting will be, since the old Lounge is gone.  Keep an ear 
on the 64 repeater for directions.  This will probalby be the first time we 
get details on just where the station will be.  This meeting has been 
advertised as a "picnic," and is also for the rest of the 
personnel.  They've taken a head count for food, so if you're not counted, 
you might wait to grab a hot dog and make sure there's enough.

MONDAY, October 13, and
TUESDAY, October 14th, 7:30 PM, both at the Red Cross office in Cary.  John 
and I (Gary KN4AQ) will run these two orientation sessions, for hams 
only.  (No food!)

DIRECTIONS to CARY Red Cross office:  The Office is located near Western 
Wake Medical Center at 305-A Ashville Avenue.  From Raleigh, head south on 
US 1/64, and exit EAST on Tryon Rd (this is the ramp just past were US 64 
splits off and heads west).  Turn left at the light onto Ashville Ave., and 
turn left into the parking lot alongside O'Charley's restaurant.  The Red 
Cross office will be at the far end, the last office and building.  It's 
well marked.  We'll be monitoring 146.64 for directions.

FORMS: If you received a form in the mail from the Red Cross, bring it to 
the Orientaiton and give it to John.  If you didn't get a form, we'll have 
them at the Orientation.

PARKING	at the Fair:  As usual, no parking inside the Fairgrounds.  We 
don't know if a lot will be reserved near a gate or not.  Those details 
will be available at the Orientation.


DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION:
The Red Cross fields First Aid teams at the Fair.  The teams respond to 
calls, and sometimes just rove the fair when it's busy and hard to move 
around through the crowds.  During busy hours, they also man a second First 
Aid outpost.  These teams must remain in reliable communications with the 
First Aid station.

Hams do NOT accompany the teams in the field.  The teams operate their own 
radios (and we use business-band radios, not ham radios, which is why 
non-hams may participate in the operation.  For simplicity, we'll call them 
"hams" from here on).  The two ham-dispatchers in the First Aid station are 
the ONLY ham operators involved.  Using hams in the First Aid station frees 
the Red Cross people to concentrate on providing service.  And we're the 
communications experts!

We handle a variety of situations, but a "typical" call might go like this:

A ham answers the phone, and a person on the line reports that a fairgoer 
tripped getting off a ride and cut their leg.  You, the ham dispatcher, get 
a precise location, the name of the caller, the phone number, and any other 
details they can give.  You log the call, and pass that information to the 
Station Supervisor.

The Supervisor may send a team from the station, or may have you call a 
roving team by radio and dispatch them.  You log the time the team is 
dispatched.  They will report by radio when theY arrive, and you log that 
(yep, a lot of logging going on).  Since this happened on a ride, the 
Supervisor may tell you to call the Fair Police (on an intercom or radio) 
and notify them.  She may also have you call the Ride Inspectors by radio 
and notify them.

A few minutes later, the First Aid team calls to report their 
analysis.  This is a more serious injury than first thought - a deep gash 
and a sprained ankle, and can't be treated in the field.  They want to 
bring the patient to the First Aid station.  You log that, and tell the 
Supervisor.  The Supervisor sends a First Aid worker out with a golf-cart 
or "Gator," who also reports by radio when they leave, when they arrive at 
the scene, and when they depart the scene to bring the patient back to the 
First Aid station.  Your final log entry will be when the team and patient 
arrive back at the station.

So that's a quick look at the job.  It is usually pretty quiet, but 
sometimes it gets hectic, with two or three emergencies happening 
simultaneously.  The good news is that you don't have to make any judgement 
calls.  The Station Supervisor makes the decisions.  Your job is to 
efficiently relay information.  We don't put two first-timers on the same 
shift.  If you're new, you'll be teamed with an experienced ham.  Hams have 
been doing this since way back in the 80's - you can, too.


THAT'S IT!  We've got a lot of shifts to fill, and a short time to do 
it.  Please e-mail John now and tell him when you're available.

Thanks and 73,
Gary KN4AQ