State of California OES ACS Newsletter

March 31, 2003

Published weekly (except for vacations and emergencies) by the Auxiliary Communications Service, State of California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

Articles in this Issue:
EMMCOM Bulletin # 387

EMC387 OES ACS FIELD UNITS Pt6
To: Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To: Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By: Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services

EMC387 OES ACS Field Units Pt6 Release 3/31/03

How ACS personnel are informed of the status of the units the Field Teams actively support is an interesting process.

The Telecommunications Section of the Operations Support Branch at State OES has an action-response position to handle requests for OES communications resources or assistance, whether from Federal, State or local government, via the mutual aid system.

That position is the Telecommunications Duty Officer (TDO). One of the duties is a daily report of the active status of certain assets. The following is an example. Comm 60 is the mobile Hub.

TDO: (name - that weeks TDO)

Infrastructure:

1. Both OASIS Hubs are operational.

Field Operations:

1. ACS Duty Officers:
Coastal Region - name of ACSDO*
Inland Region - name of ACSDO*
Southern Region - name of ACSDO*

2. ICS Type I Communications Unit Status:
Comm 22: Available - (Location)
Comm 24: AVAILABLE - (Location)
Comm 25: AVAILABLE - (Location)

3. Specialty Unit Status:
Comm 21 (Microwave): - AVAILABLE - (Location)
Comm 23 (Repeater): - AVAILABLE - (Location)

4. OASIS Unit Status: Comm 60: OUT OF SERVICE - (Location)
(Generator to be serviced)
Comm 61: AVAILABLE - (Location)
Comm 62: AVAILABLE - (Location)
Comm 63: AVAILABLE - (Location)
Comm 64: AVAILABLE - (Location) 5. Activities: None

It is important to recall that each OES Administrative Region is as large as several individual states with more people and area than some groups of states.

The report lists the ACS Duty Officer (ACSDO*) for each OES Administrative Region. The ACSDO is the action-response position to coordinate assignments of ACS personnel when approved for deployment. The TDO is paid staff; the ACSDO is volunteer. Their 'duty-period' rotates every 7 days on a set day.

Field deployments are 12 hour shifts. Those with time flexibility find it easier to serve as sometimes they are needed for several days, or only 1/2 day increments. Generally team participants live within 1 1/2 hours drive of Sacramento, Los Alamitos, Oakland or Fresno. Deployment, typically by state vehicle, can be anywhere in the state, although effort is made to keep it close to the area in which they live.

The ACS program does have openings for qualified personnel. If Interested please provide a summary of your background, location, degree of interest and time flexibility to the address below. You you will be contacted by an ACS program representative closest to your residence.

Governor's Office of Emergency Services
Operations Support Branch, Telecommunications Section
Attn: Cary Mangum, State ACS Officer (code ACS A)
P.O. Box 419047, Rancho Cordova CA 95741-9047
or
Email: cary_mangum@oes.ca.gov

Watch the ACS Web page for photos and updates on deployments.
Series end.

Bulletins archives:
ACS Web page: ftp.ucsd.edu/emcomm or ftp.oes.ca.gov/
ACS/EMCOMM and a Landline BBS at 916-255-0798 (graphical & standard interface)
or
2003 Archives

Submitting News and Articles:
Send news and articles for the "ACS Newsletter" to the editor: Gary Crowe, Ph.D. KG6HIM

Forwarding/Subscribing/Unsubscribe:
To avoid subscribing and unsubscribe confusion, please do not automatically forward the "ACS Newsletter" to other readers. If you forward a particular issue, attach a note that it is forwarded, and refer to the instructions below on how to subscribe.

"ACS Newsletter" and "EMCOMM Bulletin"
Subscription URL: http://www.cesra.com/subscribe/

"ACS Newsletter" Subscription:
acs-newsletter-sub@cesra.org (send message from address where you will receive Newsletters)

"EMCOMM Bulletin" Subscription:
emcomm-bulletin- sub@cesra.org (send message from address where you will receive Bulletins

"ACS Newsletter" Cancellation:
acs-newsletter- unsub@cesra.org (send message from old address)

"EMCOMM Bulletin" Cancellation:
emcomm-bulletin- unsub@cesra.org (send message from old address) Look for a confirming E-mail message, and reply within 24 hours. If your old address is not available for unsubscribe, or if the above procedures do not work, send message to listmaster@cesra.org, with "Manual request" in the subject line. Include old and/or new addresses in the message text.

Thanks to the ACS List master, Mark Hartman, AA6MH, for this fine service.

Links/Chats/Lists/Contacts California OES URL:
http://www.oes.ca.gov/ California OES ACS URL:
http://www.races.net/ ICQ RACES
Chat Room: ICQ#40163274 (Sundays 1000-1200 Pacific Time)
RACES Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RACES
"ACS Newsletters" since 11/6/00 and "EMCOMM Bulletins" since 1/3/00:
http://www.races.net/sca/archive.html "
ACS Newsletters" since 2/7/98 and old "RACES Bulletins" and "EMCOMM Bulletins":
http://acs.oes.ca.gov/

California OES ACS HQ facility contact information: Auxiliary Communications Service Program, Room A-139 Governor's Office of Emergency Services P.O. Box 419047, Rancho Cordova, CA 95741- 9047

Copyright 2003 by State of California OES ACS. All or any part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or quoted, provided that credit be given to this issue of the State of California "ACS Newsletter."

Opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of State of California OES ACS. State of California Office of Emergency Services and its "ACS Newsletter" editor, Gary Crowe, Ph.D. KG6HIM, do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident, or any other cause whatsoever.

73, Gary Crowe, Ph.D. "ACS Newsletter" Editor State of California Governor's Office of Emergency Services Operations Support Branch Auxiliary Communications Service Tel: (916) 489- 8709 Fax: (916) 488-0148.