Partnering with the City of Tukwila
One of our primary goals is to interface with the Tukwila Office of Emergency Management to provide volunteer resources which will work with the Tukwila Fire and Police in a civilian capacity
Establish ourselves as credentialed volunteers for the City of Tukwila Receive training and access to the city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located at Tukwila Fire Station 51 Determine our role in, and prepare to participate in, the city's Emergency Communications Plan Participate in Local Emergency Management training events and drills Participate in National Emergency Management training events and drills Participate in FEMA and other nationally-recognized educational programs
The City of Tukwila has made a significant investment in both equipment and training to ensure that the city's First Responders have all of the communications capacity possible in the event of a major emergency.
Almost 100% of the Fire Department personnel are licensed Amateur Radio Operators The city has built two ICOM D-Star digital repeaters to provide coverage to the entire city* (see the "Tukwila Repeaters" page for more info) Each fire station has a base station Each fire truck, reserve fire truck and special operations truck is equipped with a mobile amateur radio and 4 handheld radios Some fire vehicles are configured with their mobile radios connected to a computer that uses D-Rats communications software for emergency digital communications over amateur radio The EOC is equipped with a cache of 35 portable ICOM 92-AD D-Star digital radios, some with GPS microphones and all waterproof ** The EOC stores over 150 spare radio batteries, vehicle chargers, antennas, coax, grounding supplies, etc. The EOC is equipped with an HF radio for long distance communications A new 1.2GHz system is being built. This system is high speed data over ham radio. It will allow an amazing backup system for emergency management for the City of Tukwila. Through this system we will be able to access the Internet, send and receive e-mail, track units on maps and transfer images, all over amateur radio and all with minimal dependency on vulnerable infrastructure.
* The D-Star repeaters are available for all Amateur Radio Operators to use, train on, drill on and participate in club radio nets
** The 35 portable ICOM 92-AD portable radios may be available for club members to check out and take home