5. APPENDICES

Appendix A Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) Plan

A.1 Purpose

This Section describes the coordination of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) volunteer communications support activities during a disaster or emergency. This plan provides guidance for the administration of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) when utilized by local government officials during certain emergency conditions. It is intended to provide coordinated operation between Mason County government officials and the RACES organization during times when there are extraordinary threats to the safety of life and/or property. This plan also provides authority for the participation of Amateur Radio operators in providing essential communications during periods of national, state or local emergencies.

Maximum benefits from a RACES organization can be obtained only through careful planning which identifies the organizations, agencies, and individuals concerned and assigns a definitive role to each. This plan enables agencies and organizations having emergency responsibilities to include the RACES organization in local emergency plans and programs.

This plan becomes official for Mason County when signed by the Department of Emergency Services for Mason County (DES); and authorized RACES representatives.

Under this plan, the Department of Emergency Services, Mason County, is empowered to request the use of available volunteer communications facilities and personnel. Acceptance of or participation in this plan shall not be deemed as a relinquishment of license control, and shall not be deemed to prohibit an amateur radio service licensee or broadcast licensee from exercising independent discretion and responsibility in any given situation under the terms of its license.

Requests for RACES support from any agency shall be directed to the Mason County Department of Emergency Services.

A.2 Authority

* Part 97 Subpart E, Section 97.407 of the Federal Communications Commission Rules and Regulations. FCC Rules and Regulations apply to the operation of a radio in the amateur service and therefore apply to the RACES organization.

* FEMA Civil Preparedness Guide (CPG) 1-15, dated March 1991, titled: Guidance for Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.

* The Mason County Department of Emergency Services and staff.

* RACES Radio Officer for Mason County and staff.

A.3 Threats

This area faces a variety of threats, both natural and man made, for which it must be prepared to respond. Any of these threats could occasion the activation of qualified emergency communication needs to assist, supplement, augment or replace existing government facilities. The threats include (but are not limited to):

* Earthquakes, which can cause extensive damage and interruption on public and private facilities, including death and destruction.

* Large scale transportation accidents, from a variety of causes, including automobiles, buses, military and civil aircraft, trains and other means.

* Chemical and hazardous material spills and chemical releases that affect the population with both immediate and long-term health hazards.

* Severe storms, flash floods and landslides. Icing and snows are an additional hazard under certain conditions.

* Fires are threats to wooded areas and adjacent communities. The resulting loss of ground cover of steeply sloped areas can lead to devastating landslides as well as the loss of natural habitat, citizen housing, injury and death to the populace.

* Volcanic eruption. Certain mountains are classed as active volcanoes by geologists. Recent seismic and geologic activity in southwest Washington increases the potential for this threat.

* Nuclear accidents, within or without the state, from fixed nuclear power plant sites, military installations, transportation system or military aircraft crashes.

* Unusual incidents arising out of terrorism.

* Nuclear or conventional war, armed aggression. Numerous military bases and key economic and industrial centers in Washington could be target for attack.

Any of the above threats may warrant the mobilization of County RACES volunteers.

A.4 Jurisdiction Covered

The Mason County Operational Area includes all cities in Mason County, the unincorporated communities in the County and any special jurisdictions which choose to participate in this Plan. The location of Mason County is shown on the State of Washington map in Appendix J. The County has a population of approximately 41,200 and an area of approximately ______ square miles.

The position responsible for the development of civil defense plans and disaster activities is the Department of Emergency Services, Mason County, Courthouse, Shelton, WA 98584. The development of this plan is the responsibility of the Mason County RACES Radio Officer in conjunction with the ARES and DEM offices.

A.5 RACES Volunteers and Reliability

RACES volunteers must hold valid Amateur Radio licensees and must register with the Department of Emergency Services (DES) as Emergency Workers in accordance with RCW 38.52 and WAC 118.04. RACES operators are required to be professional, disciplined and strictly adhere to all established rules and procedures.

A.6 RACES Resources

RACES resources are considered to be available to all government services as required. Specific channels are not assigned exclusively to any one service.

There are fixed, portable, and mobile stations operating under the provisions of this plan. The majority of equipment used as portable and mobile is owned and operated by the individual RACES operators; some is provided by the government. Most equipment operated from fixed Emergency Operations Centers is government owned.

A.7 Competent Authority

In the context of an emergency, calling out RACES volunteers for an emergency or authorizing RACES training, competent authority is defined as the Mason County Emergency Services Council.

A.8 Workers Compensation Insurance

RACES's volunteers who have been activated by the Mason County Department of Emergency Services are eligible for workers's compensation (RCW Chapter 38.52). Worker's Compensation, medical and benefits, is administered by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries; thus, is often referred to as an L & I claim. Filing a claim for injuries/illness received during an activation is an easy process. Most doctor's offices/clinics and hospital emergency rooms have the required form. It is imperative that the Mason County DEM be notified immediately. Many times people do not immediately realize the severity of their injuries. If you are injured and "might" need medical attention later, call DEM immediately. Your claim cannot be processed without a supervisor's comments, thus by not informing DEM you will be causing a delay. When preparing for, responding to, or working at an emergency scene remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Our volunteers are too valuable to have them injured while performing emergency functions. A.9 RACES Command Organization and Responsibilities

A.9.1 Region Net Control Station

The Region Net Control Station (NCS) of the OPS 1 network (defined in 4.11 below) is responsible for:

* Assisting in transmitting traffic as needed within the region and to the state.

* Monitoring and serving as a relay on the state CMD 1 net for County EOC's which are not able to or are having difficulties in contacting the State ECC to pass "Priority" and "Immediate" traffic.

* Identifying and designating the primary and alternate frequencies (HF, 2-meter, other) to be used on respective OPS 1 networks.

* Serving as Alternate NCS of the state CMD 1 network, when designated by the State RACES Station.

* Managing and controlling traffic in accordance with prescribed net control station procedures.

A.9.2 Department of Emergency Services

The local Emergency Services Department is responsible for:

* Ensuring a RACES Officer is appointed. Per CPG 1-15, the Emergency Services Director (or designated representative) appoints, in writing, a reliable amateur radio operator to serve as the RACES Officer.

* Developing and implementing a RACES plan for the employment of amateur radio within the county.

* Maintaining a RACES radio station capable of communicating on appropriate and assigned amateur frequencies used within the state and county for emergency communications.

* Being prepared to provide amateur radio communications to state, federal and other organizations located within the jurisdiction.

A.9.3 County RACES Radio Officer (RO)

The RACES volunteer responsible for RACES activities throughout Mason County. The County RACES Radio Officer holds the ARES position of Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Operations. The RACES Officer is responsible for:

* Activating and supervising the operation of the RACES station at the county EOC which will serve as the NCS of the OPS 2 nets as required.

* Assisting respective local jurisdictions and county agencies/districts/command posts in establishing OPS 3 networks.

* Coordinating requests through the Region Coordinator to the State RACES Officer for amateur radio resources (operator/equipment) that may be needed to augment local operations.

* Serving as the liaison between the RACES organization and the Emergency Services Director

* Recruiting members for the organization

* Developing plans for the employment of the organization in support of the government agencies which it serves.

A.9.4 Alternate County RACES Radio Officer

Those RACES volunteers appointed by the County RACES Radio Officer to assist in RACES activities throughout Mason County. Alternate County RACES Radio Officers are the ARES Emergency Coordinator and others as appointed.

A.9.5 Other

During an emergency County RACES Radio Officers may appoint Shift Supervisors and/or Resource Net Control Operators which are RACES volunteers who assist in the supervision of net operations and the dispatching of individual RACES volunteers.

A listing of the Mason County RACES Command Organization is included in Section 4.17 of this plan.

A.10 Mobilization

Upon notification or determination of an emergency condition or situation posing an extraordinary threat to life and/or property, the Mason County Department of Emergency Services may contact the County RACES Radio Officer (or his alternate) for supplementary communicators. The RACES Radio Officer will call out RACES volunteers and will then do so with competent authority. Authority to dispatch individual RACES volunteers may be delegated by the County RACES Radio Officer to the Shift Supervisor or Resource Net Control Operator. All dispatches of individual RACES volunteers shall be recorded.

DES Personnel will use the following format when contacting the RACES Radio Officer:

"This is Joe Murray, Director of the Mason County Department of Emergency Services. I request that the RACES organization be activated for Mason County because of (description of emergency situation)."

In order to speed personnel activation during emergency conditions, the RACES Radio Officer may request that an authorized official issue an Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) message.

A.11 Networks

A.11.1 Levels

For purposes of network management and control, state and local network levels will be established, as needed. This will ensure emergency back-up communications are planned/coordinated for and are available to support emergency/disaster operations of the county. This system operates three network levels within the Mason County Operational Area. Individual networks and the frequencies used to implement them are shown in Appendix G.

* Local Operations 1 (OPS 1) - The OPS 1 network provides communications between the Region NCS and the county EOC. The local Region NCS has been designated as the South Puget Sound Region and is comprised of the following stations:

* Pierce County EOC (Region NCS) * King County EOC * Kitsap County EOC * Mason County EOC

* Local Operations 2 (OPS 2) - The OPS 2 network provides emergency back-up communications between the county EOC, respective local jurisdictions (cities), and county agencies/districts/command posts (i.e., Sheriff, Fire Department/district 9 1 1 Center, public works department, staging areas/base camps, incident command post, and other government offices).

* Local Operations 3 (OPS 3) - The OPS 3 network provides emergency back-up communications between county agencies/districts/command posts and city EOC's and their respective units/elements that are in the field supporting emergency/disaster operations. A.11.2 Network Responsibilities

The RACES Radio Officer is responsible for:

* The activation an+d supervision of the operation of the RACES station at the county EOC which will serve as the Net Control Station (NCS) of the OPS 2 nets as required.

* Assisting respective local jurisdictions and county agencies/districts/command posts in establishing OPS 3 networks.

* Coordinating requests through the Region Coordinator to the State RACES Officer for amateur radio resources (operator/equipment) that may be needed to augment local operations.

The County EOC RACES Station is responsible for:

* Serving as Net Control Station (NCS) of the OPS 2 network.

* Identifying and designating the primary and alternate frequencies (HF, 2-meter, other) to be used on respective OPS 2 and 3 nets. Upon identification of frequencies, provide assignments to the State RACES Officer.

* Managing and controlling traffic in accordance with prescribed net control station procedures.

All networks will be available at the primary Emergency Operations Center and at designated alternate stations.

A.12 Identifiers

Operators will use tactical station identifiers in conjunction with their Amateur callsign. The Incident Command System will be used along with its common identifiers.

Locations of all Net Control Stations and other fixed stations operated under this plan, and their tactical identifiers, are listed in Appendix P. A.13 Frequency Assignment

The State, Region and/or County Net Control Stations may operate the networks previously discussed using any frequency within the amateur spectrum taking into consideration the capabilities of the stations within respective nets. The county RACES EOC station will operate on HF frequencies assigned below and use other frequencies as identified in Appendix G.

* 3.987 MHz Primary Washington Emergency Net Frequency

* 7.245 MHz Alternate Washington Emergency Net Frequency

* (TBD) Primary/Alternate Night Time Frequencies

Per FCC Part 97, Subpart E, Section 97.407, all of the authorized frequencies and emissions allocated to the Amateur Radio Service are also available to RACES on a shared basis. In the event of an emergency that necessitates the invoking of the President's War Emergency Powers under the provision of Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, only RACES stations and amateur stations participating in RACES may transmit on the following frequencies:

kHz MHz

1800-1825 3984-4000 10.10 -10.15 14.047-14.053 52-54 1975-2000 7079-7125 14.220-14.230 3500-3550 7245-7255 14.331-14.350 144.50-145.71 3930-3980 21.047-21.053 146-148 21.228-21.267 28.550-28.750 29.237-29.273 1240-1300 29.450-29.650 2390-2450 50.350-50.750

Additionally, there are specific operating limitations with respect to these frequencies. At this point, it should be noted that in all cases not specifically covered by the RACES rules, amateurs engaging in RACES operation will be governed by the provisions of the rules governing Amateur Radio stations and operators. A.14 Mutual Aid

The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service is a communication resource. Requests from or to Mason County for mutual aid assistance will be directed to the South Puget Sound NCS. In the event communication is broken to the South Puget Sound NCS, said request may be directed to the state ECC via any available path.

A.15 Training

The RACES organization is permitted to hold practice communication drills for the purpose of training (drills and tests) when necessary to establish and maintain the orderly and efficient operation of RACES as ordered by the Department of Emergency Services. Additionally, RACES members will participate in a weekly net to coordinate the activities of the RACES organization in Mason County.

However, these communications must not exceed a total time of one hour per week. With the approval of the Director, Emergency Services Division, Washington State, such tests and drills may be conducted for a period not to exceed 72 hours no more than twice in any calendar year. A.16 RACES Radio Officers

* RACES Radio Officer (RACES) Dave Brooks - N7HTK Mason County P.O. Box 2010 Belfair, WA 98528 Home: Work: Page:

* Alternate RACES Radio Officer Ron Ohnhaus - K0BQ Mason County Work: (360) 377-0769 Page: (360) 981-1600

* ARES District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) Ron Cammers - KE7KR Western Washington Section 3031 Lake Flora Road SW Port Orchard, WA 98366 Home: (360) 876-1367 Work: (360) 476-5053 A.17 Mason County RACES Command Organization Appendix B Mason County Amateur Radio Alert List

* RACES Radio Officer (RACES) Dave Brooks - N7HTK Mason County P.O. Box 2010 Belfair, WA 98528 Home: Work: Page:

* ARES Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) Herb Posner - KC7FA Western Washington Section Kitsap County Home: (360) 895-5669

* ARES District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) Ron Cammers - KE7KR Western Washington Section Kitsap County 3031 Lake Flora Road SW Port Orchard, WA 98366 Home: (360) 876-1367 Work: (360) 476-5053

* ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC) Ron Ohnhaus - K0BQ Mason County Home: (360) 372-2733 Work: (360) 377-0769 Page: (360) 981-1600