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1 Purpose
This protocol document is intended to clarify the rules and
limitations that must be observed in
the use of ham radio in conjunction with emergency response
agencies and entities.
2 Scope
This is an advisory and does not represent regulation, or
binding legal opinion. It is intended to
help answer questions about how ham radio may be used in the
agency venue, or in support of
emergency operations, both during exercises and during actual
emergencies. Since ham radio is
frequently listed as a backup communications system for the
emergency agencies, some
fundamental understanding of the rules that limit the amateur
radio service are required to
effectively plan for its use. The limitations discussed here
primarily apply to paid employees of
the agencies and entities who hold an amateur radio license
issued by the FCC.
3 General Discussion
To utilize the amateur radio equipment installed in agency
locations the operator MUST possess
a valid license issued by the FCC. There are no exceptions to
this rule during normal
operations. In an actual emergency, any communications system
that can effectively get an
emergency message delivered may be used by anyone. Understand
that for the purposes of this
document and the FCC rules, an emergency is defined as
“ an immediate threat to life or property “
and if your situation does not rise to that level you are not
allowed to use the ham radio system
without the appropriate license. This is
not
citizens band radio or public safety
radio that can
be used by unlicensed personnel.
The ultimate responsibility for compliance with the FCC rules
falls on the operator of the radio.
Unlicensed operations can result in monetary fines of up to
$10,000 so this needs to be taken
very seriously. This penalty could be applied to the agency as
the owner of the equipment if a
person with no license is allowed continued access to the
radio.
Other rules infractions by licensed operators can result in
sanctions against the licensee,
monetary fines, or both. For this reason the operator needs to
be familiar with the current
content of FCC rules Part 97. In general, the ham radio
operators that will assist you with the
backup communications are knowledgeable in regards to Part 97.
This is part of the licensing
examination process they all have participated in to obtain
their license.
4 General Plan for Use of Ham Radio
It is the general intention of the emergency communication
support programs set up using ham
radio to have outside volunteers providing the primary support
to the served agency in time of
emergency. To facilitate reliable communications, radio
equipment has often been provided
and installed in agency locations with grant funding, as well
as by cooperative arrangements
with area ham radio groups.
During an actual emergency, it is also expected that there
will be a significant time lapse
between the onset of the communications emergency, and the
arrival of the first communicator
volunteers. For this reason, some served agency employees have
been encouraged to obtain
their FCC amateur radio licenses as well.
During an emergency these licensed employees can provide the
communications support that
may be required during the time it takes for volunteers to
secure the safety of their family and
home, and travel to the Emergency Operation Center. At that
point it is anticipated that the
communication responsibility will be passed to the volunteer
force and the agency employee
would resume their normal duties.
This plan does have some pitfall issues involved. The main
problem that paid employee
operators will tangle with is this:
§97.113 Prohibited transmissions.
(a) No amateur station shall transmit:
(1) Communications specifically prohibited elsewhere
in this Part;
(2) Communications for hire or for material
compensation, direct or indirect, paid or promised,
except as otherwise
provided in these rules;
(3) Communications in which the station licensee or control
operator has a pecuniary interest,
including
communications on behalf of an employer.
Amateur operators may, however, notify other amateur
operators of the availability for sale or trade of
apparatus normally used in an amateur station, provided
that such activity is not conducted on a regular
basis;
(4) Music using a phone emission except as specifically
provided elsewhere in this section;
communications intended to facilitate a criminal act;
messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their
meaning, except as otherwise provided herein; obscene
or indecent words or language; or false or
deceptive messages, signals or identification;
(5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could
reasonably be furnished alternatively through other
radio services.
The strict interpretation of 97.113 does not allow the ham
operator employee to move messages
for their employer outside of an actual emergency. This will
complicate training programs
slightly, but not so much as to make amateur radio unusable in
the emergency agency venue.
To keep all personnel in compliance with Part 97 on this
point, please take note of the
instructions in sections 5 and 6 on how to employ ham radio in
your communications planning
and training.
5 Paid
Agency Employee Guidelines
5.1 Non emergency Use
The served agency employee is allowed to use the amateur
radio equipment. This
activity must be in the form of
casual conversation with other ham operators in the area.
There is no restriction on the
paid or unpaid status of the operator so long as the
communications do not contain
messages for the employer.
It is hoped that agency supervisors will encourage this use
of the equipment, so the new
operators can become familiar with the radio equipment they
have available to them. The goal
of this activity is to learn about the repeater frequencies
in the local area, and to gain an
understanding of the useful range of the equipment. It is
also suggested that some attention be
given to learning how to use the radio without the support
of repeater stations, as they may not
function in some emergencies.
Performing this casual use of the radio from time to time
will serve to verify the equipment is
functional, as well as adding to the experience of the radio
operator.
DURING AN EXERCISE or
other training event, if the only radio operator available
is a paid
employee of the agency, the messages
MUST
be relayed by another
communications method
to remain compliant with 97.113. Therefore, the message
should be relayed by telephone to the
intended destination. To keep all exercise evaluation
processes informed, the message should
be prefaced with a header similar to the one shown below:
This is a simulated message via ham radio to comply with
FCC rules Part
97.113. Had this been an actual emergency, this message
would have been
relayed via the ham radio equipment at this location.
This procedure is only required for the paid employee
operators during training when they
would send messages for the agency they work for.
5.2 Emergency Use
During actual emergencies the employee operators are allowed
to use the radio in any
way that is required to facilitate communications.
It is for this possible
situation that the
new employee ham operators should be encouraged to use the
radio as described in section 5.1
Remember the definition of an emergency is “
the immediate threat to
life or property “ so
if
your communications are not of that nature, they do not
belong on the ham radio. Most
communications from a hospital for example, during an actual
emergency, would meet this
definition. Also remember that if other communications
systems are available your message
should be sent via those other systems.
Ham radio should always be viewed as the last final safety
net in communications that you turn
to when all other communications systems have been rendered
unusable.
6 Non-employee Volunteer
Guidelines
Radio operators that are not employees of the served agency
are not encumbered by this
limitation during exercise and training events provided that
the provisions of 97.113(a)(2) are
followed. There must be no compensation paid, promised or
otherwise considered to the radio
operator. Licensed operators are prohibited from accepting
payment for operating the amateur
radio equipment.
This should not be construed to be a prohibition on
providing food or beverage or similar
support when that support would otherwise be provided to all
staff and/or volunteers as part of
the normal plan for the event. There must be no special
considerations for the radio operators in
this area to stay within the boundaries of 97.113(a)(2)
The radio operator volunteer as “control operator” of the
station assumes all legal liability under
Part 97 for their actions, and that person will advise you
if your communication request is
acceptable under those rules. Please understand that the
radio operator is serving in part as a
communication consultant in this situation and will be happy
to explain regulations and/or assist
you in formatting messages for efficient delivery. This is
why you want to enlist the outside
volunteer support for your emergency communications
planning.
Ham Radio Communications Protocol rev IR - 05/22/09
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