New Brunswick  

Emergency Measures Communications Group ( EMCG )

Operational Guidelines

November 2005

1. INTRODUCTION

The Emergency Measures Communications Group (EMCG) was established in 1982 to aid citizens of New Brunswick in time of emergency with the goal of coordinating and directing the response from the amateur radio community.  It is composed of certified amateur radio operators who have volunteered to operate their equipment for public service under emergency conditions.  The EMCG is sponsored by the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization.

2. OBJECTIVES

The objectives of EMCG are to:

    a.   provide effective and timely emergency communications in support of provincial, district and municipal emergency plans,

     b.   be prepared to replace promptly any planned emergency communications which fail, and

     c.   encourage the use of amateur radio resources in emergency planning.

3. ORGANIZATION

The Provincial Communications Officer (PCO) is the chief EMCG officer and will be appointed by the Director EMO.  He will be responsible for its organization and direction, with the authority, in consultation with the Director EMO, to appoint other EMCG officers province wide.  To assist the PCO, and to replace him in his absence, a Deputy PCO will be appointed.

In consultation with the EMO District Coordinator,  a District Communications Officer (DCO) will be appointed in each EMO District.  These DCO's will be the senior EMCG officer in each district and, in conjunction with the EMO District Coordinator, will organize and direct members of the EMCG in accordance with the communications requirements of their District.  Within his resources, the DCO will organize a number of EMCG sections with each section being assigned a specific task.

Each EMO District may be organized differently to meet their anticipated emergency communications requirement and the number of local EMCG volunteers available.  As an example a DCO could be asked to provide a section to operate an amateur radio station in the District Emergency Operations Centre, a station in the operation centres of key municipalities and to establish at least one mobile section which can be despatched anywhere at minimum notice.  Ideally each EMCG section should be able to provide both voice and packet links.  Undoubtedly the requests for EMCG support will exceed available resources and it is the responsibility of EMO to clearly establish priorities.

The DCO of District "D" has the added responsibility of providing an EMCG section to operate the Ham Radio Room in the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre and for establishing contact with their counterparts in neighbouring provinces and the State of Maine.

4. ACTIVATION OF THE EMCG

The PCO and each DCO is responsible for maintaining a current fan out system, which should be tested on a regular basis.  EMO and the District EMO Coordinators must be kept informed of their points of contacts.

The initial notification of EMCG members of an emergency will be by telephone.  However, if EMCG members suspect an emergency, they should promptly begin monitoring the assigned net.

There must be considerable flexibility in how the EMCG can be activated, in order to cater to a variety of possible emergencies. The EMCG in whole or in part can be activated by the PCO, DCO or an EMO representative at the provincial, district or municipal level.

5. OPERATIONS

Net control at the provincial - district level will be established by the PCO and at the District - section level by the DCO.

Net operations will be controlled and operated using standard amateur radio operating procedures as outlined in the Emergency Measures Communication Group Training Manual, dated Mar 2004.  Where formal traffic is required, logs will be maintained and all messages will be written in standard radiogram format, signed by the originator with title.

The goal is to conduct one annual EMCG conference at the provincial - district level to resolved problems and establish policy, along with one annual exercise.  The EMCG Districts will conduct training and practice drills as required to ensure readiness.

Currently the EMCG is broken down into 12 districts, however, due to recent provincial re-alignments this may be reduced to a total of 8 district DCO's, 1 PCO and 1 D/PCO.

Gus Marche   -   VE9GUS

EMO Rep/Comms Officer

New Brunswick Emergency Measures Communications Group ( EMCG )

 AMATEUR RADIO PROVINCIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

AMATEUR RADIO DISTRICT COMMUNICATIONS OFFICERS ( DCO'S )

ALTERNATE AMATEUR RADIO DISTRICT COMMUNICATIONS OFFICERS ( DCO'S )