There is far more to effective communications than pressing the talk switch on a radio, and making some sounds. Before you are ready to talk into a radio, You must be willing and able to listen to one. The key word there is "WILLING".
Consider first that most all you want to know will at some time or another be discussed by better informed people. On the radio that is. Scanners, pagers, voice operated tape recorders, and 2- way radios all serve as a system for collecting information as it happens to drift by. At my best, I have been able to have sign-in and briefing sheets all ready and waiting at a likely rendezvous point. All before the team and sometimes the Deputy have been alerted.
Whether you listen all the time, when in your car, or only after your pager alerts you, disciplining yourself to being a listener is the fist step to being more than fully informed. Think of your mouth as being "RADIO REMOTE CONTROLLED". When sounds come from the radio's speaker:
! YOUR VOICE STOPS ! ! YOUR EARS OPEN UP !
This is especially true when riding in some other volunteer's vehicle. The radio is on for a reason, please pay close attention to it. If it makes noise you shut your mouth and listen.
Many are those who are discouraged from listening because of all the noise and unrelated traffic they hear. But if you do stick it out, you will find that eventually your hearing becomes attuned to these peculiarities.
I no longer seem to hear references to things like stolen cars and burglaries. But when a deputy is sent to Marshall Gulch to check for an overdue hiker's car, I perk up. I am by no means exceptional in this. Quite a few people have amazed me with their ability to hear a conversation where I find only noise. Spend time listening, develop and practice on a regular schedule. You'll be amazed by the benefits of a finely trained ear.
Listening is the start, comprehension is the rest of the race. As data comes to your ear piece by piece, you must assemble it into a picture of what's going on. Think of it as spying. A play by play account of what has transpired so far should not be necessary to someone who has paid attention to all the tidbits that were already provided.
Careful attention to radio can eliminate much repetitive discussion at rendezvous. You can show up already briefed, and with a good idea of how you might best benefit the operation. This needs of course to be tempered with the caution that incorrect information is as easily transmitted as is any other kind.
What few people ever seem to realize is that, no matter how much talking they may do, they have no guarantee of being listened to. In Search & Rescue work, this is partly because leaders can't afford the time to pay close attention to endless questions and chatter. To many people pepper their radio transmissions with qualifying statements of why they are seeking information. Worse are those who demand to know absolutely every minor detail, no matter that their knowing it will have no effect on the outcome of the operation.
Another infuriation that will keep people from paying attention to you is the "RUN ON NOT THOUGHT OUT YET NOT QUITE SURE WHAT I WANT TO SAY YET NEVER ENDING WORD SPEWING NIT WIT WITH A RADIO TALKING WISH THE BATTERIES WOULD RUN OUT OR THE VICTIM SHOW UP SO WE COULD SHUT THIS GUY UP! radio transmission.
The act of transmitting on a radio can either aid or harm the victims plight. Everything you transmit must be weighed for its effect on the final outcome of the operation. Learning what's important and what's not will take time. Being aware of this from the start, you will arrive more quickly at your own level of understanding of the problem.
Many factors serve to determine if a radio transmission is helping or hindering a Search & Rescue effort. Learning this takes time. Let's give you a start on it by defining a few key types.
NECESSARY: These are communications absolutely essential to the successful completion of the operation. Necessary communications include team assignments, requests for tech gear, or perhaps victim descriptions. Without these communications the operation would never go anywhere.
USEFUL: This type of communication is a help to the operation. It need not be a critical transmission, but it does add to the smooth flow of things. Assuring a team that where they are hoping to build a helispot one already exists is a useful transmission. Or as you leave for the call out you broadcast that you are 10-8 in route. This is useful in that the Operations Leader may want to assign you a task by radio, rather than waiting for you to arrive at rendezvous.
USELESS: Any transmission that fails to accomplish its goal. Even well thought out, carefully delivered, critical information can be utterly useless if the receiving party does not bother to listen and accept it. Take note: Listening is an art to be practiced at all points of the communications process!
Consider what all these devices have in common. Scanners, voice pagers, display pagers, telephone answering machines, telephones, and two-way radios. All are a means of transferring information. Remember what you need to communicate is INFORMATION, not a conversation.
VOICE PAGERS: When paging someone, state facts in a simple connective string, such as: RENDEZVOUS TV AND CAT HIGHWAY REF 12 YR OLD FALL VICTIM AT WINDY POINT. Voice messages should be left with information from the specific to the general.
Keep repeating this string of data until the pager times out. A cardinal rule of pager warfare is ALWAYS PAGE TWICE! Remember that pagers are not foolproof. Often the first page is not completely heard. Too often the pager goes off while I am driving with the radio full blast. It takes awhile to realize it's the pager and a while longer to get it off my belt and up to my ear. I'll say it again: Page Twice!
An interesting use of a personal pager is in the field. A number of times in my experience teams have been able to conserve two- way radio battery power by turning them off, and relying on the pager to alert them. This is especially useful when a team is bedding down for the night. This provided the pager is first given a test page to assure it's working in a remote location. Remember though, don't rely 100% that the paged person got the message. Set up a specific check in schedule, just to be safe.
DISPLAY PAGERS: These are interesting in that all you can give them is data. A common use is to give a phone number to be called, along with a code specifying degree of urgency. Another method that has worked well is to give the radio frequency you want the called party to come up on. Example: 155*220*10*18. This would tell the receiver to come up on rescue frequency, 155.220 MHz, and that it's an emergency, 10-18. These codes must be worked out in advance with the pager's owner. But with a little imagination and preplanning, much can be communicated.
TELEPHONE ANSWERING MACHINES: When leaving a message for someone, the pager guidelines apply. You do have more time however, so a few more connective words are acceptable. Still, don't lose track of the need to communicate DATA. Still, keep things as brief as possible. If it's your answering machine that's getting the call, you can expect only hangups should your announcement run over 15 or 20 seconds. As a rule I hang up on an answering machine the instant it throws music at me, I hear a childs voice, or Groucho Marx.
TELEPHONES: When calling someone on the phone to give or receive information, please just do it! Don't waste time in side discussions or useless chatter. Be factual, and to the point. You both have other important matters to attend to.
TWO-WAY RADIOS: All the above suggestions about trying to communicate the maximum amount of data in the most efficient manner possible apply even more importantly to two-way radio
.All communications devices are designed to work best when provided with normal speaking volume, and clear enunciation of words. Interestingly, this is exactly what your ears need as well. Frequently we are faced with the terror of the RADIO WHISPERER, also known as the RADIO MUMBLER. For some reason many people talk into radios as if it was all a grave secret, like an enemy or maybe the news media is listening. What happens is that the person at the other end finds it difficult to understand you, or perhaps to hear you at all.
Don't waste valuable radio battery power. Speak in a clear, concise, normal tone of voice. This applies with equal fervor to the other end of the spectrum, those persons known far and wide as RADIO SCREAMERS.
Using ones imagination to solve DATA TRANSPORT problems, while at the same time not causing other problems, is the essence of effective communications. For example, consider what I like to refer to as the RADIO RICOCHET GAME. When you can't reach someone directly, think up alternate routes. Paging one Ham with a message for another has worked well in the past.
Another valued trait is to back up your messages. When I have to page someone, I also try to leave a more detailed message on the persons answering machine, many people have both these days. Unless, of course, the machine throws music at me. Musical answering machines (and those with celebrity voices) are a good indicator that you have a long listen to do before talking is permitted. Hangup on these! Complain to the other party later about their machine!
GO GET ONE OF THESE THINGS NOW! Definitely something you should consider. First of all, it's become tremendously easier to get a license. Passing a 55 word multiple choice test is all that's needed. No more Morse Code nonsense. Once who have a license, a vast communications network is opened up to you. Most Search & Rescue planning and management operations are carried out on amateur radio, either exclusive of or in addition to the regular team frequencies. Additionally, you gain the very real advantage of being able to make telephone calls from almost any remote location.
Those with amateur radio capability are extremely popular during call outs. Even if you can't respond to the scene you will and can be utilized at home as a relay, information gatherer, etc. In fact, volunteers with a simple handie talkie have served as the only base station radio available to an operation. Before amateur radio this task required a large and expensive installation in a volunteers home, complete with roof mounted antenna. Nowadays a few batteries and a pound of radio will work wonders from the comfort of your favorite chair! Amazing toys these toys!
I refer to the inevitable and seemingly inescapable attack of the Non-Team radio. These are radios not carried by the assigned team radio operator, but wind up turned on anyway. Often the offending party gives a reason like they need to hear what's going on, or some similar excuse. The trouble arises that few people who have a radio seem capable of not talking to it. When more than one radio talks from a team, confusion swiftly follows. Base Camp loses continuity with the Team's actions. Who's in charge? Has the team split up? What's going on out there!
Worst of all is the effect of the Team Leader losing control. For some unknown reason, the mere presence of a radio leads observers to believe that the holder knows what he/she is talking about. This corrupts the team leaders authority, with the end result being a loss of effectiveness of the team.
More bad news arrives in the form of all the radios on a team coming up with dead batteries in rapid succession. The radio you may carry is an invaluable resource. It's damn poor teamwork to use up two or more of them at the same time. Why use two batteries for one set of instructions? I don't care whether it's a personal or team owned radio. If there are multiple amateur radios on a team, decide who gets to save their batteries. Use one at a time, that's the law!
Now we're back to the topic of Team Radio. If assigned this task, take it seriously. It's your primary function on the team. You must control all team radio traffic and conserve precious battery power. It's not necessary for your team to be able to hear your radio. If they can, you are probably using up power too rapidly with excessive volume. Maintain a volume level sufficient for you to hear everything. Give your team periodic updates on what you hear. Your job is to send all ideas and suggestions your team feels are of value and to keep your team informed on what else is going on. But only you decide when to transmit, and more importantly, when not to.
Be factual in your transmissions, and very conservative with words. Think out what you are going to say before you say it. Remember that base camp can only act on what you tell them. Let's look at the communications problem resulting from your team finding an injured victim. You must make certain no family or friends can hear your transmission. You must inform base camp of the find, that there are injuries, the location, the extent of injury, and what resources you will need to effect rescue. All this must be carefully composed to avoid confusion, and to conserve radio battery life. Here's a Just The Facts example:
SAMPLE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TECHNIQUE
TEAM RADIO : Base camp, Team 1.
BASE CAMP : Team 1, Base.
TEAM RADIO : 10-17 Code 10?
BASE CAMP : Negative
TEAM RADIO : 310-India, 1/4 mile below
Apache Spr., on trail.
(BREAK)
Ankle fracture, Sunburn,
Dehydration, Request..
(BREAK)
Stokes, extra water, and
Ranger 38 for Evac from
Apache Spr. L.Z.
BASE CAMP : 10-4 Team 1, can you split
your team to brush L.Z.?
TEAM RADIO : 10-4, In progress.
BASE CAMP : 10-4.
As you can see, the entire exchange has been reduced to strictly that essential data that gets the job done. Your ability to communicate in this fashion will improve over time. Being aware of the goal should help you get there sooner.
By the way, you may notice a tendency towards "pregnant pauses" between two ends of a radio exchange. This is for two reasons. First is that it never hurts to think about what you will say before the act. Composition is everything.
Second is the need to allow others to break in with urgent or emergency traffic. This is important. Always provide opportunities for unknown problems to get out over the radio. How else are we going to find out about them?
A serious concern is conversations that just won't go away. If you can't get something settled after four or five minutes (some would argue a much shorter time period) there is something seriously wrong. In this business brevity, combined with the willingness to make decisions and take responsibility, is cherished above all other treasures.
The only possible exception is radio relays. Sometimes radio relay duties can fill up the airwaves like nothing else ever could. This commonly occurs when geographical limitations force the bulk of radio traffic through one relay point. Amateur radio has much diminished the frequency of this problem, but do try to be aware of it if you find yourself doing radio relay duty. Look for alternative frequencies to shift some traffic off to. Keep the frequency in use by field teams as quiet as humanly possible. Remember, if the field team's batteries all conk out, the game's over!
On to CHAPTER FIVE...
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