ACS Audible Warning System Drill

Written by Alex Bertea KG6JPJ

Wednesday, 12 October 2005

On Saturday, the 15th of October, at 0830 hours, thirty to forty [I never got an official count –AHB] members of Seattle’s Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) gathered in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to assist Seattle’s Emergency Management Department with their test of the initial phase of the AWS – Audible Warning System – which was to begin at 1000 hours.  There was lots of coffee, which is good on an early Saturday call out, and there were doughnuts, which is even better (calories get burned off quickly during emergency ops). Our indomitable chief, Mark Sheppard, N7LYE, welcomed everyone and gave a rundown of the day’s activities.  The City of Seattle had partially deployed the AWS in three locations along the Seattle waterfront: a north location near Myrtle Edwards Park; a central position by the waterfront fire station; and a southern site near the cruise ship terminal at Pier 30.  He described the purpose of the AWS as twofold: first, to give warning to people, by alert tone and spoken message, that there was some kind of emergency requiring their attention; and secondly, to tell them where to go. The plan was for ACS members to be staged along the waterfront, and in some buildings nearby, to help assess the effectiveness of the AWS by recording the volume, clarity, and intelligibility of ‘Westminster’ chimes and recorded messages spoken by both male and female voices.  Mark handed out sheets which asked for several different observations on a 1 to 10 scale.  ACS personnel were also asked to survey passersby, if they were amenable, to solicit information on their opinion of the test.  The AWS would be activated in three separate phases, and immediately afterward, three nets would be established, one for each ‘zone’, to relay reported information back to net controllers at the EOC. Steve Martin, a strategic advisor for emergency operations and plans for Seattle Emergency Management, thanked ACS members in advance for their participation in the test, and introduced Rick Lindsay, an Emergency Preparedness Officer from the Seattle Police Department, and Cornell Amaya, an Emergency Management Public Information Officer (PIO).  The three of them would be driving the vans to ferry ACS members out to the test areas. I was stationed in the EOC for the drill, and tasked as net control for the ‘South Net’.  ‘North Net’ was run by Bill Dockstader, W7LSK, and Joel Ware, KD7QKK, operated ‘Central Net’ on the primary drill frequency, 443.000 MHz.  After the vans departed, the EOC became relatively quiet as the system technicians got preparations underway for the test.  On one of the overhead monitors at the north end of the radio ‘bullpen’, we could see images of a closed-off Alaskan Way Viaduct and an intersection where the City of Seattle was running a [joint/multiple-department?] emergency drill, of which the AWS test was a component.  At 0950 hours, Joel gave a ten minute warning to ACS members, and had each zone switch to their individual drill frequencies for a roster check.  Then everyone was directed to switch back to the primary drill channel. At approximately 1005 hours, the ‘Central’ component of the AWS was activated via computer at the EOC, followed shortly afterward by the other two zones.  ACS members were then instructed to switch to their respective nets to transmit their reports. We EOC net controllers queried ACS communicators on our zone rosters, using tactical call signs such as ‘Sierra One’ to indicate communicator S-1 on the southern net.  Some individuals were unable to transmit due to equipment problems, and had others in their section relay their reports.  Other ACS personnel were unable to reach the EOC on their assigned frequencies, and resourcefully switched to a different net to get their data to another net control. At about 1100 hours, everyone had returned by van to the EOC for a debriefing on the AWS test’s effectiveness, and Mark noted some interesting results.  About 20 observers heard the ‘Westminster’ alert chime, but only 5-6 hands were raised when asked whether they had heard the male and female voices speaking.  The consensus seemed to be that the AWS was quite audible close to the sites, but faded quickly with distance.  Some members noted that ambient construction or traffic noise prevented them from hearing the warning sounds.  George Boswell, K7YHB, observed that the deployment of ACS members worked well, and we managed to get everyone back who had gone out into the field. At the conclusion of the drill, Steve Martin again thanked ACS members for their participation and remarked that the ravages of Hurricane Katrina had reinforced for him that ACS is a critical component of any emergency communications planning.  In addition, he noted that the new EOC will have a lot more room for ACS, and said he considers our group an integral part of the Emergency Management Department. All told, I thought the AWS drill to be an excellent test of ACS capabilities in the field, as well as a great opportunity to help the City of Seattle and have fun in the process.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 January 2007 )

 

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