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.
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 ==
== 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.
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.
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|'''Amateur radio'''
|'''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 EOC.
|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'''
|'''ARO'''
|"Amateur Radio Operator". These are volunteers who are amateur radio licensed ''and'' trained to operate the Orange Kits at fire stations.
|"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'''
|'''BEECN Cache Storage Location'''
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|'''BEECN Coordinator'''
|'''BEECN Coordinator'''
|Abbreviated as "BC". A BEECN Volunteer who serves as the "blue skies" leader of a BEECN Cohort. Their backup is the BEECN Coordinator Assistant ("BCA").
|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'''
|'''BEECN Resource'''
|A component piece of the BEECN system crucial to its function. This might include a BEECN volunteer, a cache, a fire station, or a site.
|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'''
|'''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 not necessarily the same as the BEECN Cache Storage Location.
|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'''
|'''BEECN Volunteer'''
|A volunteer trained and qualified to operate a handheld BEECN radio, and assigned to a specific BEECN resource and apprised of how to set it up and operate it.
|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'''
|'''Blue Skies'''
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|'''Cache'''
|'''Cache'''
|A collection of BEECN equipment secured in a confidential location.
|A collection of BEECN equipment secured in a confidential location. See: [[BEECN Caches]].
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|'''Cohort'''
|'''Cohort'''
|A team of BEECN Volunteers assigned to maintain and operate a specific BEECN resource.
|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'''
|'''Demobilization'''
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|'''EOC'''
|'''EOC'''
|"Emergency Operations Center". The physical location from where City of Portland government operates in response to an emergency. See: [[PBEM Emergency Operations Center (EOC)|PBEM Emergency Operations Center]].
|"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'''
|'''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.
|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'''
|'''HAM'''
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|'''Orange Kit'''
|'''Orange Kit'''
|A VHF HAM radio kit present at every PF&R fire station and available for use by AROs.
|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'''
|'''PBEM'''
|[https://www.portland.gov/pbem "Portland Bureau of Emergency Management"]. This is the City of Portland government agency that manages the BEEN program.
|[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'''
|'''PF&R'''
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|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.
|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'''
|'''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.  
|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'''
|'''Shift One'''
|The very first shift of a BEECN activation. Shift One could fall to Shift A or Shift B.
|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'''
|'''UHF'''
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|"Very high frequency". The Orange Kits at fire stations operate on VHF frequencies.
|"Very high frequency". The Orange Kits at fire stations operate on VHF frequencies.
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== BEECN and PBEM ==
== BEECN and PBEM ==
# 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).
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.
== 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:
# Provide training to designated BEECN volunteers that will instruct them on safe and effective practices and procedures to deploy the BEECN following an earthquake.
# Provide BEECN exercise and drill opportunities to keep volunteers confident and competent in the skills needed to deploy in the event of a disaster.
# Provide a point of contact at PBEM who responds to the needs and inquiries of BEECN volunteers in a reasonably timely, professional, and relevant manner.
# Ensure that volunteers are appropriately indemnified for their service to the community.
# Ensure that caches and cache supplies and equipment are replenished and replaced as needed and as resources permit; and, ensure that caches receive maintenance as required.
# Be responsible for and maintain Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with property owners who host BEECN caches.
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A BEECN consists of three essential elements: the site, the equipment cache, and the assigned volunteers.
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 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 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.
# 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''' 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.
# '''[[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.
In addition to these three essential elements, the BEECN system relies on Orange "Go-Kits" located at every Portland Fire & Rescue fire station.
Similarly, fire station resources in the BEECN system are broken into three elements:
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# 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.  
# 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.
# 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.


== Responsibilities of PBEM to the BEECN Program ==
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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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# Provide training to designated BEECN volunteers that will instruct them on safe and effective practices and procedures to deploy the BEECN following an earthquake.
# Provide BEECN exercise and drill opportunities to keep volunteers confident and competent in the skills needed to deploy in the event of a disaster.
# Provide a point of contact at PBEM who responds to the needs and inquiries of BEECN volunteers in a reasonably timely, professional, and relevant manner.
# Ensure that volunteers are appropriately indemnified for their service to the community.
# Ensure that caches and cache supplies and equipment are replenished and replaced as needed and as resources permit; and, ensure that caches receive maintenance as required.
# Be responsible for and maintain Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with property owners who host BEECN caches.
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