Abstract
This chapter reviews volunteer communications experts—known as amateur radio operators—who can provide communication and hold things together during a disaster until the commercial phones and radio systems can recover. Amateur radio is a technical hobby that teaches people how to use a two-way radio to communicate. Amateur radio operators volunteer their skills to help the agencies and organizations that rely on communications to fill the gap when things go wrong. The two commonly known groups that provide such emergency communications are: One that is sponsored by the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) [2]—the national organization for amateur radio; and the other is sponsored by the federal and local governments, an offshoot of the old Civil Defense system. Every hospital communication system should have multiple routes for incoming and outgoing messages. Phone and electrical systems should have multiple access points to the facility and multiple central office connections. Amateur radio operators support various communication activities such as hospital–hospital, hospital–emergency operation center (EOC), hospital–field sites, and hospital–medical suppliers.
Published Version
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