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Communications: Neighborhood Plan

At the Neighborhood Level, communications are all about connecting the Disaster Hubs with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). That way, the EOC can share key information with people in the neighborhoods, the Disaster Hubs can report damage and injuries, and the EOC can involve the Fire Department in triaging the most serious injuries and arranging for transportation.


Establishing a Disaster Hub Communications Program


Step 1. Set up your Disaster Hubs program. This has to happen before you can establish a Communications Program at the Hubs.


Step 2. Recruit volunteers to your Communications Team. These should include people with Ham radio certification and people who are technologically savvy. 


Step 3. Fundraise and write grants. Seek grants from local organizations like Rotary and in conjunction with your local Fire Department, as your organization’s work will support their work. You will need this funding to purchase communication equipment for the Hubs.


Step 4. Start to gather communication equipment for the Hubs. This equipment will include the following:


  • Handheld radios: 3-mile range; two-way communication; light and portable; affordable. You will use these for communication within the Hub and between the Streets and the Hub.


  • Ham radios: 20-mile range; two-way communication; portable; more expensive. You will use this for communication with the Emergency Operations Center.


  • Newer model Android and Apple phones: These are capable of messaging via satellite.


  • Satellite phones: Long distance; two-way communication; light and portable; very expensive; short battery life


  • Satellite text-messaging devices: For relaying important and concise messages via satellite


  • Antenna: For capturing and submitting radio signals


  • Power supply: For keeping equipment charged


  • Coaxial cable: For connecting Ham radio transceiver to antenna


  • Repeaters: For extending and retransmitting the radio signal at different frequency and power. This will be crucial if your community is larger than 20 miles in any direction.


  • Packet radio networks: To send digital data over radio waves


Step 5. Store supplies at each Hub in bins labeled Communications. 


Step 6. Provide training to volunteers to increase the number of people who know how to use and set up the technology. 


Step 7. Practice setting up communications at a Hub and communicating with the EOC.


Disaster Hub Communications Procedures


Follow these communications-specific steps at the Disaster Hub when a disaster happens:


Step 1. The first communications volunteer who arrives at a Hub becomes the Communications Lead (until relieved or until a higher-ranking or more experienced volunteer arrives).


Step 2. Within 12 hours of the disaster, try to contact the Emergency Operations Center through any communication means available.


Step 3. If cell and other telephone communications are unavailable, find the bin in equipment storage labeled Communications. Open the bin and follow the instructions. 


Step 4. Check inventory for this task.


Step 5. Set up radio communications using family radio service (FRS) radios and weather radio. Use directions provided with the radios. Record all related communications in the water-resistant notepad. The provided radios are for short-range, line-of-site communications only. Use a designated Ops channel.


Step 6. When the site has access to amateur radio capability, set up the radio following the instructions. Determine the designated radio frequency and make contact with the EOC.


Step 7. The EOC will inform the Hub whether it is considered active and at what level: Standby, Partial Plus One, Partial Plus Two, or Full.


Step 8. Any level of activation requires disseminating information from the EOC to the public. A Standby Hub is a communications only hub.


Step 9. Communicate regular situational reports (SITREPs) to the EOC. Use the PYC SITREP form.


  • Safety—Summary of site safety and damage assessment 

  • Staffing—Summary of volunteer staffing levels and capacity to operate each functional area within the Hub

  • Supplies—Description of available supplies/resources

  • Services—Summary and description of number and type of community member needs served (without providing identifying information) 

  • Status of Neighborhoods—Summary of any firsthand reports or information: 

    • How severe is the damage? How large an area or how many people are affected?  

    • What is your assessment of community needs? (First Aid? Search & Rescue? Food? Shelter?)

    • Have immediate (red tag) medical, fire, or safety priorities been reported?

  • Requests—Request for any additional needed resources or transport


Step 10. Ask the EOC when you should next report in. These reports should occur at scheduled intervals. Be sure to set a reminder for ensuring you (or the volunteer who relieves you) reports back on time. In addition, provide a status update whenever an urgent need arises.


Step 11. Establish a method of communicating public information to members of the public seeking services. Set up a temporary area to direct volunteers, answer questions, monitor and document issues, note resource needs and the neighborhood situation, and review the Catastrophic Event Playbook: Field Guide (See Disaster Hubs SOP).


Step 12. Establish on-site communications-management protocols. Assign “runners” (people on foot with a notepad) or bike messengers to conduct status checks and provide routine communication within the Disaster Hub. Use the Ready Your Street DIHN (Damage, Injury, Hazards, and Needs) Report.


Step 13. As volunteers arrive to staff the functional teams at the Disaster Hub, distribute the FRS radios to the Team Leads for use on site only. Ensure proper training in their use and instruct them to return radios during shift change.


Step 14. Establish communications with the Streets served by the Hub.


Step 15. Assign volunteers to jobs within the Communications team. Record in the water-resistant notepad who has been assigned as leads and for which stations.


Step 16. Coordinate with Reception & Information as this section of the Hub becomes staffed.


Step 17. On an ongoing basis, use the battery-powered weather radio in the Communications bin to monitor alerts and updates for the area.


Radio Communication Guidelines


  • Keep messages brief. Communicate only important information about your situation.


  • DO NOT talk over others on the channel. Wait your turn. If Green Light is lit, someone else is on the channel. When the light is Red, you can talk.


  • Do not transmit private, personal information (such as a named person's medical condition) over the radio.


  • Persist If you don't get through or can't hear a message clearly. Keep trying!


  • Start each message with the name of the person you are calling. For example: “Dave, this is Sharon.”


  • Speak slowly and clearly.


  • End communication with the word “Over.”


  • Respond with the word “Copy” to acknowledge radio communications from another person. Repeat any instructions given to you.


  • Use "Affirmative” for "yes" and “Negative" for "no."


  • If people ask you to try to reach people outside of the area, inform them that Family Radio Service (FRS) radios only work within the area and are intended solely for emergency communications. Suggest they use their cell phones or smart phones to send out-of-area messages via voice or text. This may work for a short period of time.

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