What good is a Hospital Emergency Room without the people who are properly trained to use it? What good is a train without an engineer how knows how to operate it? Can just anyone fly a plane? How about a Fire Truck without trained Firemen. Sure anyone can pick up a microphone and talk, but without the proper training, they may be of little use. A trained communicator can use his or her equipment as good as other trained professionals can use theirs. Sometimes communicators must be able to use their equipment in ways it wasn't designed. They sometimes have to repair it while still using it to communicate with. Being able to handle a piece of traffic or give someone directions is just as important to a trained communicator as other jobs are to other professions. With Field Day coming up this coming Saturday and Sunday, now would be a good time to look at some of the equipment, such as radios, computers, antennas, and other equipment that you may have to set up and use in an emergency. When it comes to communications try to learn all there is to learn, someday your training may just save the day.
(Reprint, with modifications, from ARES Zone 3 Bulletin NR 00.15)
Ken Harris WA8LLM
Wood County WV;
ARES Assistant Section Coordinator WV
ARES District Emergency Coordinator WV DISTRICT 3