Posted on 08/27/2011 4:10:42 PM PDT by bd476
by: Jamie Barnett, Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau
August 27th, 2011
I want to share some important emergency information to you for during the storm so that you and your family stay safe.
Recommended Practices for All Users
It is important for consumers to keep in mind that during an emergency, many more people are trying to use their wireless and wireline telephones at the same time when compared to normal calling activity. When more people try to call at the same time, the increased calling volume may create network congestion.
- Limit non-emergency phone calls. This will minimize network congestion, free up "space" on the network for emergency communications and conserve battery power if you are using a wireless phone;
- Keep all phone calls brief. If you need to use a phone, try to use it only to convey vital information to emergency personnel and/or family;
- Try text messaging, also known as short messaging service (SMS) when using your wireless phone. In many cases text messages will go through when your call may not. It will also help free up more "space" for emergency communications on the telephone network;
- If possible try a variety of communications services if you are unsuccessful in getting through with one. For example, if you are unsuccessful in getting through on your wireless phone, try a messaging capability like text messaging or email. Alternatively, try a landline phone if one is available. This will help spread the communications demand over multiple networks and should reduce overall congestion;
- Wait 10 seconds before redialing a call. On many wireless handsets, to re-dial a number, you simply push "send" after you've ended a call to redial the previous number. If you do this too quickly, the data from the handset to the cell sites do not have enough time to clear before you've resent the same data. This contributes to a clogged network;
- Have charged batteries and car-charger adapters available for backup power for your wireless phone;
- Maintain a list of emergency phone numbers in your phone;
- If in your vehicle, try to place calls while your vehicle is stationary;
- Have a family communications plan in place. Designate someone out of the area as a central contact, and make certain all family members know who to contact if they become separated;
- If you have Call Forwarding on your home number, forward your home number to your wireless number in the event of an evacuation. That way you will get incoming calls from your landline phone;
- After the storm has passed, if you lose power in your home, try using your car to charge cell phones or listen to news alerts on the car radio. But be careful – don’t try to reach your car if it is not safe to do so, and remain vigilant about carbon monoxide emissions from your car if it is a closed space, such as a garage.
- Tune-in to broadcast and radio news for important news alerts.
Recommended Practices for People with Disabilities
Visit Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) website at: http://www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/specialplans.shtm for more information.
Recommended Practices for Communications Providers
If you need to find a shelter, Text SHELTER + your ZIP code to 43362. Pass this msg via text to friends/family impacted. #Irene
I have actually thought about it. Don’t you need some kinds of licenses?
Abt two years back, I bought something called a Eton Solarlink FR-600
A radio with shortwave. It can run on batteries, solar power, or in real emergencies it has a hand-crank.
Kinda cool. But getting used to listening to SW is an art in itself...
It's an interesting hobby, and lots of fun. Getting the license to transmit on your new/old radio is easy, and takes little study. It's a very rewarding hobby, with many aspects and modes.
Get the older type landline phone that goes through the phone line rather than the kind that goes through the electric line. We have one phone that works when everything else is down.
Instead of calling on your cell in the big middle of the storm, wait until the weather has passed.
The problem is, in a major event, even after the event, can leave cell towers destroyed, compromised, overloaded, grid goes down, lines down, generating plants down etc, etc. In a major event, computers, telephone landlines and cell phones are generally the first to go and some don't come back for a long time.
As a 60 year old and recipient of the Eagle Scout award...I can honestly say that those two words “Be Prepared” are the two most important words ever to be put together...both here on earth and spiritually!
They just keep getting better and better. A few suggestions about their use.
The first is that extra batteries are good, but it is also a great idea, for several reasons, to have a DC to AC converter, so you can charge your walkie talkies from your car’s cigarette lighter socket.
The second is that when you use walkie talkies, if there is interference, using alpha-numeric code is a big help. But take it a step further. Use a simple, one use code, which will defeat most of the snoops out there.
Spot Connect provides a capability to send out a 40 character msg via satellite to anywhere in the world. Check it out!
First, it wouldn’t kill FEMA to say: “Those of you who are not averse to taking a test about technical topics should consider getting a ham radio license and one or more radios made for those bands, which are enormously capable of long-distance communication under adverse circumstances. The rest of you could consider obtaining some walkie-talkie-like CB or FRS radios, which require no license, and which can communicate over many tens of miles, which might well be enough to reach someone outside of the disaster area, noting that under a communcations emergency, any type of radio communication is superior to none whatsoever.”
Oh, and second, hams have generally been pretty compliant about doing what the government asks, like ceasing transmissions during wartime when advised off the air (last done in WW2). In any case, what hams would or would not do in an emergency is not up to FEMA to speculate about, and therefore decide not to mention AT ALL.
“Spot Connect provides a capability to send out a 40 character msg via satellite to anywhere in the world. Check it out!”
Welcome to FreeRepublic. Just kidding, your post sounds like an advertisement.
Maryland "Freak State" PING!
“Spot Connect provides a capability to send out a 40 character msg via satellite to anywhere in the world. Check it out!”
Actually they do look pretty neat. To bad for us, though, we just use Jihad Phones, not Smart Phones.
Whew - I’m glad they warned about the carbon monoxide from charging my phone with my car! I could have overlooked that small problem.
Not sure if you're being facetious but sometimes in emergency situations people forget the oddest things.
After an unusually strong quake one time, I ran outside wearing just a long night shirt. It was only when I heard my Landlord laugh as he stood braced in his doorway and said "are you okay?" that I realized how wrong I was on two counts.
I ran back inside, slammed the door, threw on my jeans and grabbed my cat. Then I did something even more silly when I ran back outside, down the stairs, jumped into my car which was sitting in the carport beneath my building ... while the quake was still shaking.
It never hurts to hear emergency preparation recommendations several times.
Sacajaweau, I'm sorry. I meant to ping you here.
LOL! Perfect!
It's not fun to be without power and phone in an emergency situation.
I got an early start as a girl geek with my radio staying up late at night listening from the Midwest to WABC and then a few times I heard a station which sounded like either Radio Moscow or VOA. My Dad later bought a deluxe shortwave radio which was very cool for my late night listening, that is, when he let me borrow it.
Since the 1994 Northridge quake I bought a fairly good hand-crank radio but the coils stopped charging it and the solar panels never worked very well at charging it up.
I'll google Eton Solarlink FR-600 to see what's available. Thanks.
That's one of my dreams and it will happen, hopefully soon and before the next big quake.
Thank you, Yefragetuwrabrumuy! Those are excellent ideas. I'm going to look to see if Costco still carries them and re-check their range. Otherwise I think the local Fry's carries them, too.
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