Prince William County, Va. ARES®/RACES

Including the Independent Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park

Frequently Asked Questions

Overview

Logistics

Q: If a regional logistics net (Was/Metro VA/MD, NERA, etc.) has a resource, do they notify local Logistics net or do they assign the resource direct?

A: A lot would depend on the resource and the business of the regional net. The EOC could request direct from regional LogNet, but if regional has a resource, they can notify local LogNet.

Q: If an organization (Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.) orders internal agency resources, does that go through our Logistics/Operations nets? What happens when that resource arrives onsite?

A: For a non-Amateur resource, it would go across the OpsNet as it is traffic like they were ordering butter. For an amateur resource (out of the ARES® pool), it would go to the ECIC for dispensation based on who is available and what other demands there are.

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Resources

Q: When an agency requests a resource, what is the path it takes from start to finish (requester to issuing agency to requester)?

A: In general, the requesting agency would put their request into WebEOC and route it to the appropriate resource. If the request is to go through us, either the EOC Liaison or the IC through the Logistics Branch will assign it to us to handle. From there it would go out to the appropriate endpoint via the Ops Net.

Q. Who would track county/state resources being deployed within the county: ARES, County/State?

A: From an ARES standpoint ECIC would track resources in the county and manage the deployment/requirements at the District level via the DEC. Howard (DEC) would be responsible for State-level management (that is his job after all!). ECIC should know who is where and probably should know where they came from though. One of the reasons ECIC needs an assistant to do the logging.

Q: Who would track resource requests from County: Operations NCS, Logistics NCS, CnC NCS or other NCS?

A: The ECIC and the Operations NCS, since the requirements would come directly to the ECIC from the manager on duty or via WebEOC, through the EOC operator to the Ops Net. Depending on the scope of the incident, the ECIC might delegate resource tracking to another individual. For example, the EC might determine that an AEC should be ECIC while the EC deals with the resourcing requests.

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Operations

Q: When an operator arrives at their assigned location, whom do they notify? Operations, Logistics or both?

A: Once the operator is dispatched, they shift to Operations, so they would notify Operations after they check in with the appropriate site personnel.

Q: Once the operator notifies Ops Net, would Operations then notify the EOC of operator onsite?

A: If EOC did not copy directly from the operator, OpsNet would notify the EOC and or make an entry into WebEOC.

Q: When the EOC assigns something (site location/resource requests), it goes to Operations first for assignment. Does Operations than “assign” it to Logistics for personnel/resource coverage?

A: The deploy order goes ECIC to EOC operator to LogNet. LogNet does the assignment since available operators are holding on LogNet for assignment (or, if we are staged, a staging officer has the list of available staff). Once the operator has the assignment, they clear LogNet for OpsNet and report in. EOC may notify Ops for convenience, such as Ops, EOC. KI4FVV has been assigned to Battlefield Shelter.

Q: If an operator/resource is reassigned from site A to site B, should they notify Operations, Logistics or both of departing site A for site B?

A: Since the order to relocate came from OpsNet, the operator would only need to notify the OpsNet upon arrival a site B. Only if the operator is released from duty at site A and is available for reassignment do they report to LogNet.

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Miscellaneous

Q: Question about dressing out in the field. Which type of safety reflective vest does the squad wear to County events and when they do deploy for an emergency?

A: Back in 2010, the ARRL announced the official vest we are supposed to wear:

ARES members, while activated, deployed, in community service activities or otherwise on duty shall wear over their regular apparel, at minimum, a fluorescent green ANSI Class 2 reflective, 100% polyester vest.

The vest shall be decorated in the following manner:

On the Back:

In minimum 2" lettering, Arial Black font, black in color, imprinted above the horizontal reflective tape:

AMATEUR RADIO
EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS

Those in a leadership position may add their title (SEC, DIRECTOR, EC, PIO, etc.) below the words Emergency Communications in not less than 3" tall font, black. (Under the lower reflective stripe)

Local jurisdictions may elect to add their organization name above the words Amateur Radio with no larger than 1" Arial Black lettering, color black.

On the Front:

On the Left Chest, the ARES logo, minimum 3.5" diameter, black in color, negative background.

The Right Chest shall remain blank to allow the wearer to affix their ARES or ARRL name badge.

Vests may have zip or Velcro type front closures. Members may choose vests with or without pockets, at their own discretion. Other apparel, such as short and long sleeve tee shirts, jackets and coats are approved for member use as long as the garments meet the same color, ANSI Class 2, lettering and decoration standard. An SEC may give a waiver of this standard for specific purposes with good cause.

Florescent green is the same as fluorescent yellow, which is what most vendors call it. The League sells a mesh vest, but the quality is questionable if you expect to use them frequently. They also have a solid vest, which is a bit more robust, but I think those of us that have them find they are not a lot better (I have gone through two vests in a year).

Andy and I have moved to a sturdier surveyor’s style vest. I can report that it has survived a couple of washings already, which is more than the League’s vests did. The problem with the non-league supplied gear is having to be handy with a needle and thread, or know someone who is, and pick up the associated panels. We got our panels at CopQuest, but they are only two words - AMATEUR RADIO. The nice part of these panels is they are standard back (hook) velcro and can be attached to any panel system.

Until and unless the SEC himself (herself), says I cannot wear the sturdier (and more visible) vest (which complies to the fire department standards), I will continue to wear the surveyor’s style, and I will approve it for our use in all field deployments.

Q: A distress call heard on 146.52 MHz under the wilderness protocol. Who from ARES would track/respond to this: Operations NCS, Logistics NCS, CnC NCS or other NCS?

A: The first operator to hear the call would call it into Operations. Operations would ask ECIC how to proceed. Depending on the call, it might be handed off to an operator to deal with or integrated into the operation. A secondary “net” might be required, especially if the call is outside the scope of the current emergency. All emergency calls get priority clearly, but when we are already balancing a real event, calls from outside the emergency have to be balanced.

Q: Do we need to notify the newspapers to let them know that there is a drill taking place because I’m sure they will be listening and I don’t want things to get out of hand with some of the messages, requests, and events I have planned. If you think we do, do we need to have the county prepare a public announcement?

A: One of the reasons we preface every message with This is a(n) [drill|exercise] is so that media outlets or others do not pick up our traffic and think there is a real issue currently underway. So it is imperative that every piece of radio traffic have that header on it and at the end as well. From a Public Relations perspective, it is up to the EC to determine whether or not to notify local media about an exercise ARES® is participating in.

Q. A General Aviation plane crashes into the power lines near substation on Sanders Lane/Lightridge Farm Road and Chatter Brook Drive (PW/Loudon border), and the power grid is unstable. Would we be providing Comms to NOVEC/Dominion Power?

A: If Dominion or NOVEC wants our help, and we have the workforce available, yes.

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Radio

Q: There are three radio stations in the EOC, with two radios each in them. What should they be monitoring? Operations (Ops) Net, Logistics (Log) Net, Command and Control (CnC) Net, MedComm, NERA, VA Regional, MD Regional, etc?

A: It would depend on the operation. At a minimum, the Ops and Log Nets. Beyond that it would be at ECIC direction - MedComm, other regional nets etc, although if we could have other liaison stations monitoring the other nets that would be best so that the EOC can focus on traffic to and from our Log and Ops nets.

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Equipment failure

Q: If there is an equipment failure of the Logistics/Operations/CnC repeater. Would the Operations NCS, Logistics NCS, CnC NCS or other NCS notify the EOC? Would they then notify everyone on that net about going to secondary/tertiary operating frequencies?

A: NCS would probably notify the EOC if the EOC didn’t notice it first. It would be up to the NCS to move the frequency, but the ECIC could initiate the move via the NCS (the ECIC says move to frequency x and the NCS passes the traffic).

Q: If a shelter radio fails who from ARES would request a replacement radio and dispatch a courier: Operations NCS, Logistics NCS, CnC NCS or other?

A: Operations would notify ECIC of the equipment failure. ECIC would determine where the radio would come from (cache, logistics or “all call” for equipment). ECIC would decide who would do the delivery based on available workforce and where the radio was coming from.

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