Emergency Operations

The SPCG has a long history of providing communications during times of emergency and many of our members are members of ARES. Whether it be a blizzard, hurricane, wide spread phone outage, fire, or terrorist attack, we've provided communications. We assisted Shrewsbury Borough in desiging and constructing Amateur communications for their Emergency Operations Center and we are there to man it when needed.

An example of the kinds of emergencies we have supported include the following:

• Hurricane Isabel - we staffed the EOC at approximately 11 PM, after the storm provided a much bigger punch in terms of high wind and rain than previously expected. Power outages were widespread, and we provided communications from the Shrewsbury EOC to the York EOC and Red Cross center. We closed the EOC early the next afternoon.
• September 11, 2001 - We staffed the EOC along with the Council President waiting like everyone else to see if it was really over. It was very difficult to leave home that afternoon and although it was primarily a precautionary deployment of the EOC, it certainly felt good to be doing something that felt useful on that day when we all felt so helpless.
• Adhesives Research Fire in Glen Rock PA. When the fire began at Adhesives Research local officials quickly realized it's potential for danger with the large numbers of chemicals on site. We opened the EOC early in the evening along with officials from most of the local jurisdictions. We provided communications between the officials, York EOC and the site. It's not often that a fire in a small town makes national news, but this one was pretty spectacular. We finally shutdown the EOC later the next morning.
• What will be next?  We all hope there won't be a next time, but we realize it will come eventually and we try to be ready for it.

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