In a Disaster....

The Palos Verdes Estates Neighborhood Amateur Radio Team is a volunteer group of Federally Licensed Amateur Radio Operators, who support the PVE Disaster District Program by providing emergency radio communications in the immediate aftermath of a disaster or severe emergency involving our City.

In such times, normal means of communication may be cut off due to power outages or damage to infrastructure. An incident of sufficient intensity could render telephones, cell phones, internet access, email and other forms of communication inoperable.  Until these can be restored, which may be days or weeks, radio communications will be the only means of contact between separated parties.

Radio Equipped Responders

Working with the Police Department, the DDP Coordinators and CERT Volunteers, NART members will use their own radios, and resources provided by the City, to relay timely, critical information from neighborhood patrols to each of the 6 Disaster District commanders. The most critical of these situations, as determined by the DDP site commander, will then be relayed by radio to the PVE Emergency Operations Center (EOC), where city-wide emergency operations are assessed and coordinated. Responses are likewise relayed back through this chain to keep all parties informed of the status.

These messages relate to the condition and welfare of the citizens, buildings and infrastructure. They give the City’s Emergency Operations Managers a better strategic overview of the condition of the city and facilitate the efficient and effective allocation of resources.

Using City Radio Facilities

NART operators will operate the City’s radios in the Emergency Operations Center at City Hall, at each of the DDP sites at the six schools in the City as well as at the 911 call center at Police Headquarters.  The Police Department’s Mobile Command Unit is also fully equipped with radios and antennas and can operate as a back up Emergency Operations Center, or as a tactical center at a remote location. 

Manning all these City facilities in shifts for up to a week, plus operating independently as needed with a personal radio will require up to 100 radio operators who are trained and ready to deploy.