ARES D-24 After-Action Report

Mission Coordinator:
Date of Activity:
Duration of Activity:
Description of Activity:	Sky Ridge Medical Center Aviation Accident Scenario
ARES Groups Participating:	D-24
Served Agencies Participating:	Sky Ridge Medical Center South Metro Fire District
Description of Served Agency Participation:	Medical Center Personal Fire Dept.
Number of ARES Participants:
Name & Call of Participants:	Frank Watervoort - AB0WV Tom Lane - K0VKM Perry Lundquist - W6AUN Larry Noble - N0NDM Jim Hertzel - W0BO Randy Reynard - NQ0R Dirk Malsch - N2PDQ Garry Hefty - KA9ODE Donita Hilfinger - KC0SWX Dave Cook - KC0MHT
Person-hours of Amateur Service:
Goals of the Activity:	1. Determine ARES D-24 voice and data capabilities from Skyridge Hospital to Douglas County EOC. 2. Enhance ARES D-24 capabilities in working with various Served agencies, such as Skyridge Hospital and South Metro Fire District.
Were the Goals Accomplished?	Yes
What Went Well?	1. We achieve good voice and data communication between Net Control, DCSO, So. Metro Van. 2. As suspected, 146.580 Simplex could not penetrate Skyridge. 3. Portable Repeater (449.075) functioned excellently. All teams were able to communicate. 4. Portable Repeater was in an excellent position Allowed great coverage and DCSO was able to connect (fair transmission). 5. Garry was able to gain access to DC EOC with no known issues.
What Needs Improvement?	1. We need better way of identifying or have other agencies of recognize who we are (common hat, shirt, badges ...)
Lessons Learned:	1. Make sure all served agencies are aware of our purpose in the excercise.
Additional Training Needed:	Sky Ridge Medical Personal should have a class on ICS 100 and 200
General Comments:	From NQ0R: Some notes on the Communications Van setup: 1) The antennas are NOT working properly on either radio, even after one person went up on the roof to verify them. 2) The 2 dual band antennas are adjacent - well under a wavelength apart on 2m. This is highly detrimental for operation on either radio, plus it presents a hazard to the radios in that it has the potential to overload the "front end" of either or both when in use. The rest of the antennas - besides just the "Ham" rigs need to be thoughtfully located to mitigate these issues. 3) The radio operations locations need HEADSETS for each radio. Even if only for receive. This would be a significant improvement, especially when numerous operators are involved on multiple radios. 4) Packet operations should work if the antennas are properly setup, I was able to connect to several local stations even with poor antennas. 5) APRS operation would also work, BUT with no GPS input, a manual entry of position is required. 6) I DID program the radios with my initial setup, and saved the setups that were derived during the exercise. This needs to be refined and redone. 7) I met with Borden C. Borden in the van on the day of the exercise and provided him with my contact information and told him I'd be happy to help anywhere, and anytime with the setup.
Ideas for Future Activities:	More face to face meetings with Skyridge and South Metro Fire.