Getting YOU the IMPORTANT INFORMATION you need

With so many different social media apps that are out there, radio programs, and tv listings it is really difficult these days to figure out how big of an audience your information can reach. Multiple agencies are on facebook, twitter, myspace for frequent updates on keeping you safe as well as your local news, then sometimes severe weather updates in the corner of your television screens.

Information has dramatically changed in so many ways, so quickly, the actual printed newspaper is becoming obsolete very quickly. Many news papers are online with online editions and some have totally scrapped the paper print aspect of the business already.

Me, I do keep up on local events in my community as it is important. Not just the local community, but also I am aware of upcoming weather and incidents that may require the attention and knowledge of what is going on around me. Do I have feeds on twitter from different law enforcement agencies...yes, as well as facebook. But the one program that I have found to get much use out of that is still in the dark is NIXLE.

Nixle to me is almost like a twitter, but the feeds come from your local law enforcement agencies giving out important information. This could mean if severe weather is approaching they'll send out a message and you could read it on the site or have it sent to your phone sms. The local law enforcement agencies informs the community on important events and keeping the community in the loop on what is going on in their city. Also, for those who have children, school districts are on it as well, so it is encouraged to use NIXLE. It is a free program to use and participate in, and very useful. Most of the people in Emergency Management, Law Enforcement, EMS, as well as your local Emergency Response Teams are on Nixle to stay updated, and we all encourage you to become and stay informed as well.

Visit: www.nixle.com - sign up, it's free and it could save your life.

March's Search & Rescue Meeting/Training

As being elected to head the great group of Volunteers who take the time to care for our community in Search & Rescue it is good knowing everyone is in it for the greater cause. Each other and our community. The Non-Profit Organization is starting to really take a different direction and starting to really come around with new directions and exposure.

The Southwest Michigan Emergency Response Team backed by Battle Creek Emergency Management and Homeland Security has done a great job as well as coordinating with Calhoun County RACES, and also a BIG help from KCSAR (Kent County Search & Rescue).

The meeting took off to a great start discussing our very first class and test offering Ham in a day, which with the little bit of exposure we got we had eleven take the class and out of those, ten of them passed. That is very great odds, taken into account that one person who failed had severely injured his back only a little while back and his pain medication was wearing off distracting his attention away from studying.

With this success, we are also offering another Ham in a day, also referred to as HIAD. This time offering not only the technician (entry level), but also the general class studying. I am hoping for a great turnout, as we have some pretty good time to advertise the class (April 28th, 2012, visit www.smertsar.blogspot.com for info).

Also with the meeting tonight, we also had some good training as well. Thanks to the Battle Creek Emergency Management and the Battle Creek Police Departments Meth Team, we had two come in and discuss Crime Scene Preservation (Very important for SAR Members) as well as knowing the dangers of meth, how it is produced, and how to identify meth labs, meth contaminants, and left behind components.

And next on the agenda was our upcoming 24-hour field training exercise. Yes, it is about time we get back to field training and this time it's going to be our quarterly 24-hour training session. Complete man-tracking, searches, night searches, land navigation & orienteering, basic survival, and communications. Hope and pray that this weekend, yes March 10th-11th is a good weekend, even though rough weather has never stopped us before. Why? Because when we get called out, we can say no..it's too cold, or it's raining/snowing call us back later. We go out in any weather and we are not limited to just Search & Rescue. We offer Evidence Preservation, Evidence Searches, Missing Persons, Damage Assessment, Public trainings, and whatever else is needed in the confines of our trainings we have received.

Also, a little off note. But as the storms we have seen destroy these towns, please realize that severe weather and other acts of nature can destroy means of communications. That is why RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services), ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services)have been formed for emergency communications. Please also note, in Battle Creek our Emergency Manager has his Ham License as well as most of our SAR Members. Only a few left of SAR to get theirs, but they are working on it, as well as a lot of law enforcement and emergency services (Fire, EMS) and a lot of civilians. Because in the event of a disaster, most cell phone towers may be destroyed or unusable and the only form of communication left will be HAM RADIO.

Hope everyone has a GREAT WEEK.
-Chad Hayes