ARES works with Ryves Youth Center holding a 2 day Tech class.
2/18/2012
Vigo County ARES working in conjunction with Ryves Hall Youth Center held a 2 day Tech class at the youth center.
We had 25 people in the class and had 14 people pass there tests and become new hams.
Vigo County ARES would like to thank all the volunteers that helped with the class and thank Jim Edwards director of the youth center (KA9DIF) for hosting the class and providing the food and drinks.
We would also like to think the volunteer VE's and the Eastside Outdoor Ham Club for VE testing.
I know everyone worked hard to make this class a success.
ARES is proud to have helped bring 14 new hams into the area.
Vigo County ARES working in conjunction with Ryves Hall Youth Center held a 2 day Tech class at the youth center.
We had 25 people in the class and had 14 people pass there tests and become new hams.
Vigo County ARES would like to thank all the volunteers that helped with the class and thank Jim Edwards director of the youth center (KA9DIF) for hosting the class and providing the food and drinks.
We would also like to think the volunteer VE's and the Eastside Outdoor Ham Club for VE testing.
I know everyone worked hard to make this class a success.
ARES is proud to have helped bring 14 new hams into the area.
ARES Works with SAR in Search for Missing Girl
Vigo County ARES was called upon to work with EMA , SAR and Vigo County Sheriff's department for a search mission.
This was a girl that had disappeared without a trace and there was a concern that the girl could have been abducted.
Vigo County ARES was activated to assist with communications and logistics for the SAR Teem.
We had just finished a training exercise with them a few weeks earlier and that training came in very handy for this event.
We had 6 Teems out at once and we tracked them by radio and also used APRS.
We also time logged all communications for documentation.
We worked under the ICS structure and again our training came very handy.
The good news is the girl was found and everything was OK.
I think in the end we came away from the operation with a better understanding of what is expected of us and we also have implemented some new procedures for the next time we are called upon.
After speaking with our EMA director and the SAR Teem members I would say ARES did a great job in both the field and in operations. We got nothing but praise and thanks from both and I believe the Sheriff's department also got to see what we are capable of and that ARES is an asset for the county.
I would like to thank the members that helped with this event as it was a stressful time for all.
I can't say enough about getting the proper training and being ready to go as you just never know when your going to called upon, and you never know what you will be doing.
ARES is on the job in the Ice Storm.
February 3, 2011
Vigo's 3-level warning system debuts in storm
Howard GreningerThe Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — Vigo County motorists for the first time were introduced to emergency weather travel warnings during this week’s ice storm.
Early Wednesday, the Vigo County Emergency Management Agency issued a “Level Two Warning,” meaning road conditions are threatening to the safety of drivers, advising travel only for essentials, such as going to work or for medical needs.
It was a downgrade from a “Level One State of Emergency” issued about 10 p.m. Tuesday, under which only emergency personnel, such as ambulances or fire trucks, should be on roadways.
The least of three levels is a “Level Three Watch,” which advises motorists to use caution and avoid areas that might be restricted.
“During the flood of 2008, we didn’t do this [warning system] because we were in an emergency condition,” said J.D. Kesler, deputy director of the county’s EMA. At that time, Gov. Mitch Daniels had already declared a state of emergency in a large portion of west-central and southern Indiana, which included Vigo County.
The travel warnings are a result of regulations established through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. “It is more regulatory rather than a statute. Once we activated our Emergency Operations Center, we had Sheriff [Greg] Ewing out here, we had some folks from different county-based fire departments, and we were in telephone conference with county commissioners and the county highway,” Kesler said.
Commissioners, as elected officials, make the final determination to issue the warnings, Kelser said, “based on input from public safety.”
“We did this to keep as many people as we can off the road,” Commissioner President Michael Ciolli said of the travel warnings.
“I had four to five conference calls. Our decision was based on information from law enforcement and highway plus the road conditions and the weather,” Ciolli said. “Apparently something worked right, because based on what law enforcement said, the accident rate was down.”
Kesler said most drivers complied with the warnings.
“The reality is that most folks know when the weather is bad. The volume of traffic was way down, as reported by the sheriff deputies out last night, in the evening and morning hours. It is a road travel advisory,” Kesler said.
“People are still allowed to drive, depending on what they are doing and what they have to do,” Kesler said, such as emergency personnel or utility workers. “People just need to use good judgment, and they did,” Kesler said.
The county’s Emergency Operations Center is housed at the Vigo County Emergency Management Agency’s building at the Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field. The center has 15 seats and large television sets and is equipped with Internet updates and information from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
Tuesday through Wednesday morning, EMA workers and volunteers, manned the center. In addition, members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) group manned ham radios.
On Wednesday, Doug K. Mullens, emergency coordinator for ARES, manned a radio at the EMA office to maintain communication to shelters at Terre Haute North Vigo High School and with other American Red Cross sites.
“We’ll direct traffic back and forth as needed, if they need more cots or equipment there. Cell phones do not work there well in the gymnasiums [at North high school],” Mullens said.
In addition, members of ARES serve as weather spotters to provide fast updates on changing storm conditions. There are 35 ARES members, Mullens said.
“We work hand in hand with EMA to expand some of their capabilities,” Mullens said.
Kesler said the use of ham radio operators during emergencies “is a great asset to have.”
On a side note, Ciolli said county highway workers were clearing public parking lots Wednesday in preparation for county offices to be open today. City government offices were also to be open today.
Kesler said weather conditions would still bring frigid overnight temperatures, but more precipitation was not expected.
“It looks like we dodged a bullet on the amount of ice. It could have been worse,” Kesler said.