Emergency Activations #110 and #111: At about 2 AM on October 5, 2009, the telephone switch at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana went down because one of its storage battery modules failed. The hospital was left with just a few direct lines and its "power-based phones" (some internal extensions that connect directly to external trunk lines when the switch is inoperative). HDSCS Assistant Coordinator Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ received a page about the internal emergency that was being declared and she immediately activated HDSCS in accordance with our standard procedures. The first HDSCS operator arrived at the hospital approximately 35 minutes after the page and immediately established communications with the outside from the Hospital Command Center. Additional HDSCS operators arrived soon thereafter and were stationed in Emergency, Surgery and Radiology departments. These are key units because WestMed Santa Ana is one of the three trauma centers for Orange County, where emergency surgery is performed frequently. Several important medical messages were passed by our ham operators including a "stat" request to Radiology for a portable X-ray unit and technician. As daybreak brought greater activity to the hospital, plans were made to add operators in additional units as needed. Temporary repairs to the telephone switch were completed about 10 AM and our operation secured one half hour after that. Taking shifts in the Hospital Command Center were Allen Bullock KD6LCL and Bill Hegardt K6WIL. Operators in other units were Ken Simpson W6KOS, Dave West KI6EPI and Larry Zysman N6BNM. Outside base operators were April Moell WA6OPS, Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP and Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ. The hospital immediately made plans for permanent repairs, but before they could be implemented, another failure took place at about 5:30 PM on October 6. Again, HDSCS received an alert page and promptly responded. We assisted with communications as needed until the system was operational again at 8 PM. Responders to the hospital were Allen Bullock KD6LCL, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Pete Martinez K2PTM and John Walker AC7GK. Base station operators were as before.
* ReddiNet® is a commercial UHF digital inter-hospital communications system sold to hospitals by Healthcare Association of Southern California and maintained by the Communications Department of the County of Orange.
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This page updated 10 August 2010
Emergency Activation #109: Shortly before 6 PM on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, HDSCS coordinators received a page from St. Jude Hospital, advising a "Code Triage" situation. HDSCS Coordinator April Moell WA6OPS called the hospital's House Supervisor and was advised of a hazardous materials incident, with the possibility of 10 to 12 incoming patients. At that point, the House Supervisor's telephone failed and attempts to call back to the hospital gave "all circuits busy" indications. April immediately sent Assistant Coordinator Paul Broden K6MHD to the hospital to provide communications backup. He arrived in 16 minutes and met with Tim Beringer KI6RVT, the hospitals Safety Officer. Hospital staff members were deploying a decontamination tent but as it turned out, it was not needed. The situation de-escalated quickly when it was determined that the cause was pepper spray and that fewer victims would be received. WA6OPS contacted the OC-EMS Medical Disaster Management Coordinator. She and K6MHD served as liaison to that agency, answering inquiries about hospital diversion status. Communications returned to normal and our operations secured at 7 PM.
Emergency Activation #108: Shortly before noon on Saturday, November 15, 2008, a wildfire broke out northeast of Brea-Olinda High School, possibly sparked by embers from the "Freeway Complex Fire" that had been burning near the 91 Freeway at Green River Road since 9 AM. There was concern that this fire could threaten the Kindred Healthcare specialty hospital in Brea if it jumped westward over the 57 Freeway. HDSCS activated an on-air net and members checked in for possible service. When the fire did jump the freeway about 12:45 PM, four members were immediately dispatched to the hospital so that they could get there before traffic became too congested. At 2:45 PM, as the operators were in place and in communication with the HDSCS net from Kindred Brea, a page was received from St. Jude hospital and a call came in from Placentia Linda hospital, each requesting Amateur Radio operators. St. Jude was receiving heavy smoke and had gone on diversion status. Placentia-Linda had been advised that it might receive chronic pulmonary patients from skilled nursing facilities. HDSCS members were immediately sent from the net to these facilities. At 3:15 PM, a decision was made to close and evacuate Kindred Brea, moving 36 patients by ambulance to four other Kindred hospitals in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Ten of these patients were on ventilators. HDSCS operators assisted with communications during the evacuation and our net kept officials at Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency apprised of the situation. All patient-carrying ambulances departed by 6 PM. Operations continued at Placentia Linda Hospital until 6:20 PM. St. Jude requested that three of our members remain in critical areas, so relief operators were sent as needed. The net continued through the night and secured at 2:15 PM Sunday. Responding to the hospitals were Ken Allen KI6NBB, Monique Beringer KI6RVT, Patricia Beringer KI6RVU, Tim Beringer KI6RVS, Paul Broden K6MHD, Louie DeArman K6SM, Reid Green KF6LOK, Bill Preston KZ3G, Robbie Preston KI6KYX, Ken Simpson W6KOS, Rick Soikkeli AE6RS, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, Alex Valdez K9BLK, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, Dave West KI6EPI and Woody Woodward NJ6W. Serving as Net Controls were April Moell WA6OPS, Joe Moell KØOV and Jim McLaughlin AB6UF. Tom Gaccione WB2LRH operated from the Orange County Health Care Agency's Departmental Operations Center and kept the officials there informed.
In the photo at left: On December 3, 2008, Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency awarded certificates to the HDSCS members who provided communications to hospitals and OC-EMSA during the Freeway Complex Fire (see above). Presenting was Mike Steinkraus N6PTN, OC-EMSA's Medical Disaster Management Coordinator. Upper frame (L to R): Tim Beringer KI6RVS, Monique Beringer KI6RVT and Patricia Beringer KI6RVU. Lower frame back row: Joe Moell KØOV, April Moell WA6OPS, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, Ken Simpson W6KOS, Alex Valdez K9BLK and Ken Allen KI6NBB. Front row: Louie DeArman K6SM, Dave West KI6EPI, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF and Mike Steinkraus N6PTN. Not pictured: Paul Broden K6MHD, Reid Green KF6LOK, Bill Preston NZ3W, Robbie Preston KI6KYX, Rick Soikkeli AE6RS and Woody Woodward NJ6W.
Emergency Activation #107: Telephones and data systems at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton went down suddenly at about 9:30 AM on Wednesday, September 24, 2008. The hospital's Telecommunications Manager immediately sent a group page to HDSCS leaders, who responded by establishing an on-air net and dispatching the closest available members to the 300-bed facility. Ken Simpson W6KOS was first to get there, followed shortly by Dale Petes KI6ANS and Louie DeArman K6SM. Tom Gaccione WB2LRH and Alex Valdez K9BLK arrived a few minutes after that. They set up communications between the telephone switchboard area (PBX), Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department and Operating Room areas. Operators remained on site until all repairs and adjustments were complete and the system was stable, securing at 1:30 PM. Cheryl Simpson was the first External Net Control and made calls to activate members, relieved by April Moell WA6OPS. Joe Moell KØOV was too far away to respond at the time, but he also made calls to get other responders to the hospital.
Emergency Activation #106: An equipment failure caused a sudden outage of all telephones and data services at Hoag Memorial Hospital in the early evening of September 11, 2008. April Moell WA6OPS received a page at 6:48 PM and immediately activated HDSCS. Two members, Galel Fajardo KB6MOH and Scott Lolmaugh WD8ICK, were close by and responded to the hospital immediately, arriving within 45 minutes of the activation. Close behind were Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, Bob Evans W9TQC and Dave West KI6EPI. Although the hospital's initial assessment indicated that a five-hour outage was possible, it was fortunate that some phones began to come back on line before 8 PM. As repairs were completed, the hams began to stand down and operations were secured at 10:40 PM. Ken Simpson W6KOS, Joe Moell KØOV and Tom Gaccione WB2LRH were staged and ready to respond if the need had continued. April Moell WA6OPS was Net Control and base station operator.
Emergency Activation #105: A lunchtime earthquake of Richter magnitude 5.4, centered in the Chino Hills, caused an immediate activation of HDSCS on July 29, 2008. Several members established an on-air net within seconds and began to check the status of our supported facilities by telephone and personal visit. Fourteen of 35 Orange County hospitals were within 15 miles of the epicenter, making them our highest priority. Communications disruptions at these hospitals were brief except at Kindred Healthcare in Westminster, where phone lines to the outside went down for approximately 30 minutes. Fred Lochner WA6FRA discovered this when he went to check on the hospital. He remained to provide backup communications until service was restored. Minor injuries from falling parts of a drop ceiling occurred at a therapy and wellness center in Brea that is operated by St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton. Paul Broden K6MHD went to the Command Center at St. Jude and was prepared to communicate with the Brea site, but that building was quickly evacuated and a response there was not needed. Within 90 minutes, our net had determined the status of all Orange County hospitals and had passed this information to OC Emergency Medical Services Agency. We also established communications with the Amateur Radio nets of Orange County RACES, Los Angeles County ARES and Orange County Red Cross. HDSCS Net Control stations were Paul Broden K6MHD and April Moell WA6OPS. Other participating members were Bob Bertels N6VAN, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Fred Lochner WA6FRA, Susan Hafner KD6YMH, Dennis Kidder W6DQ, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, Joe Moell KØOV, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP, Jon Schaffer W6UFS, Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ, Ken Simpson W6KOS, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, Matthew Stofle W7MWS, Alex Valdez K9BLK, Corky Walker KG6YWY, John Walker AC7GK, Dave West KI6EPI, Woody Woodward NJ6W and Larry Woolf KF6YCM.
Alerts, Drills and Standby Operations
Drill #170: To provide additional opportunities for on-the-air training, the number of city/county RACES communications drills per year has been increased from one to two. The first such drill for 2010 took place on the evening of May 19 with HDSCS members on the air exchanging simulated emergency messages with ten RACES groups in Orange County as well as the county's American Red Cross operations center. HDSCS participants were Ken Allen K7IXO, Paul Broden K6MHD, Louie DeArman K6SM, Dave Elder KA6TBF, Roman Kamienski KG6QMZ, Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM, Andrea Martinez K2ALM, Pete Martinez K2PTM, Bob McCord K6IWA, Robert Moore KW6B, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Ray Rittenhouse KF6WZN, Dre Sepulveda KI6YDM, Rick Soikkeli AE6RS, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, Matthew Stofle W7MWS, Fred Wagner KQ6Q and Dave West KI6EPI. Net Control for the HDSCS net during this drill was Tom Gaccione WB2LRH.
Drill #169: California's "Golden Guardian" statewide homeland security and disaster preparedness exercise for 2010 was staged on May 18 and 19. Hospitals in Orange County drilled on May 18 only, with 17 of them utilizing HDSCS Amateur Radio operators in their facilities in response to a simulated terrorism scenario. Even though many hospitals went into security lockdown mode, they called or paged HDSCS according to established procedures and accepted our operators into their facilities. Taking their portable equipment into hospitals for this drill were Paul Broden K6MHD, Allen Bullock KD6LCL, Louis DeArman K6SM, Richard Deen KI6HWY, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Tom Hall N6DGK, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Becky Katzen KI6OEM, Fred Lochner WA6FRA, Andrea Martinez K2ALM, Pete Martinez K2PTM, Bob McCord K6IWA, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Robert Moore KW6B, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Bill Preston KZ3G, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, John Walker AC7GK and Dave West KI6EPI. Operating from Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency (OC-EMSA) was Ken Simpson W6KOS. Base station and net control operators were Dennis Kidder W6DQ, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF and Ralph Swanson WB6JBI. Of these operators, only one was stationed at a hospital where he is employed. In accordance with new FCC policies, a written waiver of FCC 97.113 was obtained in advance by OC-EMSA to allow this person to operate on Amateur Radio frequencies from that hospital in this exercise.
HDSCS made a rapid and comprehensive response following the Richter 7.3 earthquake that shook southern California and northern BC Mexico on Sunday afternoon, April 4, 2010. HDSCS members were checking in on our primary repeater before the chandeliers stopped swinging. Joe and April Moell, KØOV and WA6OPS established a net and assigned members to check on the status of our supported hospitals. Highest priority was given to trauma centers, large multi-building facilities, and those closest to the epicenter in the southern OC area. Within an hour, it was determined that all facilities were functional with no power or communications problems. Thirty HDSCS members participated.
Drill #168: Drills in December are unusual, but HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center in Tustin staged a short drill on December 17, 2009 with an earthquake scenario. HDSCS simulated an automatic Core Team response, with three members responding: Andrea Martinez K2ALM, Pete Martinez K2PTM and Ken Simpson W6KOS. Acting as Net Control and base stations were Jim McLaughlin AB6UF and April Moell WA6OPS. The hospital simulated failure of its internal and external telephones as well as severe damage on one of the floors, requiring a partial evacuation. HDSCS provided communications for that as well as for requests for additional water.
Standby #102: Southern California Edison Company scheduled an all-night power outage at Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) beginning at 9:30 PM on October 30, 2009. HDSCS was requested to place communicators in critical units within the facility to be ready in the event that telephone problems resulted from the outage. Two shifts of operators handled this standby operation with some others standing by to take their places if the outage had to be extended into the next morning. Although the telephone system remained stable, our operators handled some messages, including reports of non-functional medical equipment on a unit. At CHOC were Paul Broden K6MHD, Richard Deen KI6HWY, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Tom Hall N6DGK, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM, Scott Lolmaugh WD8ICK, Pete Martinez K2PTM, Andrea Martinez K2ALM, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Bill Preston KZ3G, Ken Simpson W6KOS, Tom Smith KB6A, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, John Walker AC7GK and Woody Woodward NJ6W. Outside base station operators were April Moell WA6OPS, Joe Moell KØOV and Jon Schaffer W6UFS. While driving home from CHOC at about 3:30 AM, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH noted that the area of Brookhurst Street and the I-405 freeway was dark. He drove to nearby Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, where he found that commercial power was out and emergency generators were in use. Tom remained at Orange Coast and in communication with the HDSCS net until the conclusion of our standby operation, in case telephone problems developed there and it was necessary to get another communicator team or to reroute our operators to that hospital on their way home.
Standbys #100 and #101: HDSCS members were in place in key areas of St. Jude Medical Center at 10 PM on October 20, 2009 as the hospital shut down its telephone system for repairs. Team Leader and Net Control in the hospital was Ken Simpson W6KOS. Other operators within the facility were Monique Beringer KI6RVT, Patricia Beringer KI6RVU, Richard Deen KI6HWY, Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Bill Preston KZ3G and Clay Stearns KE6TZR. Outside base station operator was April Moell WA6OPS. Because of a defective telephone module, the work was not completed that night, so another standby operation took place on October 27. The in-hospital communicators were the same. Outside base station operators were Joe Moell KØOV and Ralph Swanson WB6JBI.
Western Medical Center in Santa Ana went on alert and activated its Command Center at about 10:35 AM on October 6, 2009 when several victims of a possible hazmat incident in a downtown building began arriving in the Emergency Department of this trauma center. At the time, it was unknown how many victims there would be and if decontamination procedures would be needed. HDSCS was activated by page from the hospital and sent some members who were monitoring our main repeater nearby into the facility. It's good that they had their equipment with them and were ready to go, per their training. As it turned out, the incident was not severe, decontamination was not needed and the hospital's communications were not overstressed. Our operation secured at 11:30 AM. HDSCS responders to the hospital were Pete Martinez K2PTM and Joe Moell KØOV. Called off just before their arrival were Ken Simpson W6KOS and Dale Petes KI6ANS.
Drill #167: HDSCS was heavily involved in the yearly Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) drill for Orange County that took place on Saturday, October 3, 2009. The scenario was widespread civil unrest resulting from an economic collapse. Our goal was to pass simulated messages between each of our supported hospitals and their local municipalities as represented by city and county RACES organizations, in accordance with our Memorandum of Understanding. Also included were typical messages that would be relayed for the EMS dispatch Central Point. In addition, we exchanged messages with Orange County Red Cross. About 60 messages were originated by HDSCS in the two-hour drill. There were also many replies to these messages handled, as well as message traffic for us that was originated by the RACES groups. Our net was busy non-stop! Other messages were passed via various city/county RACES repeaters and simplex frequencies. HDSCS Net Control operator was April Moell WA6OPS. Ken Simpson W6KOS operated on our net from a position at the Orange County EOC at Loma Ridge. Other participating HDSCS members were Monique Beringer KI6RVT, Paul Broden K6MHD, Dan Dawes KD6YPJ, Richard Deen KI6HWY, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Andrea Martinez K2ALM, Pete Martinez K2PTM, Bob McCord K6IWA, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Joe Moell KØOV, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Bill Preston KZ3G, Robbie Preston KI6KYX, Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP, Jon Schaffer W6UFS, Richard Thompson WA6NOL, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, Al Way KC6LNP and Dave West KI6EPI.
Drill #166: A statewide medical disaster was scheduled for Thursday, June 18, 2009 but the statewide aspect was cancelled because of hospitals' recent involvement with the H1N1 flu outbreak. Nevertheless, 16 Orange County hospitals decided to go ahead with the drill at some level and most of them asked for HDSCS involvement. The drill scenario was a more serious flu pandemic that caused patients to swarm the hospitals and for them to run out of critical supplies. Most of the hospitals also simulated communications overloads or failures. HDSCS members deployed to the hospitals as those facilities used their telephone and paging procedures to activate us. A HDSCS communicator also reported to the county Emergency Medical Services Agency Operations Center in Santa Ana. The HDSCS main net and some additional frequencies were kept busy with supply-related messages. Of particular interest to the hospitals was determining where additional N95 face masks could be found. Many messages also related to stocks of Tamiflu. Eight of the hams were new to HDSCS and were paired with experienced members to help them learn our procedures and message-handling techniques. Responding to hospitals and EMS were Monique Beringer KI6RVT, Patricia Beringer KI6RVU, Tim Beringer KI6RVS, Paul Broden K6MHD, Bruce Chappell KE6TWM, Jerry Couchman KE6KZR, Bruce Crabtree KI6RZW, Louie DeArman K6SM, Richard Deen KI6HWY, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Tom Hall N6DGK, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM, Fred Lochner WA6FRA, Scott Lolmaugh WD8ICK, Pete Martinez K2PTM, Bob McCord K6IWA, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, David Mofford W7KTS, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Bill Preston KZ3G, Ken Simpson W6KOS, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, Alex Valdez K9BLK, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, Al Way KC6LNP, Dave West KI6EPI and Woody Woodward NJ6W. Primary Net Control and Drill Facilitator was April Moell WA6OPS. Also serving as Net Control were Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP and Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ.
Drill #165: Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center staged a HazMat emergency drill on June 10, 2009 with HDSCS participating. Decontamination procedures were practiced and a communications overload was simulated, resulting in many messages being handled by the hams. The Drill was well planned and executed by Steve Shrubb, the hospital's Disaster Coordinator. He even added some surprises for the hams, such as a potentially contaminated victim showing up in the Hospital Command Center! Jim McLaughlin AB6UF was the HDSCS Team Leader for this event and served as internal/external communications relay and Net Control. Ken Simpson W6KOS operated from the Command Center and Clay Stearns KE6TZR was in the Emergency Department. Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ was the outside base station.
Standby #99: It was another all-nighter for HDSCS members on January 27, 2009 as Saddleback Hospital in San Clemente performed a major upgrade of its telephone and data systems. A team of ham operators was on scene at 9 PM as all phones and the fire alarm system were taken down. Our communicators provided backups for critical unit-to-unit links as well as to the outside world. Incoming/outgoing trunk lines and the alarm system were restored by midnight but work continued for several more hours as individual extensions were wired into the new system. By morning, the new system was stable and enough lines were in place that the Amateur Radio operation could be secured at 7 AM. Taking shifts at the hospital were Bruce Crabtree KI6RZW, Galel Fajardo KB6MOH, Tom Hall N6DGK, Dave Mofford W7KTS, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Bill Preston KZ3G, Ken Simpson W6KOS, Alex Valdez K9BLK, Fred Wagner KQ6Q and John Walker AC7GK. Handling the outside links were Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, April Moell WA6OPS, Joe Moell KØOV and Ralph Swanson WB6JBI. Additional members were on alert and ready to deploy quickly if the operation had lasted longer.
Standby #98: Huntington Beach Hospital performed an upgrade of its telephone system starting in the late evening of Tuesday, January 20, 2009. HDSCS members provided back-up communications in three key areas (Emergency Department, Intensive Care and medical-surgical floor) plus a "shadow" to the House Supervisor. Everything went very smoothly, with operators arriving at 11:30 PM and the work beginning at midnight. All phones were down for 25 minutes. A half-hour after they were restored and stable, our operations ended. Jim McLaughlin AB6UF was the on-site Team Leader, assisted by Dan Dawes KD6YPJ, Justin Miller KI6AFZ and Ken Simpson W6KOS. The outside base station was provided by April Moell WA6OPS.
Standby #97: A planned telephone system upgrade took place at Saddleback Hospital in San Clemente on Sunday, December 28, 2008. Work was to be performed on the telephone switch and a new uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Because of the possibility that internal and/or external telephone communications could be negatively impacted, hospital officials requested HDSCS to be on site and ready to provide standby support. Three HDSCS operators arrived on site at 7:30 PM, one half hour before work was scheduled to start. Within 10 minutes they were operating from the hospital's rooftop antenna. Telephone technicians were delayed in arriving until 9:15. After some preliminary work, all phones were taken off line at 10:15 with an expectation that service would be returned by 11:00. As our communicators provided unit-to-unit messaging, additional HDSCS operators were activated to relieve the starting team. By 12:15 AM, the telephone switch was brought back on line and our normal 30-minute countdown to completion began. It is good that the HDSCS members remained in place because 15 minutes later, the new UPS failed in a rather spectacular manner. Telephone service, minus the UPS, was restored by 1:30 AM and the event was fully secured at 2:10 AM. Communicators at the hospital were Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Tom Hall N6DGK, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Ken Simpson W6KOS and John Walker AC7GK. The outside base station operator was Jim McLaughlin AB6UF.
Drill #164: The annual communications drill among the Amateur Radio emergency communications organizations of Orange County took place Saturday morning, November 15, 2008. In this drill, HDSCS, Red Cross and the RACES units of cities and the county exchange messages related to a simulated disaster. This time it was an extension of the Great Shakeout (see Drill #163 below). HDSCS simulated communications from several hospitals as well as Emergency Medical Services to help the other groups learn how to contact us and exchange messages with us in future disasters. The drill ended early because of a wildfire that broke out in north Orange County (see Activation #108 above), which required activation of HDSCS and some of the other groups.
Drill #163:
"Golden Guardian," a statewide homeland security and disaster preparedness practice, is the largest of its kind in the nation. It is intended to improve coordination of governments at all levels, volunteer organizations and the private sector for response to manmade and natural emergencies. In the November 13, 2008 Golden Guardian exercise, we fielded the largest number of members (44) to help the largest number of hospitals (32) of any single-day drill in the history of HDSCS. This time, Golden Guardian was combined with the Great Shakeout, simulating a Richter 7.8 earthquake that devastates the infrastructure of the county. The HDSCS emphasis was a realistic near-real-time response using our automatic Core Team procedures. Instead of members going to the hospitals prior to the simulated shaker, these responders pre-staged nearby and went into the facilities during the chaos after the temblor. This taught them what it is like to enter, get to Command Centers and get on the air with their portable equipment under these conditions. Some of the hospitals simulated damage that required evacuation of patients, coordinated by the county's Emergency Medical Services Agency. Our members received their assignments just a few hours before the event. For training purposes, they were not told in advance which hospitals would be evacuating and which would be receiving evacuees. They got that information, and other message traffic to be handled, by working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Incident Commander, the Liaison Officer, and other staff members in Hospital Incident Command System positions (photo at left above). Messages sent and received included requests for ambulances to move evacuated victims, including patients on ventilators and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit infants. We also passed orders for oxygen tanks and for pharmaceuticals such as Cipro and morphine. Responding to the hospitals were Ken Allen KI6NBB, Monique Beringer KI6RVT, Patricia Beringer KI6RVU, Tim Beringer KI6RVU, Paul Broden K6MHD, Bruce Crabtree KI6RZW, Dan Dawes KD6YPJ, Louie DeArman K6SM, Dave Elder KA6TBF, Galel Fajardo KB6MOH, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Reid Green KF6LOK, Tom Hall N6DGK, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Roman Kamienski KG6QMZ, Becky Katzen KI6OEM, Mark Kern KE6QXF, Ted Kramer NB6N, Bruce Lent K6HRU, Fred Lochner WA6FRA, Scott Lolmaugh WD8ICK, Duane Mariotti WB9RER, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Joe Moell KØOV, David Mofford W7KTS, Dale Petes KI6ANS, Bill Preston KZ3G, Robbie Preston KI6KYX, Jon Schaffer W6UFS, Clay Stearns KE6TZR, Paterik Tobias KI6EYT, Alex Valdez K9BLK, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, Corky Walker KG6YWY, John Walker AC7GK, Dave West KI6EPI, Woody Woodward NJ6W, Jack Woolf KF6YQQ, Larry Woolf KF6YCM and Larry Zysman N6BNM. Net Control stations were April Moell WA6OPS and Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP. Ken Simpson W6KOS operated from the Orange County Emergency Medical Services Department Operations Center, where decisions were made regarding patient transfers. Only three of the participants are hospital employees. The remainder are hams from the community who have attended our specialized training sessions and took time off to support this valuable mission by being dedicated medical communicators.
Meetings and Other Activities
The annual HDSCS Termite Contest is taking place during the entire month of August. Members are encouraged to "come out of the woodwork" and talk to their fellow members on the repeaters used by HDSCS. Points for on-air activity are being awarded and there are occasional quizzes for extra points, with questions on medical communications topics and "termite trivia." The ten highest point scorers will receive prizes during a "termite party" and barbecue in September.
Field Day is an annual communications preparedness exercise of the American Radio Relay League in which HDSCS has participated for many years. 2010 was the ninth year that our Field Day has taken place at Huntington Beach Hospital (HBH), one of our supported facilities, and it has never been better. The hospital's decontamination and surge capacity tents were set up to house our stations and employees and staff were encouraged to visit our operation. For the third time, we were joined by members and leaders of Scout troop 1134 of Huntington Beach. In a simulation of emergency damage to the building that would not allow the roof to be used, the Scouts of that troop erected a lodgepole structure that served as support for one of our wire antennas. Afterwards, HDSCS member Rick Soikkeli AE6RS took Scouts from several troops into the HBH basement, where he presented a course leading the Scouts toward their radio merit badges. Saturday afternoon's VIP visitors included Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA 46th district, left in photo), FCC District Director Nader Haghighat (Los Angeles area office, right in photo), and HBH Administrator and Chief Nursing Officer Sofia Abrina. They visited the stations and learned how we can help hospitals when normal communications fail. In the late afternoon was a ham radio licensing and upgrade session. The new hams could get on the air almost immediately. Besides the voice operations, several members operated CW mode (Morse Code), two of them doing it through the wee hours of the night. Many thanks to Field Day leaders Ken Simpson W6KOS, Tom Smith KB6A and Tom Gaccione WB2LRH for putting together the event and preparing the results package to submit to ARRL. Also thanks to Kevin Balmforth for the use of his callsign, N6ER (for N-6-Emergency-Room). Click here for a page of photos from Field Day 2010.
HDSCS held its first "radio coaching" session on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at College Hospital in Costa Mesa. One of the hospital's large "surge capacity" tents was erected in the parking lot and members gathered there to hear Tom Gaccione WB2LRH explain the basics of two meter repeaters, subaudible tones, and hand-held radio programming. Then the attendees were assigned to individual radio coaches who helped them master the technique of quickly finding frequencies and programming memories. This is important because during drills and activations, HDSCS members often have to quickly calls to get resources from the Red Cross, local RACES groups, and so forth. A service monitor and other items of test equipment were also set up so that attendees could check the performance of their radios (photo at left).
HDSCS provided medical communications for the Orange County Marathon on Sunday, May 2, 2010. Before dawn, our communicators took up positions in the main medical tent at the finish line at Orange County Fairgrounds and in five medical aid stations along the marathon course. We worked closely with Rob Viera and other staff members of Care Ambulance, the provider of transport for sick and injured runners. Our Team Leader and Net Control was Assistant Coordinator Jim McLaughlin AB6UF (pictured at right). Other participating members were Ken Allen K7IXO, Bruce Chappell KE6TSM, Bill Hegardt K6WIL, Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM, Scott Lolmaugh WD8ICK, Christine Sanders KE6BRY, Gary Sanders KC6TWZ, Tom Smith KB6A, Fred Wagner KQ6Q, Dave West KI6EPI and Woody Woodward W6PA.
The annual HDSCS Orientation and Review Workshop took place at the Schilling Training Center of Care Ambulance Service on Saturday, March 6, 2010. It was a full day filled with reviews of basic concepts, procedures, and preparedness, along with updates on handling medical messages and doing realistic drills. Members brought in their "go kits" and portable stations for show and tell. During the morning, we were visited by Mike Steinkraus N6PTN, the Medical Disaster Management Coordinator of Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency, who thanked the group for its continuing support to OC-EMSA and presented a certificate in recognition of our 30th year of service. Other visitors included representatives of Amateur Radio emergency communications groups from Riverside and Los Angeles counties. As always, a highlight was the noontime "disaster potluck" with everything from enchiladas, lasagnia, spaghetti and meatballs to fruit plates, salads, homemade cakes and cookies. Click for photos and more informaton about our annual workshop.
HDSCS held its traditional annual Year-End/Year-Beginning meeting, complete with the "Final Exam" on January 29, 2010 at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. As always, attendees were divided into teams to answer the questions, which included hospital terminology and practical in-hospital communications techniques. The team with the best score received prizes and everyone got a share of the well-chiseled UBCB (Unbelievably Big Chocolate Bar). Certificates, prizes and HDSCS coins were presented to the most active members of the previous year, the 2009 Disaster Dozen. They are (in alphabetical order): Monique Beringer KI6RVT, Paul Broden K6MHD, Allen Bullock KD6LCL, Richard Deen KI6HWY, Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM, Dennis Kidder W6DQ, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, Justin Miller KI6AFZ, Joe Moell KØOV, Ken Simpson W6KOS and Dave West KI6EPI (photo at right by Alex Valdez K9BLK). Winner of the Outstanding New Member award for exceptional participation by a person who joined during 2009 was Richard Deen KI6HWY.Our annual North Pole Network event could not take place at Childrens Hospital in December 2009 because of the H1N1 flu. For infection control, hospitals throughout the county had instituted strict policies regarding visitation. No outside visitors were being allowed into the patient rooms, and the group playrooms were closed as well. We look forward to resuming North Pole Network in 2010.
Members attending the HDSCS meeting of September 29, 2009 were treated to a comprehensive presentation on H1N1 and seasonal flu by Michelle Cheung, MD, MPH (at left). She is Deputy Director of Epidemiology for the Orange County Health Care Agency. Her agency publishes regular updates on status of the flu epidemic in our county. Also at the meeting, April Moell WA6OPS gave a presentation on messaging and nets in preparation for an upcoming county-wide communications drill.
HDSCS provided volunteer communications for the St. Joseph Hospital Medical teams at the 2009 Disneyland Half-Marathon on September 6. An estimated 14,000 runners took to the course that went through Disneyland and out into Anaheim, including a path past home plate in Anaheim Stadium. Twenty-seven HDSCS members were up well before dawn get into place at medical aid stations at the finish and thoughout the route (photo at right). They also roamed the course on bicycles with the medical teams and provided communications at critical water stations. This was the third year of HDSCS participation. Click for more about this important public service event.
April Moell WA6OPS presented a five-hour mini-workshop on Saturday, August 29, 2009 to a room full of the newest HDSCS members. This session brought them "up to speed" in their knowledge and preparation for supporting hospitals. Basics of hospital support, the Hospital Incident Command System, activation procedures, message protocol, "go kits" and personal preparation were well covered in this workshop. This event was especially for members who had not been able to attend the annual all-day training workshop in March. Helping April were Assistant Coordinators Joe Moell KØOV and Tom Gaccione WB2LRH.
Three members led an all-day CPR and First Aid class for HDSCS communicators on Saturday, August 22, 2009 at Care Ambulance Headquarters in Orange. "CPR for Healthcare Providers" was taught, including adult, child and infant CPR as well as choking. Our instructors included supplemental medical information to help communicators understand terminology that is likely to be used in messages into and out of emergency departments and intensive care units. Instructors were Jon Schaffer W6UFS, Bruce Chappell KE6TSM, and Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP.
The HDSCS membership meeting of June 15, 2009 was devoted to training and preparation for the statewide pandemic flu drill that took place three days later. April Moell WA6OPS presented a lesson on message preparation and handling that included the essential components of messages, getting the information, transmitting it clearly and receiving it accurately.
HDSCS participated in the annual Long Beach area Scout-O-Rama at Heartwell Park on June 6, 2009. We were part of an Amateur Radio display that also included on-air contacts, Morse code introduction, and hidden transmitter hunting. HDSCS set up a simulated hospital Command Post with two Amateur Radio stations. The mock scenario involved hospital damage and a loss of normal communications. When a Scout arrived to participate, he or she was assigned to one of two HDSCS communicators at the Command Post to handle messages (photo at right). They included requests for blood, patient transfer, and status reports to county Emergency Medical Services. The Scout made the call to the appropriate entity and read the message. They found that it took a little effort to coordinate talking and using the mike button. They also learned about message priority and hospital abbreviations. Scouts who handled messages earned special certificates. This was the seventh year that HDSCS has participated in this Scout event. On-site members who set up the Command Post and assisted with the Scouts were Paul Broden K6MHD, Ray Rittenhouse KF6WZN, Dennis Kidder W6DQ, David Mofford W7KTS, Bill Preston KZ3G, Robby Preston KI6KYW, Jon Schaffer W6UFS, Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ and Ken Simpson W6KOS. Home base stations playing various roles during the traffic-handling included Allen Bullock KD6LCL, Jim McLaughlin AB6UF, Jackie Schaffer WA6AKP, Ralph Swanson WB6JBI, Alex Valdez K9BLK and Dave West KI6EPI. Also participating in the Amateur Radio display at this event were members Tom Gaccione WB2LRH and Rebecca Katzen KI6OEM. Click for a page of photos from HDSCS at the 2008 Scout-O-Rama.
Many HDSCS members are wearing special pins to recognize their prior service to medical facilities. These 1.2-inch HDSCS logo pins are being given to members who have provided Amateur Radio communications within our supported hospitals when telephones were inoperative or overloaded in a planned or unplanned event. Pins are presented to new members after their first service within a hospital under the same circumstances. More than 65 HDSCS members have qualified for pins so far. According to HDSCS leader April Moell WA6OPS, "This is a great way to recognize our members for doing what they train and prepare to do, namely to help hospital patients by providing essential communications for their caregivers. Thanks to Dave West KI6EPI for donating these fine pins."
North Pole Network provided a great finish to 2008. A HDSCS team was activated to Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) on December 19 to link patients and staff to the North Pole station. This was a busy year with dozens of young patients visited. It took all afternoon and well into the evening to get to them all, especially because many required isolation procedures (photo at right). Santa didn't mind, even though he was into the crunch of getting ready for his Christmas Eve ride. The sleigh was already being loaded and lots of last minute toy assembly work was going on in the workshop. As in previous years, we were amazed at Santa's knowledge of the patients (and toys!) as we went from room to room. Lots of smiles and tears were encountered throughout the day by patients, family members, hospital staff and NPN communicators. It was the best non-emergency of the year! This was the 33rd year of North Pole Network by KØOV and WA6OPS in Orange County and the 28th year of HDSCS's involvement in it. Click for an in-depth report and more photos.
HDSCS held a membership meeting on December 3, 2008 to thoroughly debrief and discuss participation in the Golden Guardian earthquake drill. Mike Steinkraus N6PTN, Medical Disaster Management Coordinator of Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency, presented certificates to members who provided communications to hospitals and OC-EMSA during the Freeway Complex Fire (see Activation #108 above).
Outreach
Regular contact with our served hospitals and other agencies insures that HDSCS will be remembered and called out quickly in all Orange County hospital emergency situations. Each year, HDSCS leaders participate in over 25 meetings with Disaster/Safety Committee members from hospitals in the Red, Blue/Green, and Yellow Nets for coordination and drill planning. HDSCS is also represented at regular meetings of the Orange County Emergency Medical Services' Disaster Advisory Group (4 per year) and the ReddiNet* Technical Advisory Group (2 per year). In addition to those meetings, HDSCS has been on the road, explaining our mission to medical care personnel, ham radio operators, and the public in southern California and elsewhere. Special presentations, conferences and exhibitions in recent months include:
