Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
necessary links to keep life-safety and basic, essen-
tial communication functioning. Amateur radio has
the advantage of being frequency-agile (meaning
the ability to change frequencies and bands readily,
which most public-safety and commercial radios
cannot do), communications-savvy, and knowl-
edgeable as to what services operate on which
frequency bands. They can usually contact the
necessary agencies, or route information to them,
using the assigned amateur radio frequencies, or
by linking the radio to a telephone-patch.
Amateur radio operators commonly support
many different communication activities. These
include hospital-hospital, hospital-emergency
operation center (EOC), hospital-field sites
(usually mass-casualty incidents), and hospital-
medical suppliers. Wherever portable communi-
cations are needed, amateur radio operators can
usually go.
Another support mission that they sometimes
fulfill is to provide communications for National
Disaster Medical System (NDMS) exercises; and
occasionally support the Disaster Medical Assis-
tance teams in exercises and deployments [9].
of the Section Managers by region, and contacting
them for assistance should produce results.
Once you have identified some radio operators,
then the task is to form them into a hospital-focused
team. This is the job of the Emergency Coordi-
nator, but he or she will need help from the health-
care providers, for they need some orientation to
hospital culture, operations, and hierarchy. In many
locations, there may not be enough operators to
dedicate to a specific mission, and they will be
shared with emergency management, search and
rescue, and other mission-oriented tasks. There are
some hams who choose not to support these other
government-focused groups, but would be really
enthusiastic about supporting “their” hospital, so it
is definitely worth asking the question, or sending
out a special invitation.
The operators will need some training to famil-
iarize them with how the hospital works, and
special needs and concerns when working in this
environment. Some suggested topics include:
•
Orientation to Hospital environment and culture
•
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA) Awareness
•
Hospital
Emergency
Incident Command
System (HEICS)
17.5 Where can a Hospital or
Healthcare System Find Amateur Radio
Resources?
Often the best recruiting source is within the staff
of the facility, or within the ranks of hospital
volunteers, or even patient populations. Recruit-
ment ads in hospital newsletters, employee and
patient bulletin boards, etc. often produce imme-
diate results. However, often times staff members
will be required to perform their professional
assignments during a disaster, and will not be
available for “radio” duty. They can be useful for
making that initial call, or serving until outside
volunteers can arrive.
If internal recruiting does not work, then
contacting the local ARES Emergency Coordinator
and requesting their assistance is the next step.
Usually, the local emergency management agency
will know who that is; or you can access the ARRL
Web page to find out [10]. This will give you a list
•
Medical radio systems
•
First Aid, CPR, and Blood-borne pathogens
•
Working in a professional/business environ-
ment
•
National Incident Management System (NIMS)
Awareness
•
Weapons
of Mass Destruction
(WMD)
Awareness
(The last two of these classes are ones that are
required of hospital personnel if they are recipients
of Homeland Security grants.)
Most ham radio operators have their own radios,
and are well prepared to bring their kits with
them, however, an appropriate antenna installed
on the hospital roof will vastly improve the signal
strength and distance that the operator can reach,
when talking to facilities or agencies outside the
hospital. This will also lessen the effect of any
