ARES/RACES member Dan Blasberg, KA8YPY, staffs an emergency radio station at Prince George's Hospital Center during the telephone outage. [Kenneth Bannister Photo]
ARES/RACES member Dan Blasberg, KA8YPY, staffs an emergency radio station at Prince George's Hospital Center during the telephone outage. [Kenneth Bannister Photo] |
August 18, 2004 -- Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) volunteers in Maryland helped bridge a communication gap August 16 after Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly--the county's largest--experienced a near-total telephone outage at around midday.
The 'Prince Georges County Office of Emergency Management called on ARES-RACES volunteers, under the direction of Prince George's County Emergency Coordinator and RACES Officer Jim Cross, WI3N, to supplement the hospital's back-up telecommunications system. The radio amateurs had support from The Green Mountain Repeater Association's 146.610 MHz repeater--about 100 yards from the hospital--and its 146.880 MHz repeater in Greenbelt. ARES-RACES volunteers deployed to the hospital as well as to the county emergency operations center and to two other area hospitals--Laurel Regional and Bowie Health Center--to provide coordination and support.
"Our people showed a level of dedication to be proud of," Cross said.
WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, DC, reported the
ARES-RACES activation and said the outage may have been due to a computer
system malfunction. The hospital's telephone service was out for about 10
hours.--Murray Green, K3BEQ; NBC4; Chauncy
Bowers, N3XOR
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