Operations at BEECN Sites: Difference between revisions

a. If there is no response from the Primary Fire Station, wait five minutes, then repeat the check in message. Continue transmitting every five minutes until the Primary Fire Station responds.

b. BEECN volunteers should also attempt to reach their Secondary Fire Station if they cannot immediately reach the Primary Fire Station. There is no need to contact the Secondary Fire Station if the BEECN volunteer reaches the Primary Fire Station.

c. If transmission quality is poor, volunteers should look at the map inside the cache and consider what objects (hills, buildings) are between them and the fire station. If possible, volunteers will move away from/out from behind those obstructions. Additionally, volunteers may have to look for higher ground to get a clear signal. Some BEECNs that are far from their fire station have a white external antenna in their kit. Volunteers can attach this antenna to the UHF handheld radio if they experience trouble communicating. The external antenna is attached by unscrewing the small flexible antenna from the radio and attaching the external antenna cable in its place.

d. Volunteers will record the time of the first transmission and the time when Fire Sation is reached in the radio log. A radio log is included in the BEECN cache.

e. After checking in, volunteers request permission to pass radio traffic if there are messages to relay. Otherwise, volunteers wait and listen on channel for further instructions/messages.

f. As much as possible, volunteers should keep radio traffic minimal, avoiding transmitting nonessential radio traffic. Volunteers may hear other BEECN sites talking on the same channel as well.

g. Best operating practices suggest that one volunteer is in charge of the radio and actively talking with the fire station. The other volunteer is interacting with the public and gathering radio messages to relay.

Members of the public will have many different purposes for relaying messages through the BEECN network. If messages compete for priority, volunteers should use this guide to decide which messages get relayed soonest:

1. Fire/Life Safety: these are, essentially, 9-1-1 calls. If a BEECN receives one of these messages it takes priority over and interrupts all other radio traffic.

2. Damage Assessments and Casualty Reports: members of the public reporting significant damage to property and infrastructure, or reports of injuries and casualties. Portland Fire & Rescue will be the lead resource responsible for these.

3. Government employee check-in: Government and TriMet employees have systems in place to contact their employers. If necessary there are “Post Earthquake Employee Check In” forms included in the loose leaf notebook in each BEECN cache.

4. Person Location: this is a request from someone to help find a missing loved one. BEECN volunteers can direct people to resources but will not facilitate reunification of families, house mates or loved ones.

BEECNs act not only as a way for local government to receive information from the public in the wake of an earthquake, but also a means to get information to the public. BEECN volunteers may receive direction from the fire station to use the roll-up whiteboard and post a general message.

a. The BEECN volunteers operating a BEECN are custodians of its associated equipment.  

b. BEECN equipment (such as First Aid supplies) may only be taken from the BEECN site with the permission of the BEECN volunteers or professional emergency response personnel. No volunteer group or private citizen can “commandeer” or legally take BEECN supplies without the approval of BEECN volunteers on site. BEECN equipment taken without permission from present BEECN volunteers is considered stolen and should be reported as such to PBEM.

It is critical that public messaging be kept consistent and only government representatives should talk with the press during an emergency. All requests from the media to speak on the record about an emergency must be relayed to PBEM for approval. Unless authorized by PBEM, BEECN volunteers may not interview with media representatives or answer media questions about the emergency.

# The personal safety of the volunteers is threatened (in which case, volunteers should immediately leave the area and not follow other demobilization protocols).

# An urgent life/safety issue emerges for a volunteer’s loved one.

# It is the end of a shift, and there are no volunteers available to take over the next shift.

# A Public Safety official in the field (such as PBEM staff, a police officer, or firefighter) orders theBEECN to demobilize.

b. Once the decision or order to demobilize is made, BEECN volunteers will sign off from the radio with the fire station:

* …… BEECN VOLUNTEER: [FIRE STATION NUMBER] this is [BEECN NUMBER and BEECN NAME]. We are demobilizing and tearing down. [give reason for demobilization]

* …… FIRE STATION: Roger [BEECN NUMBER and BEECN NAME].  

You are now marked as inactive. Please turn off your radio, remove the batteries and proceed with BEECN tear down.

c. Volunteers shall take down the tent according to the tent instructions. If there was precipitation and the canopy is wet, please do not fold it up. Instead, volunteers should leave it loosely on top of the rest of the equipment inside the cache. This will help guard against mold.

d. Volunteers must remove the batteries from the radio, since they may leak after time and render the radio inoperable. Batteries can be left inside the box with the radio.

e. Re-pack all equipment inside the box. If any equipment is missing, volunteers should indicate that at the end of the log along with any explanation as to why the equipment is missing. Volunteers may then leave the log inside the BEECN cache, for PBEM to pick up later.

f. Volunteers should next push the box back to its secure location. Once there, the volunteers should position it and lock it up the way it was found, and double-check the lock to make sure everything is secured.