1. SHELTER OPERATOR TRAINING
Presented by Pinellas county ACS/ARES

2. Shelter Kit Contents
shelterkit.doc

3. Additional Equipment Recommendations
25’ Power Cord
Power Strip
12v DC Power supply (min 15 Amp)
Addition length of Coax (25’ Min.)
Desk Lighting AC or DC
Barrel Connector(s) for extending Coax length
Other connectors, small tool kit, etc.

4. Responsibilities of The Shelter Operator

5. Initial Shelter Operations
* Visit your Shelter in Advance to introduce yourself and become familiar with the building Layout so you can request a suitable Operating position. (quiet location away from the shelterees, pets and near UPS or Generator power)
*Note: Special Needs Shelters /Pet Friendly Shelter’s Radio Kits are stored at the school. Find out where before the emergency.
When Activated, go to the shelter as soon as possible to get the station set up and start charging the battery* Do the initial Shelter Radio Kit Inventory
Let the Shelter Manager know that you have setup and will return (if you need to leave for last minute reasons ie., make last minute Preparations for Family, Home and Pets and that you will return before roads are closed due to sustained high winds. Check back in when you return

6. Responsibilities Cont’d
Check into Tactical Net then switch to Shelter Net and check in there.
DO NOT Leave the Net without Notifiying NCS (to take breaks, Switch Operators, etc.)
Do Not USE up your Batteries prior to Landfall when they will be needed the most
Get plenty of Rest: Minimum 6 Hrs Sleep or 4 Hrs Sleep with Several Good Naps

7. The Life Cycle of a Shelter Activation
Imminent Threat
When a storm is identified to be heading for Pinellas County, several wheels are set in motion to insure that timely decisions are made that will insure the safety of the County residence.

8. Disaster Advisory Committee
Once the storm is believed to present a high enough risk of impact to the Pinellas County area, the Disaster Advisory Committee (DAC), including officers of ACS/ARES, meet in person to discuss the preparedness of the county and to make the determination on which evacuation level should be set.

9. This determination also contains how many shelters will need to open to support the evacuations and when they should be available to the public. The committee then meets with follow-ups via conference calls or additional face-to-face meetings to react to changing conditions as needed.

10. The Public is Informed
Once the DAC recommendations are complete, the Emergency Manager presents the DAC recommendations to the County Commissioners who then issue a proclamation to the Public.

11. ACS/ARES is Activated
The Emergency Coordinator/Radio Officer starts the ACS/ARES Information NET which is held to let ACS/ARES members, along with other volunteer operators, know important information about the storm. This critical information will also include what shelters are to be opened and when.

12. After the storm   Once the storm has passed, the shelter operator will assess and repair equipment damage, insure an adequate power supply if needed, and begin sending messages for the Shelter Manager.

13. Health and Welfare
In a major disaster, health and welfare traffic will not be handled until after the emergency has cooled down. Emergency communications are first dedicated to handling messages for life-threatening situations and then those for property loss. The traffic pace is very hectic and the volume of traffic is great. Health and welfare messages are given lower priority and probably won't be handled until after the first 72 hours.

14. Where to pass the H & W Traffic will
given to the shelter operators once a determination has been made by the EC/RO.

15. Closing the Shelter
You may receive a request from your Shelter Manager to request for your shelter to close. It is important for you to relay this message because shelters are only closed with permission from Emergency Management. Once you have permission, you can secure from the NET.

16. In Conclusion
When in doubt on what to do, insure you reach out with questions to the ACS/ARES Shelter Coordinator.

17. Time for Shelter Setup
Some of the Shelter Operators have pre-arranged to operate a shelter as a volunteer prior to the storm and most have already had a chance to work with their Shelter Managers and test their equipment from a predetermined location. Other volunteers who are assigned a shelter will need to coordinate their efforts with that shelter's Shelter Manager once they arrive onsite.

18. Volunteers that are assigned a shelter will go to their shelters, set up the equipment that will arrive onsite once the shelter opens, and test their ability to communicate with the Pinellas County Shelter NET.
Once a successful communications test has been preformed, the shelter operator can work with the shelter manager to arrange to leave to insure personal preparedness for family,

19. home, and pets. The operator will need to return to the Shelter before the winds are so strong that the roads are declared closed which usually happen when the wind speed reaches a sustained speed of 40 MPH.

20. Riding out the storm
After returning to the shelter, the shelter Operator then settles in and rides out the storm like everyone else. During the wait, the operator checks into the Pinellas County Shelter NET and responds when called upon by the Shelter NET, NET Control Station.
During this time it is also important for the shelter operator to try and rests and save batteries, if they are being used.

21. Responsibilities Review
Your Primary Communications Responsibility Is for Shelter Needs, Msgs to/from Shelter Manager, Reporting Incidents like building damage, Injuries,etc.
Welfare messages should wait for a day or so before beginning to send them or receiving them.
Do Not Burn yourself out even before the storm makes landfall.

22. LOGGING and MESSAGE FORMS ICS-213 Message Form ics213.doc
Shelter Operations
LOGGING and MESSAGE FORMS
ICS-213 Message Form ics213.doc
ICS-309 Communications Log ICS309.pdf
Radiograms radiogram.ppt

23. SUGGESTED - ARL RADIOGRAMS
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE ARL RADIOGRAM NUMBERS THAT YOU MIGHT FIND HELPFUL TO USE FROM A SHELTER. Suggest these by themselves or in combination to Shelterees as choices for them to send
ARL ONE - "ALL SAFE. DO NOT BE CONCERNED ABOUT DISASTER REPORTS"
ARL TWO - "COMING HOME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE"
ARL THREE - "AM PERFECTLY ALL RIGHT. DON'T WORRY"
ARL FOUR - "EVERYONE SAFE HERE. ONLY SLIGHT PROPERTY DAMAGE"
ARL SIX - "EVERYONE SAFE, WRITING SOON"
ARL TWELVE - "ARE YOU SAFE? ANXIOUS TO HEAR FROM YOU"
ARL THIRTEEN - "IS .... SAFE? PLEASE ADVISE"
ARL FIFTEEN - "ADVISE IF YOU NEED HELP"
ARL SIXTEEN - "PLEASE ADVISE YOUR CONDITION"
ARL EIGHTEEN - "PLEASE CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE ... AT ....."
WHEN PREPARING HEALTH AND WELFARE MSGS CONSIDER KEEPING
THEM SHORTER BY USING THE ABOVE LISTED RADIOGRAM NUMBERS.

24. Shelter Kit Radios – ICOM (1)

25. Shelter Kit Radios Yaesu FT-2800M (30)

26. SPECIAL NEEDS LAPTOPS (3)

27. TNC’s in Special Needs Kits
KANTRONICS KPC3 TNC

28. Radios are Pre-Programmed Alpha/Numeric
DO NOT CHANGE OR PROGRAM Additional FREQUENCIES INTO THE RADIO (To keep all radios uniform)
You May bring addition Radio Equipment but must ALWAYS Monitor the assigned Frequency

29. ICOM RADIO FREQUENCY LIST
ICOM VHF Radio’s Programmed (32) Frequencies
CHN NAME FREQ P.L.
01 ACS Primary Pinellas Tactical Net
02 SIMPLES N s Pinellas Plan "A" Simplex
03 SIMPLEX S s Pinellas Plan "B" Simplex
04 WX WX Marine Forecasts and Alerts
05 WX WX Primary Forecasts and Alerts
06 NAT CALL CHN s (Hillsborough Primary Simplex)
07 N4AAC s Alphalpha Repeater Club
08 W4NHL Tertiary ACS Freq.
09 WD4SCD S Alt Pinellas Net (South County)
10 WD4SCD M Alt Pinellas Net (Mid County)
11 WD4SCD N Alt Pinellas Net (North County)
12 HILLS. CO Hillsborough Co. ARES/RACES
13 K4LK Dana's Personal Rptr
14 NI4CE – PIN NI4CE - Highpoint Site (Pinellas)
15 WORMHOLE Wormhole Club
16 CARS Alt Skywarn Net Frequency
17 N9EE No PL Pasco CO Skywarn Net
18 SPARC No PL St. Petersburg Club
19 WB8ONY Inter County Freq.
20 METRO Metro Club
21 CHARLOTTE Charlotte Co.
22 DESOTO Desoto Co.
23 HARDEE Hardee Co.
24 HIGHLANDS Highlands Co.
25 SARASOTA Sarasota Co.
26 PASCO Pasco Co.
27 POLK Polk Co.
28 MANATEE Manatee Co.
SIMPLEX s 550 Net Freq
30 PIN-EOC s Backup Pinellas EOC Freq
31 SCHOOL BD # Alt School Board Comm Freq
32 SEDAN s Packet Frequency For SEDAN

30. ICOM RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
09 WD4SCD S Alt Pinellas Net (South County)
10 WD4SCD M Alt Pinellas Net (Mid County)
11 WD4SCD N Alt Pinellas Net (North County)
12 HILLS. CO Hillsborough Co. ARES/RACES
13 K4LK Dana's Personal Rptr
14 NI4CE – PIN NI4CE - Highpoint Site (Pinellas)
15 WORMHOLE Wormhole Club
16 CARS Alt Skywarn Net Frequency

31. ICOM RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
17 N9EE No PL Pasco CO Skywarn Net
18 SPARC No PL St. Petersburg Club
19 WB8ONY Inter County Freq.
20 METRO Metro Club
21 CHARLOTTE Charlotte Co.
22 DESOTO Desoto Co.
23 HARDEE Hardee Co.
24 HIGHLANDS Highlands Co.

32. ICOM RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
25 SARASOTA Sarasota Co.
26 PASCO Pasco Co.
27 POLK Polk Co.
28 MANATEE Manatee Co.
SIMPLEX s 550 Net Freq
30 PIN-EOC s Backup Pinellas EOC Freq
31 SCHOOL BD # Alt School Board Comm Freq
32 SEDAN s Packet Frequency For SEDAN

33. YAESU RADIO FREQUENCY LIST
Yaesu FT-2800M VHF Radio’s Programmed (33) Frequencies
CHN NAME FREQ P.L.
00 ACS Primary Pinellas Tactical Net
01 SIMPLES N s Pinellas Plan "A" Simplex
02 SIMPLEX S s Pinellas Plan "B" Simplex
03 NAT CALL CHN s (Hillsborough Primary Simplex)
04 N4MAA s
05 W4NHL
06 WD4SCD S Shelter Net (South County)
07 WD4SCD M Shelter Net (Mid County)

34. YAESU RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
08 WD4SCD N Shelter Net (North County)
09 WD4SCD E Shelter Net (East County)
10 HILLS. CO
11 K4LK
12 NI4CE – PIN
13 WORMHOLE
14 CARS Alt Skywarn Net Frequency
15 N9EE No PL Pasco CO Skywarn Net
16 SPARC No PL

35. YAESU RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
7 WB8ONY
18 METRO
19 CHARLOTTE
20 DESOTO
21 HARDEE
22 HIGHLANDS
23 SARASOTA
24 PASCO

36. YAESU RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
25 POLK
26 MANATEE
SIMPLEX s
28 EM/CD s Backup Pinellas EOC Freq
29 SCHOOL BD # Alt School Board Comm Freq
30 SEDAN s Packet Frequency For SEDAN
31 WL2K s WL2K Primary VHF Packet Pinellas EOC
32 WL2K s WL2K W4BGH-10 VHF Packet (W4BGH in Hills.)

37. YAESU RADIO FREQ. LIST CONT’D
33 WL2K s WL2K KF4ATP-10 VHF Packet Hillsborough EOC
Press P4 on the Microphone to select one of the programmed NWS WX Stations
DO NOT CHANGE OR ADD Frequencies on these radios. This is so that they
remain uniform throughout the County's Shelters.
AVOID using HIGH Power when operating on Battery Only Power . You should be able to make contact with the Shelter NCS using one of the lowest power settings

38. Tri-Band Antenna 440 mHz Configuration

39. Tri-Band Antenna in all 3 Configurations 440/220/2M
Left = 440 MHz
Center = 220 MHZ
Right = 2 Meter configuration which is what your antenna should be

40. ARL RADIOGRAMS ARRL RADIOGRAM NUMBER REVIEW
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE ARRL RADIOGRAM NUMBERS THAT YOU MIGHT FIND HELPFUL TO USE FROM A SHELTER. Suggest these by themselves or in combination to Shelterees as choices for them to send
ARRL ONE - "ALL SAFE. DO NOT BE CONCERNED ABOUT DISASTER REPORTS”

41. ARRL TWO - "COMING HOME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE"
ARRL THREE - "AM PERFECTLY ALL RIGHT. DON'T WORRY"
ARRL FOUR - "EVERYONE SAFE HERE. ONLY SLIGHT PROPERTY DAMAGE"
ARRL SIX - "EVERYONE SAFE, WRITING SOON"
ARRL TWELVE - "ARE YOU SAFE? ANXIOUS TO HEAR FROM YOU”

42. ARRL THIRTEEN - "IS .... SAFE? PLEASE ADVISE"
ARRL FIFTEEN - "ADVISE IF YOU NEED HELP"
ARRL SIXTEEN - "PLEASE ADVISE YOUR CONDITION"
ARRL EIGHTEEN - "PLEASE CONTACT ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE ... AT .....“

43. WHEN PREPARING HEALTH AND WELFARE MSGS CONSIDER KEEPING THEM SHORTER BY USING THE SUGGESTED RADIOGRAM NUMBERS.
Placing suggested Radiograms in Public View might be useful as well
BE SURE YOU GET THE ADDRESSEE’S PHONE NUMBERS along with the address
Copies of these Radiograms have been provided to you

44. Reports From Shelter Who Does What?
While there is Power and The Resource Officer’s Radio is working, He will be sending the Shelter Reports. If his Radio is not working and phones are down THEN You are responsible for sending these reports

45. Shelter Reports Needed Info to go to the EOC:
Current Shelter Capacity and how much additional capacity is available
Reports of Injuries and the need for patient transport
Requests for Equipment or Supplies (Must be accompanied by Requestors Name and Title AND Phone Number
Other important Information

46. Requests for Meds
A hard copy is required for eventual re-imbursement by the County to the Pharmacy providing meds for Shelterees or Staff.
Special Needs Shelters should send a WL2K Message to the EOC so that the request can be directed to the proper place (and the hard copy of the request is then held by both the Shelter Op and the EOC
All should be noted in the Comm Log (date & Time)

47. Closing Down
The Shelter Manager has told you to Shut down and go Home..What is your Responsibility?
Call Shelter NCS and advise that you have been told the Shelter is closing down and you request that you be able to close station and go Home.
ANSWER: Follow Directions of the NCS
REMEMBER – The Director of EM is the ONLY person with the Authority to Close Shelters

48. Closing Down Cont’d
If you had to move items off of the areas you set up as your workspace/desk please place items into a box and then put the box back on or near that space for the owner of those items to put them back themselves.
Leave the area clean and in order. Let the Shelter manager know you are leaving, Put all of your notes, logs etc into an accordian file or box and turn them into the EOC as soon as practical

49. Closing out the Shelter Radio Kit
Inventory the items that are supposed to be put back into the Kit box, noting any missing or damaged items on the inventory sheet. Turn that sheet in with your logs so we know to repair or replace items in the kit before it is Once again stored at the School Board Warehouse (except for the Special Needs Shelters and the Pet Friendly Shelter.) Those 3 kits are to be returned to the place in the school where they are normally stored.

50. Our Appreciation to You
If you offer to be a Shelter Operator (If you have not do so already,) now that you have an idea of the Duties and Responsibilities
Pinellas County Emergency Management’s Director wishes to extend her Appreciation and Thanks as do I.
We ask if your availability changes do to work, Vacations, Illness, etc., Please let us know