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Creating A Jump Team
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field operating gives you experience in preparing for jump team service
JUMP TEAMS - PART TWO:
"HOW TO CREATE A COMMUNICATIONS JUMP TEAM AND WHAT IT NEEDS TO FUNCTION"
Gathering the right personnel to get the job done
(A FOUR PART SERIES)
Bob Hejl - W2IK   - NAVMC MARS - NNN0KSI  - STX EMCOMM - NNN0GBY2
First responder at WTC 9/11 "Ground Zero" Ex-OES, Ex-AEC, Hurricane Bob, Iniki, Andrew, LI Wildfires, "Storm Of The Century", New England Ice Storms, Flight 800 and other emergency events.
 All rights reserved. c2007
A SUCCESSFUL TEAM STARTS FROM THE TOP,
BUT INVOLVES EVERYONE


LEADERSHIP

When you are creating a jump team from scratch, you first need to appoint an individual who would be responsible for the complete Jump Team operation. This person doesn't necessarily need to be one of the deploying agents, however, he/she needs to be able to identify the goals of their particular jump team and develop the ways and means to fulfill them. This includes knowing where to find the right answers and support when requested by the team. This person must have a pro-active stance on emergency communications.

 Usually, a jump team is a smaller part of either a local EmComm structure (such as ARES, RACES, REACT, etc) or an arm of an active amateur radio club. Whatever the source of this team, every radio club member or EmComm group member must be committed and responsible to insure the jump team's success at every level. Whatever title you give this person, everyone, even those not directly on the team, should give this leader the respect they deserve and the support they might need. This could include, for example, acting as monitoring stations back at your home location in case communications require the jump team to request additional information, supplies, personnel or to report their progress. Supporting agencies must also be able to properly fund their jump team program so expendable items can be maintained. This would include gas to get to their site, fuel for power generation,  food and water supplies, etc. This is a team effort beyond just the jump team personnel. You never want to leave a jump team "out in the cold" support or communications wise. Jump team members are donating their time and effort and will be deploying under rustic and trying conditions. Clubs or EmComm groups at the very least need to supply funding support AND Remember that your deployed jump team also needs your group to be one of the contacts out of the area they can send health and welfare traffic to. This means that many members of your supporting group must be trained on traffic handling in the manner your jump team sends the information and on duty, in shifts, to take this traffic.

  Granted, any jump team must strive to be self-sufficient while on location, however in extreme cases they may need help or information from sources beyond their deployed area. This is why your local group needs to be in scheduled, daily communications with your deployed jump team. (If people wish to be a jump team member, but can't physically deploy, they should support their deployed jump team by monitoring frequencies for jump team communications back to their support group.)


 The team leader should be the only person to activate the jump team for standby (get ready) or actual deployment and must be able to supply the jump team with all the information they need to properly deploy. (Where, when, how, estimated deployment period and who to report to at the deployed area.) They should also be charged with obtaining and tracking the funding so the jump team can operate.  The team leader is the "single point of contact" for groups or agencies who request jump team support and must document all requests and keep an accurate log of all jump team activity.  So point one: appoint a strong, dedicated person to be responsible for your jump team operation to act as Team Leader and give them your complete support.


IDENTIFY YOUR RESPONSE CRITERIA
 
Once you have appointed your team leader, the next step is to identify exactly the types of events and the distances your jump team would be willing to respond to and for how long a period of time. For instance, if your support group feels that the jump team would be most effective deploying only during weather related events and within a range of 400 miles, this needs to be spelled out in any jump team informational posting so agencies requesting communications support know this. (There may be jump teams better versed in search procedures or post-terrorism events, etc) This response criteria should be drawn up by the team leader in concert with several other responsible individuals within your structure (such as the President and Directors of the amateur radio club sponsoring the team) to insure that every scenario you might wish to cover is listed in your scope of planning. A jump team can't nor shouldn't be expected to deploy to every event, however, to be a more effective jump team it should be able to adapt to the many needs which may develop such as a weather related event which ends up changing in to a search and rescue event. Your team will probably be operating with limited resources and under time constraints so you shouldn't commit your resources by deploying too quickly. The trap teams may fall in to is deciding to deploy too hastily for an event that really doesn't need their support. If this should happen, another more severe event might blossom while the team is deployed to a low priority event. If this is the case, they might then be unable to re-deploy to the second, and perhaps more serious disaster where additional communications are vital.
On average, jump teams should be prepared to deploy for a period of at least 8 - 10 days with two of those days to travel (one day to deploy to the location and the other day to return), decompress, either store or release equipment and debrief. Some jump teams, depending upon the severity of the event may be needed for up to 14 - 21 days. So point two should be: Identify the goals your team is capable of fulfilling and list, in priority, the events and basic travel distances you have planned on supporting.
 

DEPLOYED "FIELD LEADER"


After you have worked out point two, it is time to look for people that your team leader and your group's membership structure can appoint to become actual jump team members. The average jump team will require about six dedicated, healthy, experienced and strong individuals. (check part one of this website series to see what would be expected of jump team members by clicking here) DO NOT appoint jump team members based on friendship. Appoint them based on their ability to do what needs to be done and how well each person can work as a team. These jump team members should be of combined experience so they can successfully deploy a full-blown operation anywhere and under any conditions. One of the six jump team members should be appointed as the Field Leader. This person will be part of the actual deployment team and should be versed in HF/VHF communications, camping and leadership skills. Part of their leadership skills should be the ability to identify who is capable of doing what under rustic field conditions. They must also be able to deploy for an extended period of time as would every jump team member. This Field Leader must be of strong character and be able to interact with whatever responsible persons or groups are in charge of the event at the deployed area. Interpersonal skills are a must. He/She must also be able to relate well to the needs of the team. If there is a problem on site it needs to be taken care of in a mannner which reflects the ideas and suggestions of the entire team without creating a major disruption in the team operation. Creative ideas concerning the station set up and operation should be carefully weighed and all opinions and observations considered. (This might be acting on an observation reported by a member that another member should possibly be relieved for a rest period due to fatigue even though the fatigued member says they are ok. Fatigue causes mistakes.) The leader should also be able to document all phases of the response, such as keeping notes on who they need to contact at the deployed area, names, locations and phone numbers, documenting the entire deployment and making detailed reports for the group the jump team represents, etc. The Field Leader should be the direct and only contact between the local responsible officials at the deployment area and the actual jump team. Individual jump team members should refrain from heavily interacting  and allow the Field Leader to speak on the team's behalf. Point three should be: Appoint a Field Leader to oversee the actual deployment site operation and appoint other jump team members so that the team is at least six in number.
 

Special notes for the Field Leader on jump team members


Jump team members should be varied in abilities and specialities. For instance, one member might be great at rustic camping, so employ him/her to erect structures such as tents, etc. Another member might be excellent at putting up antennas under less than perfect conditions and perhaps without the aid of any local support structures such as trees or buildings. Listed later will be specific duties which need to be carried out by the jump team. In any event, make sure that each member in an emergency can basically fill the shoes of any other member in case any member is unable to deploy or becomes ill. Train together. It is VERY important that each jump team member have experience and training in emergency communications either by taking the ARRL courses, or even better, training using the series: Emergency Communications In The Post - 9/11 Era  ( A seven part web page series). They should also know the two major ways to send traffic: NTS formal style and "Plain text"  messaging. Learn from one another by doing drills and setting up operations from scratch such as during a proper field day operation where no one knows what the condition of a site is until they get there. This is the only way you will learn the strengths and weaknesses of your jump team. At the same time, the team will also learn to work together to get a complete station(s) and support operation up and running in the shortest amount of time. Make notes of weaknesses and omissions so they can be addressed before the team needs to deploy during an actual emergency. Have meetings with your team members at least once a month to discuss any changing parameters that might affect the operation. The more fluid the setup and operation your jump team exhibits, the more confidence they will instill in the people they are helping during an event.

 

 

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