Your Plan?

[KJ4KSO]

I am newly called to develop an emergency communications plan for our Stake.   What is your plan?  Do you plan for specific information family by family to make it to the Stake?  We live in a multi state stake and have many topographical challenges to consider.  I would appreciate any information from anyone who has more experience. 

Thanks!

Joyce

[KI6DKC]

Hello Joyce.  Our stake has a plan and each ward has a plan.  Geographically our stake covers a large area and so going to the stake in an emergency isn't really an option.  Our Stake has an emergency communications plan and has selected Ham Radio as the mode for communications when land line and cell is out.  Each ward though chooses it's own way to communicate within the boundaries.  This is because no one system will work in each ward.  We have wards that encompass large geographic areas that are under separate government entities.  Basically the families communicate with priesthood leaders in the ward, the bishop communicates with the stake President, and the stake president communicates with area authorities or bishop's store house.  When using the ham radio, operators transmit the information given to them by their priesthood leaders only.  They are communicators only not generators of information.

In my case, I am isolated from Priesthood leadership and the ward building.  I have to use Ham Radio to even communicate with the ward during an emergency where phones are not working.

The Stake plan designates what to use for Ham Radio emergency communication.  A member of the stake owns a 2 meter repeater (with solar and batteries) that covers the entire stake and has given permission to use it during an emergency and for nets.  There are two nets every week for the stake where amatures from the stake can check in and pass traffic.  One is on Wednesday evening on one on Sunday evening.  The members that cannot check into the Wednesday net due to callings or work check into the Sunday net.  The net allows us to practice how the system will work if there is an emergency.  We can also use simplex but that would require some relaying of message traffic.  That has been tested also a time or two particularly when the repeater goes down.

It's good to have a plan but if you don't practice it then when the problem happens it won't work. 

I think the key for you is to figure out who needs to communicate with the stake, how they are going to do it, what sort of information they will communicate, and what the proceedure will be.  Then put a plan together based on that.  Then require that the wards do their own plan but that they also can communicate with the stake based on the medium you have chosen.  Some stakes and wards are so close together that they can use those FRS radios to communicate.  In others that won't work.  Of course if the stake chooses ham radio for it's mode of communication when the phones don't work and the wards don't have people licensed to pass the information to the stake from the Bishop, then it won't work.  In those cases you have to get people convinced to get licensed, equipped, and trained or have extra communicators in other wards willing to travel to those wards and do that job in an emergency.  In a major emergency that may not work. 

Whatever the plan you come up with, the leadership has to understand it.  If you come up with a plan, put it in a binder, and put it on the shelf then it's no better than having no plan because people won't know what it is when the time comes.

I hope this is helpful.