The Role of Amateur Radio in National and International Disasters

Abstract

Appreciation of reliable commuications might seem universal; yet when natural disasters strike, few communities are equipped to handle these essential needs. In many instances their ability to notify the rest of the world about their disaster is seriously impaired. Why this is so and why Amateur Radio Operators, or “hams”, always seem to play such a vital part in community survival is the topic of this article.The best communication systems can fail from traffic overload. As an example, there may be little if any loss of telephone lines or commerical radio links; yet the local population can totally paralyze a system simply by picking up the phone and calling someone. An analogy to this stoppage of communications traffic is seen daily on our expressways as too many cars enter and exceed some critical density at which all traffic must stop.