London Amateur Radio Club Public Service

June 28/29, 2008 - Field Day for various clubs

June 18, 2008 - Presentation to Red Cross London

June 7, 2008 - Thames Valley Training Session. Here are downloadable Training Manual and Powerpoint presentation

May 8, 2008 - Partnered and Prepared Presentation at UWO

April 26, 2008 - Real Callout by Red Cross in support of Kashechewan evacuation to Stratford area
Chronology Summary

April 23, 2008 - Exercise - Evacuation of Coves area by busing to shelter due to flooding

April 16, 2008 - CANWARN training

Feb 14, 2008 - ARES Presentation at LARC meeting

August 15, 2007 - Exercise Mongoose: Assisting Search and Rescue in Westminster Ponds area with perimeter control

July 18, 2007 - Exercise Leopard: Training and practice in tactical call signs and message procedures

June 13, 2007 - Using Radio Direction Finding to locate a medically distressed patient

May 30, 2007 - Exercise: Assisting Red Cross with evacuation of Cherryhill residents to Oakridge highschool after winter power outage

Albany River Flooding

Latest ARES status (in reverse chronological order):

-Wed Apr 30, 2008: Dropping water levels on Albany River halt the evacuation. Milverton shelter opening cancelled. St Marys evacuees moved to Stratford, and St Marys shelter released. Focus changes to returning evacuees from Stratford to their homes, ARES support no longer needed, and ARES stands down.

-Tue Apr 29, Red Cross is opening a shelter in Milverton, in addition to the ones in Stratford and St Mary's. Thames Valley ARES supplies some radio operators to support this. (VA3DWB, VE3LOD)

-Mon Apr 28, Stratford/Perth ARES called out by Stratford CEMC to support communications between Red Cross locations in Stratford and St Marys.

-Sun Apr27, 14:30: According to media reports ( Flood evacuations resume in northern Ontario ), evacuations have resumed

-Sun Apr27 08:00: Brett Gilbank VE3ZBG, DEC and Alle Brander VE3CWL, EC, arrive at Stratford to assess and assist. 09:30: Evacuation delayed by weather - Stratford/Perth ARES is standing down. Although the situation continues to be monitored, this is no need for immediate ARES participation.

-Sat Apr26 PM: Evacuation is being hampered by weather limiting aircraft operation. ARES Stratford put on standby.

-Sat Apr26 afternoon: ARES in Stratford area activated by Red Cross Saturday April 26, in support of shelters to house evacuees from Kashechewan and area. Potential shelter locations in Stratford, Mitchell, Milverton, St Marys and Tillsonburg. Estimated evacuee count: 1500.

Technical Information:

Where's Kashechewan, (pronounced “Kay-setch-che-wan” or “Kash”)? map page Their weather forecast

Where are the possible shelter locations in our area? click below for maps
Stratford, Mitchell, Milverton, St Marys and Tillsonburg. Area map

Stratford Repeaters:
VE3RFC 145.150
VE3XMM (Mitchell) 147.285 / 114.8
VA3LIS (Listowel) 147.120 /114.8 (linked to VE3RFC)
VE3FCG 444.975+ / 114.8 (IRLP node 2843)

St Marys Repeaters
VE3??? 147.375+ / 114.8
VE3ZIS 449.525

Stratford Red Cross Building: (100 Gordon Street), map page
Contact: Kelly Ward

Stratford Rotary Complex: (353 McCarthy Road), map page

St Mary's Pyramid Centre (317 James St South), map page

Perth East Recreation Centre (40 Temperance, Milverton), map page directions

Mitchell and District Community Centre

Media Reports - Mon April 28
/REVISION from Source - Second stage evacuation begins in coastal ...
Infrastructure improvements lessen Kashechewan flooding damage: Ottawa
Air evacuation of northern Ontario reserves to continue
Flood evacuees from northern Ontario arrive in Stratford
Mixed reviews for evacuation effort
CTV.ca | More to be airlifted from flooding Kashechewan
GuelphMercury.com - News - The sad story of Kashechewan

Media Reports - Sun April 27
Sault may not get more flood evacuees
Flood evacuees expected Monday
The City of Stratford - City News
News - CKNX Radio AM920
Flood evacuations resume in northern Ontario
Kashechewan rescue efforts thwarted
Here's how you can help

Media Reports - Sat April 26
Evacuees dumped on SAH: Fratesi; Not told until Friday about James ...
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2008/04/26/5396346-cp.html
Kashechewan faces evacuation
Bad weather, closed airports slows reserve evacuations
Kashechewan evacuated amid flood fears
Canada.com
The Canadian Press

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Nature of Event (Emergency, Alert, Public Service, Training)	Training
Brief Description of Activity	Monthly London ARES Practice Exercise Simulating assisting a Search and Rescue operation with perimeter control in the Westminster Ponds area in London
Number of Radio Amateurs participating	10
Event Start date/time	Wednesday August 15, 19:30
Event End date/time	Wednesday August 15, 21:00
Duration (hours)	1.5
Total Person Hours	15
Number of Repeaters Used	1
Cost Estimate	n/a
Nets and/or frequencies used (incl. Repeater call sign)	Weekly London ARES net on VE3OME, 145.450 MHz
Number of messages handled	0
Names of agencies receiving communications support	0
Call signs of participating Amateurs	VE3ACW, VA3DAE, VA3DWB, VA3TDZ, VE3CNM, VE3ZBG, VE3PFN, VE3PTV, VE3CGN, VE3EAY
Other comments	Another in a series of exercises created by Mike Watts, VE3ACW Themes and lessons: -we're communicators, not searchers, not rescuers. Handoff to the pros. -important to stay out of search area, and not disturb it -use of tactical call signs and pro-words -if use of simplex is a possibility, net control needs to be centrally located, although not feasible in this case -need to make sure police, fire dept and local security are notified for an exercise -using a standard detailed map is desirable, plasticized to be writable -be prepared to operate effectively in darkness -desirable to have at least 2 people per mobile, ideally 3, for safety & efficiency
Location of organization (municipality, province)	ARES London, Ontario
Reporting Person's Name and Call sign	Doug Elliott, VA3DAE
RAC appointment if any	London ARES Emergency Co-ordinator

Thames Valley ARES - Summary of ARES Activity

Albany River Flooding