TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 16.20 DATE: May 15, 2016
SUBJECT: WHEN IN ROME
I'm sure you've heard the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Communication specialists should do the same thing when it comes to providing support communications to another agency.
If you are supplying communications assistance to some one else, it's because their communications are overloaded, or they have no communications at all. The last thing they want to do is change the way they have been operating. They already have their hands full trying to coordinate their activity without any added problems.
As a communicator you're there to help coordinate the activity and not be a part of the problem. The best way to help is to learn what they need, and how they operate, then operate the same way they do. For instance, if you are communicating on a Public Safety radio, and to make a call, they give their unit number first and then the unit number they are calling. That's the same way you want to operate. It may seem wrong to you, but remember, that's how they've been operating, and they are used to it. If you try to use another format, it may delay their communications and get them confused.
This has to do with any type of activity or event, not only in communications. You want to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Remember, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
Ken Harris WA8LLM
District 3 ARES District Emergency Coordinator
WCEC
Wood County WV