ARES & Larimer County Emergency Communication Exercise

On Thursday, April 3 at 1PM, neighbors took to the airwaves for a coordinated emergency communications exercise with the Colorado ARES and Larimer County's Office of Emergency Management.

Ham Radio operators were positioned at the Larimer County Emergency Operations Center in Johnstown, Loveland Library, Big Elk Meadows, Berthoud, Estes Park and several other neighborhoods, including our Pinewood Lake. During a Zoom Call introduction the following emergency scenerio was presented:

A large catastrophic flood has impacted the majority of Larimer County, similar to the Floods that occurred September 2013. Connectivity is down, isolating several communities. The Emergency Operations Center EOC has initiated an Emergency Net to support neighborhoods impacted by this event.

At approximately 1:30 PM, the EOC began a Simulated Emergency Net, requesting Ham radio operators to check in for their respective neighborhoods. One of our neighborhood's HAM / GMRS operators, Eric Richards, was among those to check in with the EOC. At the same time, Angie Robbins, another of our HAM / GMRS operators, activated a Simulated Emergency Net on our Pinewood Lake GMRS repeater, and we saw a strong turnout with nine neighbors checking in. This setup allowed us to practice a vital communication flow: simulated emergency messages originated on our neighborhood GMRS network, were relayed to our Ham operator, and then transmitted to the EOC.

And just like that, the Simulated Net wrapped up, and everyone rejoined the Zoom call to debrief the challenges encountered. Being the only neighborhood with its own GMRS repeater, activating a simulated emergency Net and engaging with the EOC proved to be a great exercise.

Here are some of the things we learned:

• Pinewood Lake's six Ham radio operators, coupled with its own GMRS repeater and the support of over 25 neighbors with GMRS radios, provides a strong foundation for emergency communication with the EOC.

• How do we ensure that if some of our principal communications people are not here during an emergency, we can still maintain reliable communication with the EOC and within our neighborhood?

• An Emergency Communication / Incident Response plan should be created for the neighborhood that addresses the following:

  • What specific triggers, beyond the general definition of an emergency, would necessitate the activation of the neighborhood NET? (e.g., loss of power for more than X hours, official emergency alerts mentioning our area, visible signs of a significant incident nearby)

  • Who has the authority and responsibility to make the decision to initiate the NET? (Specific roles, backup roles, and clear lines of delegation)

  • Are there different levels of NET activation based on the severity or type of emergency? (e.g., a simple information-gathering net vs. a full incident support net)

  • How will the initiation of the neighborhood NET be coordinated with the EOC or other external agencies? (Who makes the initial contact and what information needs to be shared?)

  • What is the designated primary and secondary frequency/channels for the neighborhood NET (Ham and GMRS)?

  • Who will assume the initial Net Control Station (NCS) role? (Primary and backup individuals with necessary training)

  • In the event of an evacuation, how do we continue the net? (Identify in-town operators?)

  • etc.

The exercise was widely considered a great success, yielding valuable insights. Moving forward, ARES and the EOC plan to conduct at least two exercises annually to continuously refine communication strategies with each neighborhood hub.

Thank you to our hub leaders for coordinating with the EOC & ARES, our Net Control operators, Eric & Angie for doing an amazing job running net control and interacting with the EOC and thank you to those who checked in to our Simulated Emergency GMRS Net. As soon as we get the after action report from ARES & the EOC, we will share their findings.