Amateurs support hospital communications during telecommunications outage

When construction equipment accidentally severed two
telecommunications trunk lines serving Tustin Hospital and Medical Center (THMC) in California on October 6, the hospital knew just whom to call.

Members of the Orange County Hospital Disaster Support Communication System (HDSCS) responded promptly to fill in, as the 177-bed facility suddenly found itself without telephone, e-mail, fax, fire alarms or paging service.

The initial seven HDSCS responders eventually grew to two
dozen over the course of the 16-hour outage that began in the late afternoon and continued until the following morning. April Moell, WA6OPS, and two other fixed-stations handled incoming and outgoing telephone calls on behalf of THMC.

Message traffic began to flow as soon as HDSCS operators got to their assigned stations, and hospital staffers re-established links with patients' physicians on the outside. "Although we have participated in numerous drills at THMC in the past, some newer employees were unfamiliar with Amateur Radio's capability," said Moell, who founded the 80-member ARES group in 1980. "They seemed amazed that
HDSCS support has been completely free of cost to them. It's a true community service." HDSCS has agreements to provide backup communication to 34 acute-care medical facilities in Orange County.

This month's activation marked the 85th in HDSCS' history for a hospital communication failure and the fifth emergency activation this year

Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The American Radio Relay League

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