Island meetings tend to be really well run. This is a local CERT group and we are planning a live drill sometime in October so doing some preliminary planning. The training materials offered by FEMA just keep getting better and better.
I love that amateur radio is now welcomed by the fire, police and rescue forces. Because of the FEMA materials, we are trained using the same organization as they use so if we are the first people to an event, they can take over seamlessly and integrate us into their chain of command.
Ten years ago, it was: "thank you but we will take it from here". Now it is: "thank you; keep doing what you are doing, we will dispatch our officers to work with your various teams and take over from there. You radio guys keep handling the local traffic while we take over the state channels." We work together as a team. Some really great people.
Also interesting is the wide range of ages - one girl was a high school student, some people in their 30's and 40's and some older retired farts like me. Those that are prepared stand a much higher chance of survival. Not if. When.
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