AshEX Fall 2014 SET

Oregon
ARES/RACES
Fall SET 2014
November 22, 2014
0900 – 1400 Local
AshEX
This is an Oregon ARES/RACES SET
Each year, Oregon ARES/RACES, conducts two Simulated Emergency Tests (SETS); a spring SET in April
and a fall SET in October/November. Over the past few years, SET scenarios themes have been related
to tsunamis, earthquakes, windstorms, floods and downed aircraft. Building on these Winlink-intensive
drills, the “AshEX” SET is intended to involve as many Served Agencies, Auxiliary Communications
(AuxComm) Organizations and ARES/RACES members as possible in this Amateur Radio exercise.
Scenario
Associated Press recently reported that scientists with the US Geologic Survey were watching Mt. St.
Helens for signs of renewed activity. Geologists expect future dome building eruptions at the volcano
although the time scale could be years or decades. But there are signs that the magma chamber
beneath the mountain is recharging1. Having experienced the May, 1980 eruption, there is a concern
that such an event could trigger a significant ash ejection that could impact much of the State of Oregon
with power outages, traffic disruption, contaminated water supplies and other affects including public
health. This SET will play out the experience gained from the 1980 ash eruption and the ash fall events
that followed:
The 1980 eruption ash fall created temporary major problems with transportation, sewage disposal, and
water treatment systems. Visibility was greatly decreased during the ash fall, closing many highways and
roads. Air travel was disrupted for a few days to 2 weeks as several airports in eastern Washington shut
down because of ash accumulation and poor visibility. Over a thousand commercial flights were
cancelled following airport closure. Fine-grained, gritty ash caused substantial problems for engines and
other mechanical and electrical equipment. The ash contaminated oil systems and clogged air filters,
and scratched moving surfaces. Fine ash caused short circuits in electrical transformers, which in turn
caused power blackouts. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens#Direct_results
Objective
The objective of this SET is to train ARES/RACES radio operators in disaster communications, net
operations and message handling under the extreme conditions that might occur under this scenario.
1
http://www.kgw.com/story/news/local/mt-st-helens/2014/09/26/mount-st-helens-shows-signs-ofreawakening/16288495/
Fall 2013 SET
Page 1
Participating groups will (a) organize county-level communications involving as many AuxComm groups
as possible, develop a communications plan (ICS-205) and hold pre-SET coordination briefings; (b)
exchange drill traffic with other participating groups, (c ) hold post-SET “hot wash” debriefing nets and
(f) submit an After Action Report to the ARES/RACEs SET Coordinator.
This SET will include a simulation cell (SIMCELL) of Oregon ARES/RACES Leadership staff that will direct
SET play and respond to incoming traffic from the County EOCs via HF SSB and Winlink. They will also
inject SET directives and respond to traffic generated by the County EOCs. This is new to Oregon
ARES/RACES SET play.
Emergency managers statewide are encouraged to participate and may be injecting incidents as the SET
develops. This SET is designed to encourage AuxComm groups to work together and build relationships
that will be needed should an activation occur.
There are no specific restrictions on means by which SET traffic can be sent. County units are
encouraged to establish local nets on VHF/UHF frequencies. HF traffic will be on published ARES/RACES
frequencies.
All EOM directed traffic should be sent to W7OEM with copies to the SIMCELL coordinators K7VV,
KE7NIY, KX7YT and KD7WZI via Winlink. The coordinators will generate reply traffic and participate in
the HF SSB net activities as their time allows. Expect SET conditions to change hourly. Carefully monitor
the HF SSB net frequency and your incoming Winlink messages for SIMCELL traffic. Winlink traffic will be
sent to the County EOCs prior to the SET.
Timeline
Table 1
Date
October
November
Activity
Description
ARES/RACES groups will contact AuxComm
groups within their county and develop a joint
communications plan. Each County EC MUST
register their unit by not later than November
1st. Register on-line on the SETs page:
http://www.oregonaresraces.org/?page_id=19
ARE/RACES ECs are encouraged to contact
groups that have participated in earlier SETs
within their county. Others are encouraged to
contact their county EC or the SET Coordinator
to arrange participation. Please adhere to the
deadline.
Nov. 22th SET activation followed by your
debriefing meeting and preparation of an after
write an after action report (AAR).
Submit your AAR to the SET Coordinator
([email protected]) by December 31st and post
your comments on the website.
SET Traffic
Messages to be sent will vary depending on the affiliation of the AuxComm unit:

Oregon ARES/RACES Units:
o County EOC: Unit Activation, Declaration of Emergency, SITREP and Unit Deactivation ICS213
messages to OEM and the SIMCELL members. County EOCs will also be receiving and
replying to formal and tactical traffic from other stations within and outside of their
counties during the SET based on the AshEx scenario and in accordance with SIMCELL
directives.
Fall 2013 SET
Page 2
City EOCs staffed by ARES/RACES units will be communicating with CERT Teams, local
medical facilities and their county EOCs;
Hospitals & Medical Facilities:
o Practice communications with other similar facilities, City and County EOCs where
appropriate;
Utilities, other governmental groups and volunteer groups active during disasters should establish
communications within your own organizations and city/county EOCs as appropriate.
o


Traffic content, format and routing will be as specified by your participating emergency manager if
present. Each group will need to develop in cooperation with their emergency manager, their own
specific SET plan to meet their own objectives. Within the general scenario, units may want to play out a
local scenario of heavy ash fallout resulting in disruption of local traffic and related issues (see historical
accounts of the St. Helens eruption).
NETs
An HF AshEX net will be established for those with ICS voice traffic on standard ARES/RACES frequencies.
Oregon OES stations will serve as net control. District and County VHF nets should also be activated.
After Action Reports
Reports on activities, problems, and challenges overcome; number of participants, station logs and
comments about the SET should be written by each participating group and submitted to the county
ARES/RACES EC for inclusion in the county report. Photos of from participating groups are always
appreciated.
Registration, Participant Lists and Documents
Participation in this SET is open to Amateur Radio Auxiliary Communications groups affiliated with or
sponsored by governmental agencies, or those organizations that, in the event of a disaster would be
coordinating relief effort or supplying relief supplies and services at the request of the incident
management teams. This includes all ARES/RACES or similar units, associated with governmental bodies,
whether Federal State or Local, as well as hospital/medical center, CERT teams, non-governmental relief
organizations, commercial entities that coordinate with or supplies services or goods at the request of
the governmental bodies, and other communication during disasters.
SET information is available on the Oregon ARES/RACES website at www.oregonaresraces.org . Look for
the SETs Page on the left menu.
J. Core, SET Coordinator
Oct. 5, 2014
Fall 2013 SET
Page 3

Download Report