News
Saturday April 9th
Our 2016 Communications Academy theme is:
“Are We Ready – for The Big One? "
08:00 Registration Begins
09:00 Welcome and Introductory Remarks
09:30 Keynote -
Keynote Speaker: All Those Disasters: An Overview of FEMA and Disasters
Mr. Ken Murphy, KE7TIW, will provide a broad overview of the role and response activities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. He will set the tone for this conference on responding to one of the largest anticipated natural disasters in the U.S.
FEMA continues to expand its missions in mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Today’s issues must be addressed to deal with citizen’s safety. FEMA needs to adjust and be prepared to deal with the unexpected. FEMA also must prepare itself and the nation for a truly catastrophic disaster.
Kenneth D. Murphy was appointed Regional Administrator for Region X for the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on June 29, 2010. Mr. Murphy is responsible for developing, administering and coordinating FEMA’s mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery programs for the States of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and 271 Tribal Nations and Alaskan Native Villages.
Mr. Murphy served with Oregon Emergency Management from 1999 to 2010. As the agency's Director, Murphy was responsible for coordinating emergency management activities with state and local emergency services agencies and all governmental agencies. He also served on the Oregon Homeland Security Council, Oregon's State Interoperability Executive Council, the Governor's Search and Rescue Policy Commission, and the Governor's Recovery Cabinet, as well as being appointed to serve on FEMA's National Advisory Council. Murphy oversaw the response and recovery for seven Presidential and eight Gubernatorial disasters declarations in Oregon.
Murphy spent nearly three decades as a member of the Oregon Army National Guard, in traditional and active duty roles before his retirement in 1999. During that time, he served as Director of Military Support to Civilian Authorities, where he was responsible for the Guard's coordination and response to emergencies. He also was Chief of the U.S. Army's European Crisis Action Team in Heidelberg, Germany, where he managed and coordinated military emergency response throughout Europe. Mr. Murphy held numerous command and staff level positions during his military career.
Murphy is a past President of the National Emergency Management Association. He is a graduate of Concordia University with a bachelor’s degree in management and communications, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the Naval Post Graduate School Executive Leadership Program.
Saturday 10:45
2) Cascadia Rising Catastrophic Earthquake Exercise: Is Amateur Radio Ready?
This is a general session for all attendees and will review overall exercise preparations and specifically Amateur Radio Service (ARS) preparations for “CASCADIA RISING” – The Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake drill and the simultaneous ARS COMMEX “WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS” scheduled for June 7-10, 2016. Topics included will be a review of lead up activities, results of 5th Saturday and Fall/Spring SETs, Extent of play, the ARS COMMEX “WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS”, the overall Exercise Plan, Concepts of Communication Outages to be employed during the drill, and the development of ARS local documentation. This session will also cover the use of Winlink, RMS express/ISNAP forms, HF nets, VHF and HF data traffic, repeaters, VHF/UHF simplex, and interactions with the broadcast media.
Mike Chaplin NC7Q, and Monte Simpson AF7PQ
Mike was first licensed as a novice in 1972. His main amateur radio interests are in Emergency Communications, DX, and Contesting; He is a Past RO and EC, Benton County, Ore; Member of the Whatcom Emergency Communications Group; Past Training Officer WECG; Member - ARRL continuously since 1973; Life member – QCWA; Member of the PNWCBCG since inception; Board member of the WWARA; Operating awards: DXCC, WAS, WPX, WAZ; Commissioned as Communications Officer, Ferndale Police Department – 2008. Past faculty advisor Oregon State ARC, Penn State ARC, Iowa State ARC.
Monte started his communications career in commercial radio. He worked two years in AM/FM radio stations. Served in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 11 years and discharged as a Radioman 1st Class.
Following the Navy, he served 25 years in the Coast Guard Reserve retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 (Communications). September 1969 he started a career as a Communications Officer with the Washington State Patrol. He worked seven years as a dispatcher, 16 years as a Communications Supervisor, and 1992 to present he has been the Communications Manager at the Bremerton/District 8 Communications Center. He earned his first FCC Amateur Radio license in December 1992. In March 1993, he started his volunteer service in Kitsap County ARES. He has served as an AEC, EC, DEC and ASEC.
He serves in the Washington State Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer 5. He is currently the ARRL Western Washington Section Manager and the Washington State RACES Officer.
3) The Public Isn’t Prepared for Disaster – Maybe it’s Our Fault!
Year after year, disaster upon disaster, the same mantra rises from local governments and emergency managers – the public didn’t prepare. There are thousands of surveys and after action reports which state citizens weren’t prepared due to apathy or because their perception to the possible risk and hazard was low. Rarely do we find information where government and/or emergency management accepts blame for an unprepared and impacted community, unless blame is bestowed upon them by a findings panel after the fact – much too late to assist those affected by the disaster event. We also don’t speak about unintended biases in the messages from government and emergency management officials prior to and during disaster events. Providing information on social media, in newspapers, handouts and pamphlets doesn’t tell whether the information is received by your intended audience and it doesn’t tell the sender if those who received the message will use the information the way it was intended. The way things were accomplished in the past, do not work today. This discussion will focus on disaster messaging from government and emergency management officials and the need to change tactics to promote preparedness and social change in the citizens and communities we serve.
Chuck Wallace is the Deputy Director of Emergency Management for Grays Harbor County, WA. He is a 32 year veteran of the fire service, retiring from the Philadelphia Fire Department in 2007 and currently the Fire Chief at Grays Harbor County Fire Protection District #11. He also serves as an elected Fire Commissioner for Grays Harbor County Fire Protection District #11.
He was a member of the first graduating class of FEMA’s Emergency Management Executive Academy held at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmetsburg, MD. He is the current Vice Chairperson for the Washington State Homeland Security Region 3 Committee, a member of the Washington State, Region 3 Healthcare Coalition Executive Board and the President-elect of the Washington State Emergency Managers Association.
Chuck holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Evergreen State College.
4) Communications Degradation & Interoperability, OR "Can You Hear Me Now?"
Planning for the loss of your primary communications systems and how to define resources, establish clear guidelines, and create training and set expectations for backup and disaster capabilities.
Jon Bromberg, W1JDB is currently the Communications Lead at Eastside Fire & Rescue as well as managing the Service Support Volunteer team (SSVs). He is a FEMA OES COML and COMT as well as an Extra Class HAM operator (W1JDB) and CERT. In a prior life he was the Sr. Director of Microsoft Events producing and staging events for up to 25,000 attendees
Khris LaPlante, KB7FHQ, is currently employed by CenCom 9-1-1 (Kitsap County’s 9-1-1 communications dispatch center) as a comm. Center technician after spending 26 years at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Khris’s latest duties at Children’s included the role of Radio Communications Specialist in support of their amateur radio club instructing new hams and their staff on how to use both Amateur and proprietary radio (which included DMR and conventional systems). Khris has been a ham since 1988, a member of the ARES-MST team since the early 1990’s, completed a number of the FEMA certification programs and is currently holding a General class license.
5) Winlink - RMS Express Overview - this is a general presentation covering the basic theory and operations of the Winlink network, its hybrid architecture and its many modes of network access and peer-to-peer operations. The presentation will broadly cover Telnet, VHF/UHF Packet, HF Pactor and HF Winmor operations and some discussion of sound card technology for both VHF/UHF and HF operations. Scott will be building on the WinLink organizations Power Point – and welcomes slide from others that will help with this course content
Scott Currie, NS7C, works for the City of Auburn in the Emergency Management office as an assistant to the Emergency Manager. Scott works in the Emergency Operations Center during activations and drills, provides public education on disaster preparedness, CERT and CPR/First Aid, and also maintains the communications equipment at the EOC. Scott is an Extra Class amateur radio operator. He teaches amateur radio license classes and enjoys mentoring new operators. Scott also serves as the ARES Emergency Coordinator for the Auburn and Maple Valley EMCOMM teams.
6) Beginners Track #1: Getting Your First Radio
An introduction to handheld, mobile and base station amateur radios, antennas and more, with tips on how to get a radio that fits your needs without breaking the bank.
Carl Leon, N7KUW, has been an amateur radio operator for over 25 years, and has extensive experience in commercial radio. He supports VHF and UHF radio voice communications for King County Search & Rescue, and is a member of Seattle Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS). Carl has completed the FEMA Communications Unit Leader (COML) course and the Department of Homeland Security Communications Unit Technician (COMT) and Auxiliary Communicators (AUXCOM) courses.
LUNCH-TIME SPEAKER: Weather and the Big One – We Can Be Ready!
The weather is inclement - it is raining with flooding and landslides, or it is cold and snow blankets the region, or a wind storm is bearing down on the region - and now we get the big earthquake. Are we ready for something like this? How will key weather forecast information reach first responders at a hazmat incident scene when the power is out and terrestrial communications are impaired? Amateur radio is how. Attend this session and learn how we can all work together to be better prepared for whatever nature throws at us and help save lives when it really counts. Your National Weather Service is a team player, providing all-hazards weather support. And when communications are down, amateur radio is how that key weather information reaches those trying to save lives. But we need to learn to work together and practice - before the big one occurs!
Ted Buehner KD7PWK is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service (NWS) in Seattle, a key customer liaison position. He works toward enhancing the “end-to-end” forecast and warning system and decision support services by more closely tying the agency's mission of protecting lives and property, and enhancing the region’s economy, with its customers and partners, such as the emergency management community, the media, and the marine community. Ted has been with the NWS since 1977, this position being his third tour of duty in Seattle. Ted also served one year in Boise as a forecaster, six years in Portland as a Lead Forecaster, and two years at the NWS Western Region Headquarters in Salt Lake City as the Western U.S. marine, public, and aviation program manager. Ted has a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences from Oregon State University. Go Beavs!
Saturday 13:30
7) Practicing for the Big One
Ed Taylor, State Exercise Program Manager, and Chris Utzinger, Response Section Manager, with the Military Department’s Emergency Management Division will provide an overview of the Cascadia Rising 2016 exercises and discuss the challenges of designing, conducting, and evaluating large-scale exercises.
Ed Taylor is the State Exercise Program Manager with the Washington Military Department, Emergency Management Division, at Camp Murray. He is serving as the Washington’s exercise design co-lead with Steve Simerly from FEMA Region X for the 2016 Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake and Tsunami exercise, Cascadia Rising. Ed joined the Emergency Management Division in 2014 following a twenty-five year career with the U.S. Army.
Chris Utzinger, KF7MJI, is the Response Section Manager with the Washington Military Department, Emergency Management Division. He is responsible for the operation of the State EOC at Camp Murray. Chris has twenty-three years of information technology and twelve years of emergency management experience. As a Master Exercise Practitioner, he is familiar with the challenges that large-scale exercises pose.
8) Van viewing and Digital Communications Exercise
Van viewing with an emphasis on their digital communications capabilities including Winlink, as well as HF radio and satellite
Jon Bromberg, W1JDB is currently the Communications Lead at Eastside Fire & Rescue as well as managing the Service Support Volunteer team (SSVs). He is a FEMA OES COML and COMT as well as an Extra Class HAM operator (W1JDB) and CERT. In a prior life he was the Sr. Director of Microsoft Events producing and staging events for up to 25,000 attendees
Khris LaPlante, KB7FHQ, is currently employed by CenCom 9-1-1 (Kitsap County’s 9-1-1 communications dispatch center) as a comm. Center technician after spending 26 years at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Khris’s latest duties at Children’s included the role of Radio Communications Specialist in support of their amateur radio club instructing new hams and their staff on how to use both Amateur and proprietary radio (which included DMR and conventional systems). Khris has been a ham since 1988, a member of the ARES-MST team since the early 1990’s, completed a number of the FEMA certification programs and is currently holding a General class license.
9) Lessons Learned from the Largest Wildfire in the History of Washington State
During August 2015, the Okanogan County fires burned 500,000-plus acres and became the first critical challenge of Maurice Goodall's emergency management career. Join Mr. Goodall, director of the Okanogan County Department of Emergency Management since April 2015, for a presentation on lessons learned as well as effective and efficient protocols for managing emergencies.
Maurice Goodall, is the Okanogan Co. Emergency Manager. Mr. Goodall's lifework began with 7 years in the US Navy followed by 17 years in the Navy Reserve, which overlapped a 25-year career as a trooper for the Washington State Patrol. He has responded to countless emergencies and has presented on a variety of safety topics to individuals, groups, and organizations. Through his commitment to community, he served on the Okanogan Parks and Recreation Board of Directors and remains an active supporter of the Okanogan County Fairgrounds. He and his family reside on a farm in Omak, Washington.
10) You Asked, They Came, and Now What? (Building and managing a Positive Volunteer Program)
As the leader for the largest Medical Reserve Corps in FEMA Region 10, I have had 5 years of experience in building one of the largest and most active MRC’s in the region. In 2014 my volunteers as a group volunteered 5672 hours. . Come learn how was able to build a volunteer organization that helps people now and is prepared for disasters. How my volunteers are my best advertising? How the system works so you can be a better volunteer.
Dave Nichols, CEM is the Medical Reserve & Workforce Deployment Manager for Public Health Seattle-King County. In this position, he is responsible for volunteer management and deployment of employees and volunteers during a disaster or medical emergency.
Dave is a retired veteran of the US Army; following that he spent four years as the assistant director of Emergency Services for the American Red Cross in Seattle. In his spare time, Dave is a volunteer responder for ShelterBox, an international aid organization.
11) Beginner’s Track #2: I have my Radio, now how do I turn it on?
This class provides the basics for working with your VHF/UHF handheld (or portable) radio to “get on the air”. If you wish, bring your radio to class!
Joel Ware, KD7QKK, serves as a Communications Unit Leader (COML) and Deputy Director for Seattle OEM Auxiliary Communications Service (Seattle ACS) He has served also as a military operator while flying over many Southeast Asia locations during the Vietnam War, while serving in the US Air Force 1968-1972.
Joel’s other interests include vintage Airstream trailers, and roller derby
Bill Thomassen N6NBN Bill Thomassen is a computer consultant by trade, and a volunteer with Seattle ACS and the Seattle Red Cross, as well as the Medical Services Team and Public Health Reserve Corps of King County.
He holds an Amateur Extra license. In an earlier life, he worked as a busy EMT in Southern California for 5 years, and created the first Computer Support Department for Orange Coast College, in Costa Mesa, California. Bill seems to be happiest while simultaneously driving and talking on the Radio.
Bill especially enjoys coaching new Hams (known as “being an Elmer”), and helping Hams get comfortable with some of the Digital Protocols, such as Winlink and FL-Digi, for sending/receiving complex information via Radio
Saturday 15:15
12) Readiness for The Really Big One
Earthquake preparedness in the PNW was pushed into the limelight this summer thanks to The New Yorker’s viral article “The Really Big One.” A panel, which consists of scientists, engineers, and emergency management professionals, will discuss the history of “big ones” for our region and the anticipated impacts of the next one, advances in monitoring and systems technology which may reduce impact of an earthquake, and present how our local communities are using this information for real-time preparedness.
Panelists: Morgan Mak, WA. State EMD, Mitigation and Recovery Strategist, Moderator
Work with local jurisdictions and state partners to define mitigation goals and priorities both locally and statewide through the natural hazard mitigation planning process. Partners with federal, state, and private entities to identify potential to leverage new and existing resources to support mitigation priorities
Brian Sherrod, USGS, PNW Regional Coordinator, USGS Earthquake Hazard Program
Brian Sherrod is Project Chief and PNW Regional Coordinator for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and is based out of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He received a B.S. in Geology from James Madison University in Virginia, a M.S. in Geology from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington. His main area of research is paleoseismology of the Pacific Northwest. Most of his work employs airborne laser surveys – he is currently working on evidence for surface rupture along faults in central and western Washington, coastal uplift and subsidence along faults in northern Puget Sound, and uplift along the coast of southeast Alaska. Past and current research efforts also focus on identifying and mapping uplifted shorelines and intertidal environments in the Pacific Northwest, and using intertidal diatom assemblages and transfer functions to determine amounts of coeseismic deformation in coastal marshes of the Pacific Northwest.
John Vidale, Director of PNW Seismic Network, Professor UW Seismology
John Vidale is a Professor at the University of Washington, Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and the Washington State Seismologist. He was an undergrad at Yale and gained his PhD from Caltech, then worked for UC Santa Cruz and the USGS, taught at UCLA for a decade, and finally came to Seattle in 2006. While at UCLA, he was director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. His honors include the Macelwane Medal (1994) and being named the Gutenberg lecturer (2009) by the American Geophysical Union and the Researcher of the Year by the College of the Environment at UW (2011). His research focuses on earthquakes, volcanoes, Earth structure, and the hazards of strong shaking. Prof. Vidale is currently working on monitoring the earthquakes and volcanoes in Oregon and Washington, studying strange slow earthquakes and landsliding in earthquakes, and exploring how to implement earthquake early warning for the Pacific Northwest so we can gain a few seconds or even minutes of warning before suffering the strongest shaking in our ever-dangerous earthquakes.
Chuck Wallace, Deputy Director, Grays Harbor Emergency Management
Chuck Wallace is the Deputy Director of Emergency Management for Grays Harbor County, WA. He is a 32 year veteran of the fire service, retiring from the Philadelphia Fire Department in 2007 and currently the Fire Chief at Grays Harbor County Fire Protection District #11. He also serves as an elected Fire Commissioner for Grays Harbor County Fire Protection District #11.
He was a member of the first graduating class of FEMA’s Emergency Management Executive Academy held at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmetsburg, MD. He is the current Vice Chairperson for the Washington State Homeland Security Region 3 Committee, a member of the Washington State, Region 3 Healthcare Coalition Executive Board and the President-elect of the Washington State Emergency Managers Association. Chuck holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Evergreen State College.
Michael Marzouk , Alert Systems Group – Early Warning systems
Michael Marzouk has spent 10 years working with 911-First Responders on all Communications infrastructure. He has partnered with all 2-way radio manufacturers, 911-Dispatch providers, Mass Notification companies, and other critical communications infrastructure manufacturers to build a turnkey automation solution to alert and automate infrastructure for first responders BEFORE the natural disaster strikes. The system provides low-latency quadruple redundancy in the event a natural disaster impacts the communications infrastructure.
13) RMS Express PracticesThis will be team-facilitated hands on workshop discussing software setup and configuration as well as hardware interface and operations. This will cover VHF/UHF RMS Express setup with TNC as well as SignaLink soundcards; Pactor HF setup and Winmor setup; and configuration with SignaLinks and radios. This needs to be a 90 minute session and will contain multiple parallel workshops which will be chosen by participants and conducted concurrently in the same room following an introductory session to outline the subject area. We realize this will be only an introductory level class but we hope to give participants reference links, tips particularly about soundcard solutions and other materials that they can follow on their own time.
(Lead Instructor/Facilitator - Bill Thomassen N6NBN – Instructor Team: Scott Currie, NS7C, Jeff Coleman W7EIR, and Tom Cloonan NL7FQ) –
14) Beginner’s Track #3: Safety for Beginners
An introduction to communications without getting hurt, or hurting your equipment, and not hurting the general public or your neighbors!
Jon Newstrom, KL7GT Jon’s claim to fame is that he has built radio stations (broadcast) on four continents. He has spent over nine years abroad in charge of international media development projects in post conflict areas, and nine years as a working journalist at NPR stations in America. He is currently a Associate Radio Operator and Public Information Officer with the Seattle Auxiliary Communication Service (ACS) he has worked as a radio operator with ACS, and volunteered as a radio operator at the Everett EOC during the Oso Mudslide incident.
15) “PLANNING FOR THE CASCADIA RISING EXERCISE” -- For ARES/RACES/ACS leaders including DEC’s, EC’s, RO, Regional RO’s, ACS team leaders, Government, Tribal, and NGO Emergency Managers.
This session will cover all aspects of the Amateur Radio Service (ARS) play/conduct/control during the “CASCADIA RISING” Exercise including the simultaneous ARS COMMEX “WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS”. Topics will include development of local documentation (CSZ earthquake playbooks, ICS 205/217 development), regional nets, ISNAP, Winlink, RMS Express, HF Voice Nets, and handling Health and welfare Traffic).– Mike Chaplin/Monte Simpson