Among other topics, we've been covering various digital modes over the past few months, particularly Mesh, APRS & Winlink.
While digital voice modes like D-Star, Fusion, and others offer some other EMCOMM related enhancements to our conventional analog modes, the real improvement in our ability to communicate comes from automating various functions and to be able to communicate complex data more efficiently using digital modes that allow us to harness the power of computers.
Historically, operators tended to deploy more as "shadows" of key personnel like ambulance drivers, police, fire, or shelter employees in decades gone by. However, the growing ability of local, state, and federal agencies to interoperate is quickly eliminating the need for such services.
As a result, our mission required change, and it will continue to change. Communities with active Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) often embed amateur radio operators as members, serving as a CERT member, enhancing their team with additional communication capabilities. Amateur Radio operators have been included in Search and Rescue (SAR) and Damage Assessment teams during disasters as well.
Deployments with teams are perfect environments to utilize APRS as a supplement to voice communications. APRS allows for real-time tracking of location, as well as short tactical messaging. Simple APRS transceivers can provide real-time status information of team deployments to Emergency Management, even when internet is completely unavailable. Mesh networking is rapidly becoming a possible alternative to APRS for these purposes.
Beyond team deployments, there will also be deployments to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Hospital(s), and emergency shelters. In each of these locations there will often be the need to communicate more complex data such as shelter occupant lists, logistics requests, person-to-person emails with tactical and strategic communications, and "Health and Welfare" traffic to & from shelter occupants and family outside the disaster area.
In these more complex environments Winlink provides the ability to more easily communicate larger and more complex information without the need for repeated transcription and handwriting interpretation. Winlink's ability to deliver email by radio, with attachments, could eventually render RadioGrams unnecessary. This results in a more robust, accurate, and timely response to needs during a disaster.
In conclusion, digital communication is more than just some neat "gee-whiz" technology to play with, it offers a way for amateur radio to redefine our mission and to better meet the changing needs of our served agencies during emergencies. I would suggest everyone implement Winlink or one of the other digital modes on HF and VHF. The benefit beyond having another useful mode to work with, is the digital interface will likely work with the dozens of other digitial protocol applications, like FT8, WSPR, APRS, etc.
