CECA

The Kelowna EOC and the Central Okanagen Regional District (CORD) EOC Comms Team stood down after working the Smith Creek fire near Westbank. The units were stood down at 1900 hrs Sunday July 20th.

For more information go to  www.cordeoc.ca

Click on the FIRE TRUCK, then click on the picture TO THE RIGHT of the BULLETIN BOARD.

Amateurs in the Yukon do a tremendous job with their repeater system. Here is one example of how it works.  Congratulations to all involved in this incident and thank you for your efforts in maintaining your network

On Friday morning, July 11,214  Certified Pilot Car Ltd was enroute withtwo of its vehicles operated by Mike (VY1WH) and Elayne House to Dawson City accompanying two loads from Western Heavy Haul; an oversize load and a legal size load with mining equipment. Mike was talking to a trucker who was ahead of him when that trucker, Thomas Moore of Norcope enterprises, spotted what he was pretty sure was an overturned vehicle with what appeared to be fairly fresh tracks leading to it off the road over a steep bank near Twin Lakes, which is south of Carmacks on the North Klondike Highway. As Certified Pilot Car was within a few minutes of Thomas’s location, and Thomas had spotted this too late to stop, Mike informed him that we would stop our convoy in the area he described and not proceed north until we found the unit and ascertained whether it was in fact a recent or old accident and that there no assistance we could render. Elayne House actually found the overturned vehicle, and thought she could hear a faint voice coming from it. She was in that moment deciding whether she should go over the bank and investigate or radio it to Mike when her driver, Clyde, arrived on foot and it was decided Clyde would go over the bank immediately to investigate so Elayne could relay information by radio to Mike.

There was a female inside, who was in great pain and had stated she had been there since midnight and couldn’t move (it was now approximately 06:15). Elayne radioed this information to Mike who immediately called ahead to Thomas on Ladd 1 to inform him that an ambulance was needed if he was within cell coverage area and could reach one. Then Mike immediately switched to the YARA network and made an emergency call requesting any station for emergency assistance. The call was answered by Ray (VY1RF) who relayed the information to emergency personnel. At this time, further medical information, recovery details, patient condition, etc, were relayed via the YARA system to better inform emergency personnel the exact details of the situation, etc, as well as the need for the mechanical extraction equipment. Shortly after that, the RCMP arrived, shortly after that the ambulance. I have no further recovery nor other details, other than that the subject was initially in critical condition,  and is still alive in Whitehorse hospital at this moment, updated condition unkown.

YARA president Terry Maher has a sign on his truck that says, “Amateur Radio Saves Lives”. There is no way to know for certain if it did in this case, but I would be fairly confident in saying it certainly played a part. For those involved in designing, installing and maintaining our Yukon network, I can’t express enough thanks. Sincerely.

The attached message from RAC is self explanatory. Please note the closing date

WebLink: http://wp.rac.ca/agm-2014-reminder

Ham Operators from Sidney to Courtenay on Vancouver Island will converge on Nanaimo BC this week to form a communications team for the BC Summer Games.  Starting on Wednesday July 16 2014 over three thousand competitors along with coaches, parents and friends will arrive .  The communications centre will run 24 hours a day until July 21 2014.  The centre will provide, routine and emergency communications during the events.  Good Luck to all involved.

http://www.bcgames.org/Games/BCSummerGames.aspx

THE POLICE INVESTIGATION IS CONTINUING HOWEVER A MURDER INVESTIGATION IS NOW UNDERWAY WITH THE ARREST OF A SUBJECT

Nova Scotia endured some communications issues during and after the storm known as ARTHUR. In these times people need instant communication; when that doesn’t happen they get upset. Instant communication requires electrical power of some sort. ARES folks, this may be a good scenario for you to review as part of your training.   Communications issues come up in nearly every debrief of serious events.  We need to use these debriefs to learn, identify issues of concern and improve the delivery of ARES service

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/storm-arthur-nsp-ceo-bob-hanf-apologizes-for-communications-gaffe-1.2701161

There are several areas in BC where we do not have an ARES unit. If you are interested in starting a new unit  the url noted below will provide you with some information.  Fred Orsetti, the BC Section Emergency Coordinator is also available to assist you.

https://www.rac.ca/en/rac/public-service/ares/forms/new-group.php

Attached is an interesting  eham article on the commenmoration of some  D  Day activities, but it also provides information on the interoperability of ham radio and the military.

http://www.eham.net/articles/32643

W1AW will finally get a few days off after a hectic number of the months. The reason.. the WRTC 2014 event.  W1AW goes back to work on July 16 UTC.  For more information go to

http://www.arrl.org/news/w1aw-centennial-operations-head-into-bye-week

The AMBER ALERT is still in effect in the disappearance of Nathan O Brien and his grandparents   Please take a good look at the photos. For the time line go to

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/map-and-timeline-calgary-amber-alert-case-1.1904896

The June BC Section Traffic Managers report showed a traffic total of 1,029 for the month of June 2014.  Thanks very much for all those that participate in traffic handling in the BC portion of the section.

In addition thanks to all those who forward the bulletins around the Province;  OBM report for June 2014 : 125.  This is a group that does an excellent job. They are a group who quietly, but efficiently get the job done.  Thanks once again.

RAC  President Bawden will be returning to BC in July 2014. His schedule is not finalized and if you would like him to come and see you please go to the url below for the full release.

http://wp.rac.ca/geoff-bawden-president-of-radio-amateurs-of-canada-visit-to-the-west-coast/

Despite recent news reports please remember the Amber  Alert for Nathan OBrien and his grandparents remains in effect.Please do your part and report any suspicious sightings to police.  For the latest media story go to

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/nathan-o-brien-amber-alert-police-question-person-of-interest-1.2697512

The site below will take you to an interesting site containing a report from a search leader at the Oslo Washington mudslide. Over 40 people lost their lives in this event. See the role volunteers played.  This is good information for ARES leaders.

http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Lessons-Learned-Response-Oso-Wash-Mudslide.html

The hurricane net will go active today  at 1600 hrs on  14.325.  For status on the net go to

http://www.hwn.org/