ARLA/CLUSTER: Radioamadores americanos providenciam comunicações de emergência com hospitais

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Radio hams provide hospital emergency comms

The Chicago Tribune reports amateur radio operators keep emergency
communication lines open at area hospitals

Andy Finick W9FXT walks up the stairs and opens the door onto a roof
at Franciscan Health in Hammond. He points up to a higher roof at
several antennae that would — in an unthinkable emergency — provide
communications for the hospital.

In Northwest Indiana, Finick, a licensed amateur radio operator, helps
hospitals maintain communications when all other systems fail in an
emergency situation. He has radio equipment bolstered with a repeater
system and antennas squirreled away in hospitals throughout Lake
County.

Finick's recent tour included a stop at Community Hospital to pay a
call on Gary McKay, co-chairperson/training officer of the District 1
Hospital Emergency Planning Committee Inc. and chief manager of
Emergency Preparedness, Safety, & Bioterrorism Prevention for
Community Hospital/St. Catherine Hospital.

McKay, who oversees a high-tech command center at Community Hospital,
keeps Finick's ham radio and hand-held transmitter in his office. It
provides a dedicated space for a radio operator to talk without a lot
of background noise and disturbance

Read the full story at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-emergency-radio-system-st-0322-20170322-story.html