Emergency communications ยท Nevada and California
Disaster response
We run radio networks in Nevada and California. When a disaster takes down power, cell service or internet access, we set up temporary networks and help restore communications.
When the usual networks fail
Wildfires, earthquakes, floods and winter storms can take out power, cell service and internet access at the same time, sometimes for days.
A response runs on communication. Crews coordinate over it. Shelters use it to ask for supplies, and families use it to find out whether someone is safe. When cell sites lose power or a fiber line is cut, all of that gets harder. In rural areas served by a single line, one cut can leave a whole community without phone or internet service. Utilities in both states also shut off power ahead of dangerous fire weather, and equipment without its own backup power goes dark with it.
Radio does not need a cell site or a buried cable between two points. Given its own power, a radio network can keep carrying voice and data while the commercial networks are down, and a temporary network can fill the gap until they are repaired.
Our radio networks
CCA operates radio networks in Nevada and California. They are part of the real infrastructure our participants train on, and they are there to carry traffic when other networks go down.
Participants help plan, program and maintain the networks under the same governed, audited access they use on the rest of our systems. We run them with software we built ourselves:
- Radio programming with a history. We program radios with our own software, which keeps a record of every change to a radio’s setup: who made it, when, and what changed.
- Frequency and licensing records. Our own radio data service keeps federal license and antenna structure records current, so we can see who is licensed to operate in an area before we switch anything on.
- Operator licenses on file. Participants who transmit on amateur radio frequencies hold their own FCC license, and we track each one alongside their other certifications.
Interested in this work? Participants can learn it on the same equipment. Enroll as a participant.
What we do
Most responses need a combination of these. What we bring depends on what the agency running the response asks for.
Restoring service
When a radio site loses power or a link is cut, we work to get it back on the air with temporary power, replacement equipment and radio links that route around the damage.
Temporary networks
Wireless internet access and phone service for shelters, evacuation centers, command posts and community resource centers, connected over a radio link or any outside connection that still works.
Voice radio coverage
Portable radio equipment, set up on site, that gives response teams and volunteers coverage where they have lost it.
Message relay
Messages written on standard incident forms, passed word for word and logged, so a request from a shelter reaches the emergency operations center exactly as it was sent.
Backup power
Batteries, generators and solar power that keep radio sites and temporary networks running through long outages.
Plans and exercises
Communications and frequency plans, and the drills that test them, worked out with an agency before a disaster instead of during one.
How we work
Emergency communications only helps if it fits into the response instead of adding to the confusion. These are the rules we work by.
- We go when we are asked. We deploy at the request of the agency or organization running the response, which emergency communicators call the served agency, and we work under its direction. We do not self-deploy into an incident.
- We supplement public safety communications. Our networks back up and extend 911, dispatch and public safety radio when normal systems are down or overloaded. They never replace them.
- We fit into the incident’s structure. We work within the Incident Command System that emergency managers use, follow the incident’s communications plan, and keep a written log of what we set up and what we pass.
- We arrive self-sufficient. We bring our own power, equipment and supplies, so we do not draw on resources the response needs.
- We keep sensitive information off the air. Anyone can listen to amateur radio, and the rules forbid encoding messages to hide their meaning. We use it for status and logistics, and keep personal and medical details off amateur frequencies.
- We hand back when normal service returns. We plan the handover from the start, and take our equipment down once the agency confirms that utilities and carriers have restored service.
What your gift pays for
Being ready is mostly equipment that sits charged, tested and packed until the day it is needed.
- Power. Batteries, generators and solar panels for radio sites and temporary networks.
- Deployable kits. Radios, antennas, masts, cabling and network equipment, packed so a team can set up at a shelter or command post quickly.
- Spare parts. Replacement equipment, so a damaged site can be repaired without waiting on a shipment.
- Upkeep. Maintaining sites and testing equipment between disasters, so it works the first time.
Restricted gifts are welcome. Tell us you want your gift to go to disaster readiness and we will confirm the restriction in writing and report back on what it funded.
Have radio, power or network equipment to give? Offer an in-kind gift.
Common questions
Can I ask CCA for help in an emergency?
If you or someone else is in danger, call 911. CCA does not dispatch help to individuals. We support the agencies and organizations running a response, at their request, by keeping their communications working.
Are messages sent over amateur radio private?
No. Federal rules forbid encoding amateur radio messages to hide their meaning, and anyone with a receiver can listen. We keep personal, medical and other sensitive information off amateur frequencies.
Who operates the radios?
CCA participants who have trained on our equipment and procedures, working as volunteers. Anyone who transmits on amateur radio frequencies holds their own FCC amateur radio license.
How does an agency arrange support?
Email info@coopalliance.org, ideally well before a disaster. We will put in writing what support looks like and how to activate it, then practice it with you, so that nobody is swapping contact details in the middle of an incident.
Can I restrict my gift to disaster response?
Yes. Tell us when you give, or email info@coopalliance.org, and we will confirm the restriction in writing and report back on what it funded.
Ready before it is needed
A fast response depends on equipment that is ready before anyone calls. Your gift puts it on the shelf.