Health officials give lessons in amateur radio
Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Arkansas Health Department transmitted amateur radio training to 13 hospital classrooms across the state Saturday.
"The health department has the most advanced and far-reaching video conferencing network in the state," John Norland, tactical communications assistant coordinator for the Arkansas Health Department, said. "That's why I'm able to stand in a Little Rock hospital and broadcast to people across the state."
The training, which took place locally at Washington Regional Medical Center, enabled students to earn their Technician Class Amateur Radio License, as required by the Federal Communications Commission.
Norland said between 20 and 30 Nor thwest Arkansas residents participated in this year's training. The program was offered to students at no cost in cooperation with the Arkansas Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the American Radio Relay League. In addition to completing the twoday training course, students also had to complete a licensing exam.
"In Arkansas, the state has put in a lot of money to pay for high-tech communication, which on a daily basis is valuable to have," Norland said. "But in times of very difficult, large-area emergencies, all the other communication systems we depend on tend to become overloaded or disrupted. During those emergencies, the amateur radio people are able to connect a communications network because they're used to doing it on a daily basis."
Norland said amateur radio operators often act as unsung heroes in the face of disaster.
"Recently, on the Pacific coast of Oregon, they had a huge flood," he said. "All the communications were rendered inoperable. During a television news conference, the governor of Oregon stood up and said, ' Do you want to know who the real heroes are ? ' Then he pointed over to a group of guys with ham radios."
Though Arkansas has yet to suffer a widespread disaster, hospitals across the state are taking steps to prepare.
"We had two employees that took the test in June and this time we have six employees," Mel Lopes, safety officer for Washington Regional Medical Center, said. "Four work in emergency services and two work in security. It's a good balance."
Through governmentfunded grants, the Arkansas Health Department has facilitated emergency networks to hospitals across the state.
In addition to hospital employees, Saturday's training session drew in law enforcement officers, doctors and retirees.
"We've seen interest from an unbelievable number of retired people who are looking to do something good for their community and a way to spend their time," Norland said. "Being an amateur radio operator enables them to talk with people, make friends and stay in touch."
The Arkansas Health Department sponsored this year's training program to increase the number of amateur radio operators in the sate.
"It's not that there's a lack of interest, but maybe there's been a lack of availability," Norland said. "I've talked to a lot of people who've been wanting to get involved for years, but they've never had an opportunity presented to them."
Though the network has declined slightly through the years, there are still 722, 382 amateur radio operators in the United States, according to the Federal Communications Commission. In Arkansas, more than 7, 700 radio operators are active.
"Locally, we used ham radios during the ice storms in 2000," Norland said. "A lot of the communication systems were disabled at that time, but we were able to call for help."
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