Congratulations to ARES for the part they played in this exercise!

*************** The ARRL Letter Vol. 24, No. 18 May 6, 2005 ***************

==>CALIFORNIA EMERGENCY OFFICIALS SEE ADVANTAGES OF SSTV IN DRILL

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers in California made slow-scan TV part of the communication mix when they participated in a voluntary wildfire evacuation drill April 30. The exercise involved residents of nearly 400 homes in a high fire hazard area of Santa Barbara County, and ARES' use of SSTV definitely caught the eye of emergency officials.

"ARES provided us with the only continuous, real-time information on traffic flow and conditions in the incident area," said Jay McAmis of the county's Office of Emergency Services. "It was great!"

Santa Barbara South County ARES Emergency Coordinator Lou Dartanner, N6ZKJ, says communicators with SSTV gear deployed at three locations along a narrow, winding road out of the canyon and in two locations along the evacuation route to a reception center some five miles away. Three additional ARES members provided voice reports on traffic flow, while four other team volunteers supported the field activity at the command post and reception center.

Since the county's inaugural test of its new "reverse 911" system failed to reach everyone, many residents were alerted instead by sheriff's units using public address systems and by search-and-rescue team members going door to door. "As a result, instead of the traffic jam with fender-benders and finger-wagging, an orderly trickle of vehicles moved out of the area," Dartanner reports. "An SSTV station was set up at the reception center, and a crowd of about three dozen jostled around the monitor all morning, watching the near-continuous stream of pictures coming in from the field. A second, portable system was set up in back of a car at the Command Post, and the Incident Commander was able to see exactly what was--or was not--occurring in the incident area."

More than 200 residents participated, as did personnel from 21 agencies and organizations. "Local fire officials are excited about using SSTV capability in the future," Dartanner says, "and ARES will continue to play an important role in their activities."