On April 21st, the 2004
tornado season officially
began in Illinois and Indiana.
When will it begin in YOUR area?
Every year the tornado and hurricane seasons slip up on us. Worse yet, we
now have two near predictable seasons with random occurrences at virtually any
time of the year. Add hail, floods, and lightning, and we have to
acknowledge that all of our technology can do little to change the forces of
nature. What we CAN do, is be better prepared.
If you are in an area that has suffered the horror of a tornado, the chances are that you will be hit again! We are told that the so called storm tracks follow clearly predictable patterns ranging within a few degrees from North to South and then returning from South to North. Unfortunately, the predications cannot tell you WHEN a tornado will strike. Fortunately, many of the inhabitants in Illinois and Indiana received warnings of up to 30 minutes before the tornados struck. Unfortunately, many people did not know of the tornado risk until it was within sight!
Radio, TV, and Sirens, and Weather Monitors have long been used to alert the public of severe weather. The problem with Radio and TV is that both are ineffective for those who are outside or asleep. Sirens are useless for those in high noise level zones, in large buildings, or in fringe areas. The cost of sirens simply make them ineffective in providing wide area alerting. Weather Monitors are inexpensive but ineffective since alerts up to 75 miles away (particularly in the middle of the night) are ignored and the receiver is often turned off (or worse yet, never turned back on after being turned off). Additionally, Weather Monitors have no capability of alerting the general population when there are other types of life threatening emergencies such as chemical spills, gas leaks, traffic disruptions, etc. Clearly, there has to be a better solution. Fortunately, there is - It is called Operation SafeWatch II.
The key to an effective community
alerting program is an efficient message delivery system. You must have
control over the message delivery system. Trying to make the NOAA weather
alerting system work for your needs won't work. Using an existing public
safety radio channel won't work since existing channels are prioritized for
other activities. You must have a dedicated message delivery system,
specifically used for the delivery of emergency messages. Falcon Wireless
offers such a system. It is called ERAS (Emergency Radio Alerting System).
The installation of ERAS is the only direct cost required by a participating municipality in the Operation SafeWatch II program. ERAS consists of a UHF repeater station normally installed on the highest available structure owned by the City. Typically, this would be an existing 2-way radio tower or water tank. The municipality pays for the ERAS repeater station. Falcon Wireless provides the FCC operating license, a sending station for the dispatch center, and all maintenance. The total expense to the municipality is a one time cost of $3,500 as well as providing a suitable antenna structure with housing and AC Power supply. In some cases, Falcon Wireless may choose to use their own antenna structure when one is available. The only other requirement is for someone to monitor national weather service alerts and then transmit local area information as required. This can either be a local dispatch center, 911, EMA, fire or the fire department depending on the local situation.
In addition to the ERAS repeater station, and dispatch control station, Falcon Wireless will provide a NOAA weather alerting receiver at the dispatch point for those communities who do not already have weather monitoring capabilities.
Once the ERAS repeater station and dispatch control station is installed, the municipality has the ability to transmit emergency notification as required to citizens equipped with SafeWatch II Personal Notification Devices (PND's). The PND's are especially produced for Falcon Wireless by the same contract manufacturer who builds the top quality Remington FRS transceiver. The PND is essentially a specially modified FRS transceiver that incorporates a SafeWatch II emergency calling channel in addition to the normal FRS channels. Unlike discount store FRS radios, the PND radio is supplied with a long lasting Nickel Metal-Hydride battery and desk charger. This allows both portability when required as well as operation in the event of a power failure. Pricing of the PND's depends on quantity. In some cases, the PND's are purchased by the municipality and provided to citizens in the community at little or no charge. Some municipalities may elect to simply construct the ERAS system and then allow the general public to purchase units for use on the system,
If your municipality is involved in a
Neighborhood Watch program, or contemplates establishing a program, the PND
provides a highly effective means of establishing a wireless network within
neighborhoods as well as providing a traveling emergency notification system.
Alan Dixon, an Amateur Radio Operator, has petitioned the FCC to designate
Family Radio Service Channel 1 (462.5625 MHz) "as a universally recognized
calling channel." Dixon's Petition for Rulemaking, filed in October
of 2003 and put on public notice in January of 2004 as RM-10019, asserts
that establishing a national FRS calling channel will benefit FRS users in
emergency situations and eliminate confusion without imposing any burden on FRS
users or regulation. Also signing the submittal was Radio Communications
Monitoring Association founder Robert K. Leef. REACT International has been
promoting the adoption of FRS Channel 1 with the CTCSS tone disabled as a
national call channel. REACT says it came up with the idea after lost hikers in
Southern California spent 40 minutes calling on 14 different FRS channels using
38 different tones. In many areas FRS channel 1 has already become the
defacto standard emergency calling channel. Since the PND device
incorporates this channel as well as other FRS channels, it is well suited for
both home and travel use. Cost will typically be under $30.
If desired, you have the option of participating in a secondary program known as Operation Assist. This program allows local area merchants as well as the elderly and disabled to activate a panic alarm voice message transmission that can be sent to the dispatch facility, to law enforcement officers, fire and rescue first responders, or any combination depending on the needs and desires of the community.
In convenience stores and other locations at substantial risk for armed robbery, a device known as the Quick Talk Reporter can be purchased by the merchant for a one time cost of $599. The Reporter is pre-programmed with a voice message indicating the merchant name and location whenever an activation is made. The Reporter can be activated in either of two ways - by a wireless panic button worn by an employee or by a switch in the cash register that is activated when the last bill is removed. The use of these devices can give area merchants a higher level of security and faster response by law enforcement for a nominal initial investment and no continuing cost.
The same device can be installed in the homes of persons under protection of restraining orders, the elderly, and disabled. Since a cash register sensor is not required in this application, the cost is reduced to $499. In some cases, grant money may be available to pay for these devices. Additional information is available on request.
A third version of the Quick Talk Reporter is available without the aforementioned panic button and/or cash register sensors. This model can be connected to the sensor output of any customer supplied device such as a door or gate open sensor, smoke detector or HVAC system. These devices, priced at $399 each are ideal for use in churches, schools, and other high value property that is unattended for long periods of time.
We have just touched the basics of the capabilities of SafeWatch II, but you should have the idea - a safer community at very little cost to your municipality. This can be the beginning of a partnership between you, your community, and Falcon Wireless. Sounds like a win-win-win opportunity to us. Hope you agree!
Burch H. Falkner
Falcon Wireless
36 - 20th Avenue NW
Birmingham, AL 35215
Phone 205.854.2611