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 17.01 DATE: January 1, 2017
SUBJECT: LOOK BEFORE YOU TOUCH
I'm sure you've heard people say to "Look before you leap", but you should also "Look before you touch". If you are working at the scene of an accident or disaster, you should do just that. During accidents and other disasters things can get moved around and make it dangerous.
Power lines may have fallen onto something you have to move. Or, something you have to move may be holding something else up from falling. What you should do is look very carefully at what you need to do before you just jump right in, and start doing it. You need to take time and look the area over, and see what dangers you might find. If you don't look things over, you may become a victim, that someone else has to take care of.
During non emergencies or disasters, things can still be a problem. If you need to work on your communications equipment, you might want to take a little time to make sure you don't have bare wires that can short out, or give you a shock. Things that have been left unattended for some time, may have had visitors such as mice. Mice love to chew on things like wire and paper. The may have chewed the insulation off of wires, or made a nest out of other paper they have found. These can catch on fire if there are wires near by that get shorted.
Snakes also like to find warm places to make a home, and radio equipment at remote locations makes that possible. Take your time and look things over before you start your work. It may be well worth your time.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV