Statewide emergency communications drill Saturday
The Oregon Office of Emergency Management is scheduled to support a statewide radio operator exercise at county and city emergency operations centers, as well as other locations throughout the state, on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More than 200 people in 27 counties statewide, including 14 medical facilities (St. Charles Bend among them), are expected to participate in this Amateur Radio Emergency Service “QuakeEX I” exercise.
Radio operators will be testing maximum amateur radio emergency communications capabilities in Oregon.
The event is in preparation for “Cascadia Rising,” a four-day, large regional exercise set for next June and designed to simulate a scenario like the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami that will drastically impact normal communication capabilities in the state.
“We know that when a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake strikes our state many of our standard modes of communication will be down making the work of the amateur radio operators extremely important,” said Andrew Phelps, director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.
Experts say a Cascadia earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 or larger will likely cut-off all forms of communication other than amateur radio. Emergency planners have identified amateur radio as the most effective back-up method for communication.
Currently, approximately 1000 of 18,000 licensed amateur radio operators in Oregon are registered and trained to support emergency management and response efforts.
“This is the largest statewide emergency communication exercise of its kind Oregon has ever conducted,” said Terry Pietras, OEM communications officer. “This training will provide a realistic experience that tests the capabilities of county and state amateur radio auxiliary emergency communications units to prepare for a worst case scenario like Cascadia.”
