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Emergency Communications:  At Home or Away, It Can Save Your Life!

Keeping in touch is more than just convenience nowadays, it can mean the difference between life and death.

Nowhere is this more obvious than the telephone.  Twenty years ago, millions of dollars were spent in the U.S. to make 911 the universal emergency number.  It worked.  911 is now the universal number. (Except, naturally, where the whole idea originated: England.  Their number is 999).  Of course,  we take that for granted now, but what happens when there is a problem and a conventional phone is not available?

Cellular Phones

Cell phones are a boon for your safety.  When I talk about emergency communications from vehicles, most people think of cell phones, because there are millions of them out there.  Why my usually dependable Nextel phone has the uncanny ability to detect when I am making an emergency call, then break down, is beyond me.  It does prove the necessity for backup systems though.  Here are some cell phone ideas:

When you dial 911 from a cell (or PCS) phone in California, your call is answered by the nearest California Highway Patrol dispatch center.  In the San Francisco area, the CHP dispatch center is in Vallejo.   Think about this.   If you call 911 from a San Francisco wired phone, reporting a fire at 123 Main Street, the dispatcher knows exactly where to send the Fire Department.  If you make the same call from a cell phone, there may be 50 123 Main Streets in the dispatcher's area of responsibility.  You have to know what town you are in!  SOLUTION:  Program the direct emergency numbers into your phone and dial the emergency agencies direct.   It saves time and works if the 911 center is down.  It happens.

I'm appalled with how many people drive around town all day, chatting on their phones, yet they have no way to recharge nor power their phones from their vehicle!  Be sure to have a car power cord.  As with any communications equipment, if it won't work for a minimum of three days without "shore" power (house current), it's not communications equipment, it's a TOY!

Be aware that many of these new PCS phones have limited range.   Even cellular phones have their range limits.  A good antenna on your vehicle will extend their range.

Where is a good place to store your cell phone overnight?   Have you ever seen those movies where a bad guy snips the phone line, then breaks into a house?  Although rare, it happens.  If the victim had a cell phone by the bed, those movies would be a lot shorter and more predictable!

Ham, G.M.R.S. , CB  and Family Radio Service (FRS) radio systems

These are four different radio services you might consider equipping your vehicle with in order to stay in touch in emergencies or disasters.  A fifth is scanning receivers.  Each has certain advantages:

Ham (or Amateur) Radio Service

The oldest radio service for citizens, Ham radio is alive and well in America and throughout the world.  There are over half a million Ham operators in the U.S. today.  In 1998, there is no longer a need to learn the Morse code in order to be licensed.  Ham 'repeater' stations extend the range of simple handheld transceivers up to hundreds of miles.  There is almost no place in the U.S. that doesn't have access to at least one repeater.  There are literally hundreds of channels you can use for your personal communications.  Becoming a Ham has never been easier.  Simply stop by your neighborhood radio or electronics store, ask for a book on becoming a Ham.  You might also inquire about the local Ham radio club.   

DISADVANTAGES:  You will need to study some basic electronics and operating practices, then pass a test.  You must perfect some technical skills.   The license is free, but the testing session is about six bucks.

General Mobile Radio Service (G.M.R.S.)

This service is what the Government had in mind when they started CB in the early '60's.  Family and friends communications.  There is no technical exam to get a license, but you do have to select one frequency for regular use.   You also have access to a "calling and emergency" frequency, and a bunch of point to point (simplex) frequencies.  Fourteen of these frequencies are shared with the Family Radio Service.  According to reliable sources, it is perfectly legal to use your higher powered radio to communicate with lower powered FRS stations.  

DISADVANTAGES:  You will still need some technical competency, although you are not tested on it.  The license form is a pain to fill out, and it costs eighty bucks (for five years).

Citizen's Band (CB)

I have not been a proponent of CB for some years.  Recently, we installed a CB radio at OES, and I was impressed with it's potential.  There are many crazies there still, but many nice folk occupy the band as well.  With no licensing considerations to deal with, it may be an ideal way to keep in touch over short distances or (very) long ones.  If I were to lay my money down for one of these, I would buy a mobile radio with SSB capabilities.  More serious users have moved to the SSB mode. 

DISADVANTAGES:  Little discipline, strange lingo and short range.   Still, an ideal choice for many.  Incompatible with any of the above mentioned services.  The "skip" effect may make  hearing a station a thousand miles away much easier than one on the other side of town.

Family Radio Service (FRS)

I almost didn't include this service here, simply because making emergency contact with a stranger has two chances: slim and none.  This service is great for families and others that want a shot at solid, reliable communications over a limited distance.  If you have two vehicles traveling in tandem, or if you and the kids are skiing on different slopes,  FRS is for you, unless you are a Ham with a Ham family.  If one member of the family, or group, is GMRS licensed, they can use their GMRS rig to keep in touch with FRS equipped members of their group.  Limited to low power and fixed antennas, these radios need no license of any kind.  Personal communications taken to it's basis.  

DISADVANTAGES:  You will not contact a stranger to help you here.  It's only for short range (a mile or two) person to person communications.  If you are the last person in an FRS equipped convoy, this is your voice to the rest of the convoy -- but  if you break down, you had better talk quick!

Scanners

I have long been an advocate of scanning receivers.  No, I don't condone recording congressional phone calls, but that's rude and invasive (illegal too).  I do advocate listening to the services that may affect me:  Police and Fire as I move about town, Highway Patrol and the Transportation Department when I'm on the highway, Forestry Departments when I'm in the woods.   I find out what is happening around me.  If I hear that the accident ahead is in the left lane, I can move to the right.  If Police activity is in a certain area, I can avoid it.  If I smell smoke in the woods, I can find out if it's under control or if I should bug out!

One other thing I have learned:  Those public servants we love to bash as lazy, doughnut eating, shovel leaning, do nothings, are actually very hard working people, doing their best work under often very difficult  conditions.   The more you listen, the more you will respect them.  They give us excellent value for our tax dollar!  You would think they would encourage us citizens to listen more.

DISADVANTAGES:  Some people think of scanner owners as strange people.  In some localities, the authorities frown on mobile scanning.   Hearing about, then going to, an incident for a look see is a definite no no.   In a few localities (I hear this about Piedmont, CA) , police will actually try to confiscate scanners.  Solution for this:  Get your Ham license.  Federal rulings completely exempt Hams from these (few and far between) stupid local ordinances.