BEECN Program Organization: Difference between revisions

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This section outlines the structure, management, and responsibilities of the BEECN (Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication Node) program.
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="float:right; width:25%; margin-left:10px; border-collapse:collapse;"
| style="background:#72452d; color:white; text-align: center; border:2px solid white;"| '''<big>BEECN Guidelines</big>'''
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[Basic Earthquake Emergency Communications Nodes (BEECN)|Introduction]]
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[BEECN Program Organization]]
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[BEECN Sites]]
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[BEECN Volunteers]]
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[BEECN Caches]]
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[Operations at BEECN Sites]]
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[Operations at Fire Stations]]
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| style="background:#e9ae97; text-align: center; border:2px solid white;"|'''<big>[[Main_Page#SECTION 800: Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication_Nodes (BEECN)|Back to Main Guidelines ↱]]</big>'''
|}


This section outlines the structure, management, and responsibilities associated with the BEECN (Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication Node) program.
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== Definitions and Acronyms ==
Being that we are both a government '''''and''''' emergency management organization, we use a whole lotta jargon (WLJ). The table below will help volunteers navigate it.


=== BEECN and PBEM ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 60%;"
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!<big>Term/Acronym</big>
!<big>Meaning</big>
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|'''Amateur radio'''
|Also known as HAM radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages. The BEECN system relies on use of amateur radio to pass messages from the neighborhood level to the [[PBEM Emergency Operations Center (EOC)|EOC]].
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|'''ARO'''
|"Amateur Radio Operator". These are volunteers who are amateur radio licensed ''and'' trained to operate the [[Operations at Fire Stations#Orange Go-Kits|Orange Kits]] at fire stations. See: [[VSF 02.02: Fire Station ARO]].
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|'''BEECN Cache Storage Location'''
|The confidential location where a BEECN cache is secured. Only PBEM staff and volunteers assigned to a specific cache should know where a cache is secured and how to access it; this information is ''never'' shared with the public.
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|'''BEECN Coordinator'''
|Abbreviated as "BC". A BEECN Volunteer who serves as the "Blue Skies" leader of a BEECN Cohort. See: [[VSF 14.01.02: BEECN Coordinator]].
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|'''BEECN Resource'''
|Any component piece of the BEECN system crucial to its function. This might include a BEECN volunteer, a cache, a fire station, or a site.
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|'''BEECN Site'''
|The physical location where the general public is encouraged to convene after an earthquake if they need the services of the BEECN system. These locations are published on public maps. This is often not the same as the BEECN Cache Storage Location.
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|'''BEECN Volunteer'''
|A volunteer trained and qualified to operate a [[BEECN Caches#UHF Handheld BEECN Radio|handheld BEECN radio]], and assigned to a specific BEECN resource and apprised of how to set it up and operate it. See: [[VSF 14.01.01: BEECN Volunteer]].
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|'''Blue Skies'''
|In the context of emergency management, "blue skies" refers to a period of calm, when there are no active emergencies and the focus is primarily on preparation, prevention, and risk reduction, essentially signifying a "clear" situation with no immediate threats, like a clear blue sky.
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|'''Cache'''
|A collection of BEECN equipment secured in a confidential location. See: [[BEECN Caches]].
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|'''Cohort'''
|A team of BEECN Volunteers assigned to maintain and operate a specific BEECN resource, usually a cache or at a fire station.
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|'''Demobilization'''
|Emergency management demobilization operations are the process of releasing incident responders and resources once the incident response objectives have been met.
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|'''EOC'''
|"Emergency Operations Center". The physical location from where City of Portland government operates in response to an emergency. The EOC includes a radio room where BEECN messages are received and sent from. See: [[PBEM Emergency Operations Center (EOC)|PBEM Emergency Operations Center]].
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|'''Fire Station Volunteer'''
|A non-ARO BEECN Volunteer who reports to a fire station in order to assist the station's ARO and relay radio traffic. See: [[VSF 14.01.04: Fire Station UHF Volunteer]].
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|'''HAM'''
|🥩 A volunteer trained and licensed to operate amateur radio equipment. All AROs are HAMs, but not all HAMs are AROs.
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|'''ICS'''
|"Incident Command System". The framework used in disaster response to organize the response effort. BEECN Volunteers are encouraged, but not required, to train in basic ICS.
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|'''Operational Period'''
|An operational period in emergency management is a set time frame for carrying out a specific set of actions. In BEECN, a single operational period is divided into two eight-hour periods: Shift A, which runs from 0600 to 1400, and Shift B, which runs from 1400 - 2200 each day. A single incident may run for many operational periods.
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|'''Orange Kit'''
|A VHF HAM radio kit present at every PF&R fire station and available for use by AROs. See: [[Operations at Fire Stations#Orange Go-Kits|Orange Kits]].
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|'''PBEM'''
|[https://www.portland.gov/pbem "Portland Bureau of Emergency Management"]. This is the City of Portland government agency that manages the BEECN program.
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|'''PF&R'''
|[https://www.portland.gov/FIRE "Portland Fire & Rescue"].
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|'''Radio Room'''
|The area inside the EOC dedicated to managing radio traffic between neighborhoods and City of Portland government in the aftermath of a disaster.
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|'''Relay'''
|The BEECN Resource that intervenes between a BEECN and the EOC. In nearly all cases, the relay will be a fire station. Each BEECN has a Primary Relay and a Backup Relay.
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|'''Secure and Clear'''
|Verb or adjective; the act or status of returning a BEECN resource (such as a cache) to its location and locking it up, and then volunteers going home.
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|'''Shift One'''
|The very first shift of a BEECN activation. Shift One could fall to Shift A or Shift B. See: [[Operations at BEECN Sites#Shift One|Shift One]].
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|'''UHF'''
|"Ultra high frequency". The handheld BEECN radios operate on commercial-band UHF frequencies. Also the title of [[wikipedia:UHF_(film)|one of the best comedies ever made]].
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|'''VHF'''
|"Very high frequency". The Orange Kits at fire stations operate on VHF frequencies.
|}
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# The BEECN program is sited in, supervised and managed by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) with participation from Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R).
== BEECN and PBEM ==
Guidelines governing the relationship between PBEM and the BEECN program:
# The BEECN program is sited in and managed by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) with participation from Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R).
# PBEM has sole authority to determine BEECN volunteer membership and who is responsible for maintaining and deploying a BEECN.
# PBEM has sole authority to determine BEECN volunteer membership and who is responsible for maintaining and deploying a BEECN.
# When activated, BEECN volunteers defer to the authority of any present emergency response personnel (such as police, fire, or EMS personnel), members of the military, emergency managers associated with a City of Portland bureau (e.g. the Portland Water Bureau), or staff from PBEM.
# When activated, BEECN volunteers defer to the authority of any present emergency response personnel (such as police, fire, or EMS personnel), members of the military, emergency managers associated with a City of Portland bureau (e.g. the Portland Water Bureau), or staff from PBEM.
# The PBEM Bureau Director may delegate responsibilities for the BEECN program to a designee.
# The PBEM Bureau Director may delegate responsibilities for the BEECN program to a designee.
# All routine communications regarding BEECN program business between volunteers, city employees, and PBEM will be directed to staff at PBEM assigned to manage BEECN.
# All routine communications regarding BEECN program business between volunteers, city employees, and PBEM will be directed to staff at PBEM assigned to manage BEECN.
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=== City Employees and BEECNs ===
The City of Portland may assign a City of Portland employee to a BEECN for drills and/or deployment. A city employee is still considered a city employee while undertaking responsibilities to the BEECN program, and the city employee is at no time considered a “BEECN volunteer”.
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=== Elements of a BEECN ===
A BEECN consists of three essential elements: the site, the equipment cache, and the assigned volunteers.


# The '''BEECN site''' is the geographical location where Portlanders are encouraged to go 24 to 48 hours following an earthquake. For example: school grounds, a park, or a parking lot. These are the sites that appear on published BEECN maps.
# The '''BEECN equipment cache''' associated with the site is located within a five block radius of the BEECN site. It contains all the equipment that volunteers need to deploy the BEECN.
# '''BEECN volunteers''' are the personnel associated either with a BEECN or a fire station, and are trained to deploy the BEECN program 24 to 48 hours following an earthquake. It takes a minimum of two volunteers to operate a BEECN, and at least two volunteers to carry out BEECN responsibilities at a fire station.
In addition to these three essential elements, the BEECN system relies on Orange "Go-Kits" located at every Portland Fire & Rescue fire station.<br/>


=== Responsibilities of PBEM to the BEECN Program ===
== Responsibilities of PBEM to the BEECN Program ==
PBEM has many responsibilities to the BEECN program and they are woven throughout these BEECN Guidelines. The following subsection does not include all of PBEM’s responsibilities to the BEECN program, but indicates those most salient. PBEM will:
PBEM has many responsibilities to the BEECN program and they are woven throughout these BEECN Guidelines. The following subsection does not include all of PBEM’s responsibilities to the BEECN program, but indicates those most salient. PBEM will:


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# Be responsible for and maintain Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with property owners who host BEECN caches.
# Be responsible for and maintain Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with property owners who host BEECN caches.
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[[File:2013.05.22.PACE Setter (4).jpg|thumb|400x400px|''This BEECN is deployed in an ideal site: not a lot of trees, flat, broad uh...[https://youtu.be/GPX-mW4l1rU tract of land]. Yes very nice.'']]


=== Location of BEECN Sites ===
== City Employees and BEECNs ==
The City of Portland may assign a City of Portland employee to a BEECN for drills and/or deployment. A city employee is still considered a city employee while undertaking responsibilities to the BEECN program, and the city employee is at no time considered a “BEECN volunteer”.
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[[File:BEECN Key Elements.png|right|frameless|450x450px]]
 
== Elements of a BEECN ==
A BEECN consists of three essential elements: the site, the equipment cache, and the assigned volunteers.
 
# The '''[[BEECN Sites|BEECN site]]''' is the geographical location where Portlanders are encouraged to go 24 to 48 hours following an earthquake. For example: school grounds, a park, or a parking lot. These are the sites that appear on published BEECN maps.
# The '''[[BEECN Caches|BEECN equipment cache]]''' associated with the site is located within a five block radius of the BEECN site. It contains all the equipment that volunteers need to deploy the BEECN.
# '''[[BEECN Volunteers|BEECN volunteers]]''' are the personnel associated with a BEECN and are trained to deploy the BEECN program 24 to 48 hours following an earthquake. It takes a minimum of two volunteers to operate a BEECN.
Similarly, fire station resources in the BEECN system are broken into three elements:


# At minimum, there will be a total of 48 BEECN sites located throughout the City of Portland.
# The '''fire station''', as the name implies, is the Portland Fire & Rescue facility where the [[Operations at Fire Stations#Orange Go-Kits|VHF Orange "Go-Kit"]] is stored. Every fire station also has an antenna on its roof that hooks up to the VHF kit.  
# BEECNs will be evenly distributed throughout the city and are generally sited with the goal of placing approximately two BEECNs within each of the Portland Plan’s neighborhood hub boundaries (see Appendix B).
# The '''Orange "Go-Kit"''' is the amateur radio set operators use to communicate with the radio room in the EOC. Each Orange Kit also includes a handheld UHF radio that can receive radio traffic from nearby BEECNs.
# PBEM has complete discretion over the location of each BEECN site. However, PBEM will consider the input of property owners, community partners, city employees, and volunteers when deciding BEECN site locations.
# There are two types of '''fire station volunteers'''. There are UHF handheld radio operators, who operate the same [[BEECN Caches#UHF Handheld BEECN Radio|push-to-talk radio]] that BEECN volunteers do. They pass BEECN messages to the HAM radio volunteers, who then relay those messages to the EOC.
# Though moving a BEECN site should be avoided, PBEM will consider moving a site if a more appropriate one is found in the immediate neighborhood of the BEECN.
 
# The ideal BEECN site is:
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#* An open area large enough to hold a crowd of at least 100 people;
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#* A safe distance from unreinforced masonry structures (such as older brick structures);
 
#* Is not on a steep gradient or near landslide hazards, and not easily subject to flooding;
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#* Is not in the vicinity of tall trees, overhead power lines, or other utility hazards;
#* Is familiar to the community and following a disaster might be intuited by neighbors as a community gathering point, and is geographically central to the immediate community.
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