wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 444-Amateur radio network tunes in help for

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Amateur radio network tunes in help for storm-stricken areas

Aug. 10, 2005

NOTE: A UMTV report and photographs are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By John Gordon*

LAKELAND, Fla. (UMNS) - When telephones, cell phones and even police
radios quit working after a devastating hurricane hit Florida, United
Methodist amateur radio operators became a vital link to the outside
world.

Now, AMEN (Amateur Methodist Emergency Network) Radio wants to extend
its mission further by offering lifesaving medical assistance via the
airwaves.

"I don't think the importance (of amateur radio) can be overstated,"
said the Rev. Tom Norton, one of two disaster coordinators for the
United Methodist Florida Annual (regional) Conference. Norton is pastor
of Christ United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Ham radio operators from the Florida Conference provided emergency
communications after Hurricane Charley battered the state last year.
Telephone service, in some areas, was intermittent for at least two
weeks.

A base station, operating with the call sign K4UMC, was established in
the conference offices in Lakeland. Other radio operators drove into the
areas damaged by the storm and relayed messages.

"You're lost, basically, because you don't know where to run to, you
can't speak to anyone," said Becky Castillo, whose home was damaged.

"The people desperately needed to be able to communicate," she said.

Not being able to communicate makes storm victims feel isolated, said
Anne Burkholder of the Florida Conference.

"It heightens the fear," she said. "There's a real sense of security
when people can reach out to each other and check to make sure everyone
is all right."

In Charley's aftermath, amateur radio operators relayed damage reports,
provided police and fire communications in Port Charlotte, Fla., and
coordinated the delivery of truckloads of relief supplies.

But Norton felt they could do more, such as assist storm victims in
medical emergencies.

"Say they're pinned under a telephone pole, by lumber, or something
that's lying across them," he said, "and they (radio operators) are not
sure how to extract them from that."

So Norton began working with Judy Keats, with the University of South
Florida Health Science Center in Tampa, Fla. Their goal is to allow
doctors to log in to their computers at home or work, talk to amateur
radio operators and give them emergency medical advice.

The idea came after a hurricane that hit Honduras.

"We had a medical missionary there who wanted to consult with a
physician, and he was a ham radio operator," Keats said. "But he didn't
have means of finding a doctor."

The project will require specialized software to link doctors to radio
operators on the Internet. Protocols are also being developed for
doctors to offer medical advice miles away from a disaster.

Details probably won't be finalized for the cutting-edge,
medicine-by-radio program before the end of this year's hurricane
season. But Keats and Norton are optimistic the logistics can be worked
out in the months to come.

"If you're that person that's injured in the field, and you have someone
standing over you that could possibly help you but doesn't really know
how, and you can contact a medical technician that does know how, it can
save your life," Norton said.

A potential problem is that amateur radio clubs are facing a reduction
in their ranks. The hobby is losing enthusiasts to computer chat rooms
and other forms of instant global communication.

Norton has been recruiting new radio operators to help fill the need for
emergency communications and, he hopes, medical assistance.

"Most of the people that grew up understanding amateur radio are dying
off, so we need more and more people to be a part," he said.

Marilyn Swanson, storm recovery project director for the Florida Annual
Conference, said ham radio operators are needed especially in a state
that was hit by four hurricanes last year.

"I think the anxiety levels really increase when they're not able to
communicate with others to find out what's going on," she said.

So as Methodist radio operators raise their antennas to the sky and get
ready for the next disaster, they see a spiritual connection to their
efforts.

Said Norton: "The AMEN radio logo helps remind us that prayer, like
radio waves, enters any situation with the power of light."

*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this group, go to UMCom.org, log in to your account,
click on the My Resources link and select the Leave option on the list(s)
from which you wish to unsubscribe. If you have problems or questions, please
write to websupport@umcom.org.

Powered by United Methodist Communications http://www.UMCom.org