Disaster Preparedness Month, night 18: Got radios?

That’s Morgan Junction-based preparedness volunteer Ron Zuber, doing double duty this morning – while joining in the student-led breast-cancer walk (here’s our earlier report), he stopped for a few radio tests. If other communication channels go down, there’s a radio plan in place for the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs to talk with other neighborhoods and other areas of the city, as well as with authorities – and Ron works to make sure the system’s running, which means periodic testing. This is in addition to the ham-radio operators who are part of a formal network – we’ve reported before on some of their local tests, often headquartered at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) on Puget Ridge (site of the Communications Academy we spotlighted on Night 10). Even if you’re not part of these networks, simple 2-way radios are often advised as part of your preparedness kit – they can provide family or neighborhood communication over a short distance if needed. And there are some 2-way radios among the increasing number of hand-crank- or solar-powered options. Meantime, our nightly reminders as Disaster Preparedness Month continues:

****Join the West Seattle Be Prepared group on Facebook
****Take the “3 to Get Ready” challenge (WSB sponsor – with prizes!)

1 Reply to "Disaster Preparedness Month, night 18: Got radios?"

  • getsome April 20, 2010 (8:50 am)

    Every year we invest in something new for our kit. This year we bought some great 2-way radios from REI for a little over $80. I have them charged and ready – 1 in each car in case we are apart. They are said to have a 15-20 mile range. However when trying them from downtown to West Seattle there was just way too much interference. We are will try them again though. It’s something that just makes us feel more comfortable in case something happens and we are apart as a family we know to go to the radios. As well I assume they will come in handy in the several weeks following a major event.

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