Hello EmComm Members and Friends, What is EmComm? - EmComm is an SBARC Emergency Communications Committee and a closely related Community EmComm Team. The EmComm Committee and Team are just being formed now. If you want to participate on either, please attend our meeting on Thursday 10/15 at 6:30pm in the back room of the IHOP on Calle Real near Turnpike. Inform me of your intention to attend. Everyone should realize that your number one communication method in an emergency, personal or widespread, is to call 911. When that works, your solution is simple. When it doesn't, "who ya gonna call?" Now, you know why we need an EmComm Committee and Team. The EmComm Committee will plan, coordinate, and acquire resources. The EmComm Team will practice, implement and provide feedback. Together, they can accomplish what 911 can't. My vision is for us to develop a two-way plan to communicate citizen needs to service providers using redundant communication methods (not just amateur radio) to make such a plan effective, even if some of the methods fail during an emergency. I believe it is critical that the communication be from citizen to provider and back again. Your perspective on this is important. As a starting point, let's presume that our purpose is to "develop a communications plan and function using SBARC and community resources to serve the community during emergencies." We can improve the definition of our purpose as we move forward. For the time being, Brian Milburn and I will co-chair the SBARC Emergency Communication "EmComm" Committee. Non-SBARC members are welcome on the committee and on the team. I hope that one or more non-SBARC-Board members will emerge as leaders to become the chair and successfully lead this group. It's entirely appropriate for Committee and Team members to be members of other similar organizations like ARES and CERT. We intend for the committee and team to be inclusive and cooperative to effectively merge resources to achieve our goals. We might want to start with a needs assessment. What do you think this group needs to accomplish to be successful? What is a measurable successful set of outcomes? Any and all discussion is welcome. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel. Where organizations exist to facilitate our goals, let's include them in our plan without replicating their function. Thank you for considering participation in this valuable SBARC/community group. Rod Fritz, WB9KMO rod@sbatv.org805-722-8804