Amateur radio could help in Gloucestershire emergency

What would happen in a major emergency if all the ways we normally communicate failed? It would be amateur radio to the rescue!

Gloucestershire County Council’s Emergency Management Service make plans so that if there is a crisis in the county, the people of Gloucestershire are supported and essential services are restored as quickly as possible. They also train and liaise with emergency response teams and have about 200 fully trained, accredited volunteers to support the county council’s response.

Recently, EMS worked with the volunteer group, RAYNET (Radio Amateur Emergency Communications Network) at an inter-county exercise for the south west. This tests radio links between Gloucestershire, its districts, the rest of the south west and as far afield as the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands.

The national RAYNET was formed in 1953 to provide emergency communications in times of disaster.
If telephone, internet and other data links are unavailable or fail, these radio links would be vital in ensuring that organisations, including the county council, can continue to communicate. They could also be used if an incident occurred underground, such as in a tunnel or caves, as these signals go further than mobile phones and other devices.

Controller of RAYNET, Ian Day, said: “There are dedicated frequencies that can be used for emergency radio communications to relay messages outside of the county. The idea is that RAYNET picks up the message and can contact whoever we need to communicate with and get them to tune into the frequency.

“We were on standby during the July 2007 floods and had made contact with other counties to ensure continuity of communications if needed.

Read the full Stroud News & Journal article
http://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/4793422.
Amateur_radio_could_help_in_Gloucestershire_emergency/