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 ARES BULLETIN NR 19.48 DATE: December 1, 2019
SUBJECT: DON'T GET EXCITED
A communications person should never get excited when operating a radio or telephone. If you get excited, you may not be able to handle an emergency that could save lives.
It's only natural for a person to get excited when they witness an accident, or an incident where someone could be hurt or killed, but you must remember to keep your cool. If you get excited, you'll not be able to operate your radio or telephone properly, and that could cause several seconds or minutes of delay getting the help you may need.
For instance, if you see an accident and you get excited, you may start talking before you've keyed your microphone, and no one will know what you're talking about until you have repeated the message several times. You'll also have a tendency to talk louder and faster, causing the person on the other end to miss some very important information.
This usually only happens when you actually see the incident, and not just told about it over a radio or telephone. So remember, take a little time before you make the call and think about what you want to say and how you want to say it.
One of the first things you want to say is something like this: "I have an emergency and I need assistance; can someone help me?" This might let the person on the other end know that you may be a little excited and they may be able to help you stay calm enough to get your information through.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV