Possible new club prepares for natural disasters

In preparation for a major earthquake that’s historically overdue in the Pacific Northwest, Mt. Hood staff members Jeff Sperley and Steve Konrad are looking to take safety measures to improve communication and lessen panic when the event occurs.

Sperley and Konrad are two members of a community that have worked with amateur radio in the past. They want to use their expertise and launch a new club at MHCC to help students to learn how to use a ham radio and how to communicate in the most direct way during a major natural disaster.

Phone lines are one of the first things to go down, since everyone is trying to make a call out to family or friends – and the Internet capability on electronics is also extremely fragile.

“Ham radio started as an extension back in the early 1900s,” explained Konrad, training manager for Multnomah County Amateur Radio Emergency Services and a Public Safety officer at MHCC. “People used to retire out of the military with ham radio experience and they started to identify those who weren’t in the military as ‘amateur’ radio operators.”

The hobby allows users to speak to other ham radio operators around the world, using wireless signals. They can to speak to anyone with a receiver/handset, as well as contacting the International Space Station.

Amateur radio has reliably allowed contact during major emergencies, including hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes.

An AM/FM radio is on a different spectrum, so those units wouldn’t be able to pick up the ham radio signals. The same is true for smart phones, said Konrad. Almost surely, “if the Internet’s down, you’d have a brick instead of a phone,” he said.

Some people are becoming more aware that they should be prepared for a natural disaster, and are starting to obtain ham radio licenses so they feel ready when the time comes, the pair said.

“Technically, you don’t have to know anything about radio,” said Sperley, who patrols MHCC for Public Safety. He said a lot of people from different backgrounds and specialties are now getting ham radio licenses.

The two are committed to starting a ham radio club at MHCC, with 20 or so member students who could help during an emergency, including help evacuating the campus. A ham club on campus could help alleviate fears and help inform people with what to do next.

“It’s important to stay calm,” said Sperley. To be prepared for any major disaster, people should have a 72-hour emergency kit, which requires a reasonable amount of supplies. In case of a large quake, for instance, rescuers might need days to assist people that are trapped or stranded. Sperley and Konrad recommend that individuals discuss supply of food, water and other essentials now – in order to help keep their household or family safe. “We don’t think of preparing for events like an earthquake until it actually happens,” Konrad said.

Advocate Staff