On 26^th February 2022, 22 stations representing 14 countries around IARU Region 1 took part in a short notice exercise using the facilities of the geostationary satellite QO-100. 

This was the first of a number of smaller exercises, tests and meetings to be held by IARU Region 1 throughout the year, building on the earlier Global Simulated Emergency Tests to cover as many aspects of emergency communications as possible. 

The intention is to bring emergency communicators together more frequently to demonstrate how the Amateur Radio Service can work together as a global community and develop a common understanding of each others’ capabilities.

The exercise on QO-100 was felt to be a success with a number of formal messages being passed between stations along with some learning from the inevitable challenges of equipment failures, language barriers and co-ordination of an exercise whose coverage area covered from South Africa to the United Kingdom. Once all the exercise feedback is received, the next test on that system is planned to take place in October this year.

QO-100 brings another asset to the emergency communications toolbox in Region 1 and its presence is much appreciated. 

The Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palmas in Spain’s Canary Islands erupted for the first time in 50 years on Sunday 19^th September. This followed an increase in seismic activity in the previous seven days which had raised concerns that an eruption was imminient. The lava flow has triggered the evacuation of 5000 people on the island so far but authorities have deployed all the resources of the Canary Islands Government as well as military support from the mainland to manage the situation. 

In order to facilitate communications to and from that area, EMCOM-SPAIN is asking for the Emergency Centre Of Activity frequencies to be kept clear in case the situation gets worse. 

The frequencies are as follows:

80m band: 3.760 MHz.
40m band: 7.110 MHz.
20m band: 14.300 MHz.
15m band: 21.360 MHz.

Thanks for everyone’s cooperation.

Carlos CO2JC, Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator for IARU-R2 reports that local Radio Amateurs are on alert after today’s earthquake in Haiti. He writes;

“According to preliminary information from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), on the morning of today at 12:29 UTC, an earthquake measuring 7.2 degrees on the Richter scale occurred about 12 km NE of Saint-Louis du Sud and 33 km to the ENE of Les Cayes, Haiti.

This event was located at 18.352ºN and 73.4801W at a depth of 10 km.

Thanks to the reports of Mr. Jean-Robert Gaillard, HH2JR, president of the Radio Club of Haiti, there has been significant structural damage.

There is still no report of injured people. We request the IARU-R2 member societies to protect the following emergency frequencies in Haiti: 3750 kHz, 7150 kHz and 14330 kHz.”

Radio Amateurs from the Algerian National Society ARA are assisting their Government in the response to forest fires in Ouacif (Tizi-Ouzou), where 65 people have lost their lives already. 

An ARA team was dispatched to the scene of the incident, where communications networks were already weak to communicate emergency needs between the mobile station currently located in Ouacif and the crisis unit in Tamda via the ARA HQ station.

Frequencies reported in use are 7110 KHz, 3650 KHz and 14300 KHz. Please take care not to affect emergency operations on those frequencies.

UPDATE 14/Aug/2021 — Afif 7X7RO reports that ARA have completed their work on Friday 13^th August. Thanks to all who responded to the call to keep frequencies clear.

Unprecedented heavy rain caused widespread flooding in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands with over 120 deaths and hundreds more people unaccounted for. The rains which started on Wednesday caused rivers to burst their banks and the water converged into major rivers like the Meuse, Mosel and Rhine causing damage to bridges and other infrastructure such as power and telecommunications networks.

The Dutch Amateur Radio Emergency Service ( DARES ) was on standby from Wednesday evening as the first reports of flooding came in, with an initial attempt to establish a point to point link from the Provincial capital of Maastricht to the north of Limburg province, this was halted due to heavy traffic as citizens followed calls to evacuate low lying areas. DARES members were in contact with members of the Belgian Emergency Amateur Radio Service ( B‑EARS ) to co-operate and co-ordinate their work.

The European Civil Protection mechanism was activated and emergency groups across the region reported their Governments sending extra assistance and supplies to the areas where damage was worst. The surge in flood water was continuing to make its way North leading to further evacuations and the Radio Amateur Emergency groups started to get more focused requests with B‑EARS being asked to provide a backup VHF link between the emergency call centre in Brussels and the province of Hainaut through Friday while DARES had four stations active in the Limburg area ready to respond if an issue occurred.

The most loss of life and damage has occurred in Germany where over 1000 people remain unaccounted for and the loss of mobile networks has slowed the effort to locate people while many others are without power or homes. The emergency communications unit of the DARC is handling enquiries for amateur radio support in the worst hit areas but this is not always easy to achieve as members in the area have been directly affected losing equipment or their homes.

Emergency communications groups in the affected, and surrounding countries, are ready to respond to requests made and are working well together, co-ordinating their response as needed. This emergency will last for some time as infrastructure is repaired and the threat from damaged dams and more rainfall is reduced.