Team members are prepared, at a moments notice, to deploy and handle emergency radio communications (through the use of their own personally maintained radio equipment) at no additional cost to O'Hara Township. Additionally, the O'Hara Township Emergency Communications Team has been granted the use of the W3YJ (443.450 MHz) amateur radio repeater located atop the Cathedral of Learning. The radio repeater, owned and operated by the Panther Amateur Radio Club (University of Pittsburgh), provides reliable radio coverage throughout - and well beyond - the O'Hara Township and Greater Pittsburgh Area.

In February 2006, the O'Hara Township EMA decided to add a new communications tool for the O'Hara E-Comm Team with the purchase and instalation of an ARMS® server (Automated Radio Messaging Service) at the Parkview Volunteer Fire Department. The software system - the first of its kind in the world - provides the E-Comm Team members and Emergency Management the ability to exchange voice message (voice-mail for radio), send message alerts and has the capability of recording, storing and receiving detailed data messages. The system works through the use of standard voice-based 2-way radios, elimintating the need for expensive or complex hardware in the field, and the system remains fully functional in the absense of cellular, wi-fi and land line telecommunications.

The purpose of the 2007 drill was to test our individual and combined radio communications capabilities and systems, and to identify areas where improvements can be made.

Tornado Strikes O'Hara Township (2007 Training Drill)!

A message is recorded to the ARMS® server "Hazardous Weather Outlook" general login at 10:05, warning the team members of the imminent weather situation. Another message is issued to the ARMS® "Situation Report" general login at 10:10. The recorded message informs all O'Hara E-Comm Team members that the Township EMA is activating the team and that they should check in on our designated repeater (W3YJ / 443.450 MHz) and report to the Township EMA office on Fox Chapel Road.

At 10:15, Harry (W3YJ) activates an emergency communications net on the W3YJ PARC repeater (443.450 MHz) and immediately takes 8 checkins. Shortly thereafter, Dave (KB3FXI), Vince (KB3OOG), JJ (KB3OUE), and Jim (KB3JXG - Twp. EMC) establish EMA command, and check in to the net from the radio station at the Emergency Management Agency office from the O'Hara Township Building.

At 10:20, EMA receives our first data reports from the ARMS® server reporting road closures due to trees and wires down.

At 10:30, EMA has assessed the situation and O'Hara Emergency Management checks back in with net control for emergency communications volunteer availability. W3DTF (Dennis), AA3ZN (Larry) and N3YP (Pres) are dispatched to the Incident Command Staging area at Guyasuta II which is very close to the worst affected area in the weather scenario. Parkview VFD is one of the designated shelters for O'Hara, and the scenario warrants the activation of the shelter, so NA0B is dispatched to Parkview to head up data and voice communications at that location.

At 10:40, our E-Comm volunteers arrive at Guyasuta II incident command and established voice and data communications. Juan (NA0B) also checks in from Parkview.

At 10:43, Emergency Management goes direct to NA0B at Parkview to request that he contact the Salvation Army on the 146.61 repeater. At 10:45, NA0B contacts AB3BT (Brian, at the Pittsburgh Salvation Army Headquarters in Greentree) and requests 2 Salvation Army food trucks for the O'Hara area... one at the Parkview VFD and the other at Guyasuta II Incident Command.

*At 10:55, a walk-in gives the volunteers at the incident command an unconfirmed report of structural damage on Camberwell Drive.

***(this was a test of the volunteers at Guyasuta II / Incident Command to see if they would properly handle the situation... unconfirmed reports during an actual emergency situation can lead to the unnecessary deployment of much needed manpower and could potentially cause the loss of life as a result)***

At 10:56, AA3ZN decides to go to the reported incident scene to verify the report (*and passed the rumor test*).

At 11:00, Emergency Management requests that net control contact the Skyview Radio Society Club, which has 3 volunteers manning their station in New Kensington, to attempt to make as many contacts as possible on the long range high frequency bands. Emergency Management asks that they log the stations contacted, their signal report exchange and whether the contacted station has either phone or internet email capabilities.

At 11:20, the Skyview Radio Society volunteers confirm 6 contacts on HF with phone and internet capabilities. Stations contacted were, WA3GIN (Dave, VA), N2AUS (Paul, NJ), K9ZHY (Dan, IN), WA8ZWJ (Keith, MI), N2LAQ (Roger, NY), W3AMC (Dave, PA). They go on to contact the following stations later in the drill: N1KW (Bob, IL), N9GH (Gary, IL), WW2LST (John, IN - Special Event Station - aboard the USS LST 325), VE3KES (Ken, ON, Canada).

At 11:28, NA0B at Parkview VFD sends a data report to Emergency Management on the status at the Parkview VFD designated shelter.

At 11:30 W3DTF suggests to net control that we simulate a repeater outage and takes checkins on 146.58 simplex.

At 11:45, Emergency Management requests that 443.450 Net Control attempt to make some Echolink® Contacts. Net Control makes the remote connection from his home station through Echolink® on 443.450 and contacts a radio operator from the National Institute of Health on K3YGG-R at 11:50.

At 11:47, Emergency Management receives a detailed update via data transmission to the ARMS® system from Incident Command with the status of road conditions in the affected area and confirming that the Salvation Army has deployed a truck to the Incident Command staging area.

At 11:55 the drill was closed and the net secured.

All information flowed smoothly throughout the exercise. Harry (W3YJ) did a fantastic job at handling a considerable amount of traffic as net control station on the repeater. Juan at Parkview and the team at Guyasuta handled voice and data communications and also did a fantastic job.

Special thanks to the following individuals who participated in the drill: Vince (KB3OOG), Harry (W3YJ), Juan (NA0B), Pres (N3YP), John (KB3OGN), Dave (KB3NFQ), Denny (W3DTF), Larry (AA3ZN), Jim (KB3JXG), JJ (KB3OUE), Bob (WC3O), Bob (AG3U), Mike (KB3GTJ), Brian (AB3BT).

ARMS® (Automated Radio Messaging Service)

O'Hara Township EMA owns and maintains an ARMS® (Automated Radio Messaging Service) server at the Parkview Volunteer Fire Department. The ARMS® software is running on a laptop computer that is directly interfaced with a radio transceiver. This combination of computer software and radio hardware provides the capability of recording, sending and retrieving both voice and data messages anywhere within the O'Hara Township area and beyond. Using nothing more than laptop computers and hand held radios, 6 of the O'Hara E-Comm Team members can be deployed anywhere in the township area to provide highly efficient transfer of information using a data transmission mode that operates over their existing radio equipment (standard voice-based radios). The data transfer capability allows the O'Hara E-Comm Team to send highly detailed reports in a fraction of the time that it would take to send information by voice. The data transfer and voice messaging performed by the ARMS® server is all done without the reliance upon cellular, wi-fi or land-line telecommunications systems, which are easily compromised in emergency situations.