One of the hats I wear as a volunteer is supporting RI’s Red Cross communication (part of what ARC calls “DST” or Disaster Services Technology). During a particularly bad winter storm, one of our shelter comms operators contacted me at the ARC EOC to let me know that the VHF radio used with the ARC Repeater was not working as expected. This feedback became part of the After Action Report.
While a check of the radio indicated it was functioning correctly, it is more than likely that the issue had to do with a lack of documentation for the radio controls and channel definitions. While some documentation existed back at HQ, it never made it out with the radio during deployment.
As a corrective action, I decided to make a laminated 3″x5″ index card that would document the radio controls on one side and the channel programming on the other. A different card was created for each of the different radio types in use at our shelters. The card is laminated and fastened to the radio like a luggage tag.
