BEECN Program Organization
In the event of a major earthquake in Portland, the communications systems that Portlanders rely on are unlikely to function. Cell phones, land lines, texting, and internet service are not resilient enough to endure the damage anticipated from a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.
Therefore, a major earthquake means that residents in Portland neighborhoods will find it difficult, if not impossible, to receive information and request help from local government in the aftermath. Damaged roads and infrastructure will also cut off many Portland neighborhoods from emergency responders.
A Basic Earthquake Emergency Communications Node (BEECN) is a place to go in Portland neighborhoods after a major earthquake to ask for emergency assistance, or to report severe damage or injury. BEECNs rely on the amateur radio system (“HAM”), a relatively durable communications system, to help neighborhoods and local government reach each other.
In the aftermath of an earthquake, volunteers or city employees will proceed to one of 50 BEECN sites spread throughout the city. Each BEECN has an equipment cache associated with it which the volunteers will deploy. BEECN volunteers use a handheld radio in the cache to talk with an amateur radio operator at the nearest fire station who will relay those messages to the city’s Emergency Coordination Center (ECC). Message traffic is intended to be two-way. This means that the ECC can send response and resource information to neighborhoods through BEECNs, while neighborhoods can talk with local government to report damage or injuries and request help.
Portlanders should not think of a BEECN as a place where people will find emergency supplies or resources, nor should they consider it a staging area for medical professionals and emergency medical services. BEECNs are intended as communication points only.
Above all else, the BEECN program relies on the help of volunteers to succeed. Volunteers and community partners keep the BEECN caches secure, periodically test the equipment, offer program feedback to PBEM, and will be the neighbors their communities rely on to help facilitate effective communication following an earthquake.
000.10 BEECN and PBEM
a. The BEECN program is sited in, supervised and managed by PBEM with participation from Portland Fire & Rescue.
b. PBEM has sole authority to determine BEECN volunteer membership and who is responsible for maintaining and deploying a BEECN.
c. 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.
d. The PBEM Bureau Director may delegate responsibilities for the BEECN program to a designee (in most cases, the BEECN Coordinator).
e. All routine communications regarding BEECN program business between volunteers, city employees, and PBEM will be directed to the BEECN Coordinator.
000.15 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”.
000.20 Elements of a BEECN
A BEECN consists of three essential elements: the site, the equipment cache, and the assigned volunteers.
a. 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.
b. The BEECN equipment cache is associated with the site and located within a five block radius ofthe BEECN site. It contains all the equipment that volunteers need to deploy the BEECN.
c. 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 at least two volunteers to operate a BEECN, and at least two volunteers to carry out BEECN responsibilities at a fire station.
000.25 Responsibilities of PBEM to the BEECN Program
PBEM has many responsibilities to the BEECN program and they are woven throughout these Guidelines. The following subsection does not include all of PBEM’s responsibilities to the BEECN program, but indicates those most general and salient to it. PBEM will:
a. Provide training to designated BEECN volunteers that will instruct them on safe and effective practices and procedures to deploy the BEECN following an earthquake.
b. Provide BEECN exercise and drill opportunities to keep volunteers confident and competent in the skills needed to deploy in the event of a disaster.
c. Provide a point of contact at PBEM (e.g., the BEECN Coordinator) who responds to the needs and inquiries of BEECN volunteers in a reasonably timely, professional, and relevant manner.
d. Ensure that volunteers are appropriately indemnified for their service to the community.
e. 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.
f. Be responsible for and maintain Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with property owners who host BEECN caches.
000.30 Location of BEECN Sites
a. At minimum, there will be a total of 48 BEECN sites located throughout the City of Portland.
b. 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).
c. 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.
d. Though moving a BEECN site should be avoided, PBEM will consider moving a site if a more appropriate one if found in the immediate neighborhood of the BEECN.
e. The ideal BEECN site is:
- An open area large enough to hold a crowd of at least 100 people;
- 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;
- 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.