Lower McKenzie Emergency GMRS Radio Communications Plan

When to turn your radio on:  

  1. ANY TIME YOU PERCEIVE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, such as lightning, wind, snow, earthquake, fire, etc.  
    1. Even if we don’t lose phone/ internet, these are good opportunities to practice radio communication. 
  2. TURN ON YOUR RADIO TO our current repeater on Russell Peak at Channel “RUSELPk,” aka “RP21” or memory channel 29 on MCC programmed radios.
    1. FOR NO EMERGENCY NEED OR NEWS: Sign in and Wait until the top of the hour (1:00pm, 2:00pm, etc.) to listen-to and offer updates. 
    2. FOR EMERGENCY NEED OR NEWS: Broadcast immediately. 
  3. Content of top-of-the-hour broadcasts: 
    1. Any reliable news, including the source of the news. 
    2. Updates on needs for help, or needs met.
    3. Reminders about locations that can offer resources, such as the Leaburg Fire Station that usually has food, water, wifi, power, and informational updates on the whiteboard, as well as churches or community centers. 
  4. Monitor your radio
    1. If you can be near your radio for a period of time, broadcast the fact that you are monitoring when you sign in, and during the top-of-the-hour check-in.  
    2. If you are going to have to stop monitoring, broadcast that fact during the top of the hour check-in, or whenever you have to stop monitoring.
    3. It might be possible to coordinate monitoring times to provide for more continuous monitoring (or it might not be possible.) 
  5. Helping neighbors
    1. If you have previously broadcast a need for help, then also broadcast when that need has been met, in subsequent top-of-the-hour broadcasts. 

Communicating with the Leaburg Fire Station

  1. Communicating 911-type emergencies TO the fire station: 
    1. IF a volunteer is willing to monitor a GMRS radio at the Leaburg fire station: 
      1. When a request for a 911 response (ambulance, police, etc.) comes in from the GMRS network, the monitor can walk down the hall and relay the information to the fire personnel, who can respond to a 911 emergency.
  2. Disseminating news FROM the fire station: 
    1. Could be disseminated by a monitor sitting at the GMRS radio at the fire station, who would get the news from the whiteboard at the fire station, or from the fire station personnel. 
    2. Any of us that are driving by the fire station could stop in to look at the whiteboard, and disseminate the news over the radio.