Topics:
| 11.1 | Need |
| 11.2 | History |
| 11.3 | Today |
| 11.4 | Tomorrow |
| 11.5 | Information |
If the urgency for a task determines the prioity given to it, the communication facilities for disaster and relief come high on the agenda.The rapid progress in, and availability of, smaller and less costly portable global communication facilities means that this is a continuously changing scene. However it is necessary to stop, consolidate a requirement and provision for that need. But, wherever possible, designing in the ability for the system to be updated rather than replaced when this a cost+effective exercise for the user. Many specifications have been written for such communication facilities.
In 1979 the World Administrative Radio Conference updated its recommendations of 1971, relating to the use of satellite telecommunications for disaster situations. The belief was that "the rapid availability of reliable communications immediately following a natural disaster would prove helpful in saving lives". Mention was made of the CCIR study of 1974+78 for a "transportable earth station" which could be shipped by air and not exceed some 7 to 10 tons.
By 1984 equipment size had been reduced and an experiment was performed in Swaziland, using a land mobile facility. This consisted of a 'ship earth station' mounted in a Land Rover, with an extended roof area at the rear. A portable generator provided the electrical power and the system could be operational 5 minutes after the vehicle had been parked.The cost of ground stations is an important consideration for relief agencies. At the Disaster Communication conference, held at Tampere, Finland in 1991, the US$ 35,000 cost of an INMARSAT+ portable earth station was considered too high.
The situation in 1997 is that portable earth stations exist in the form of SATPHONES, costing from US$4,500 to US$9,000. The whole system is contained in a small case with the lid housing the antennae, having an area of approximately 0.05 square metre. The weight, including the rechargeable batteries can be some 2.5 kgs. Additional charges can be incurred for import into, and for use within, some countries.
By the year 2000 there should be several satellite communication systems operational which can be accessed with handsets, which resemble the mobile phones of today. The satellites will be in either low earth orbit (LEO) at a height of some 1,000 kms or medium earth orbit (MEO) at some 10,000 kms.
A book has recently been published, in June 1996, which deals with the whole subject of communications for disaster and relief. The book is DISASTER COMMUNICATIONS by Mark Wood of "The Disaster Relief Communications Foundation". Ordering details can be obtained on Web page:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mark_a_wood
The book is obtained from:
ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATION OFFICIALS (APCO) with USA telephone: 904.322.2500 or fax: 904.322.9766 the cost is US$ 40 plus shipping.
Because this book covers the subject in detail, no attempt is being made in this chapter to duplicate the subject. Instead the
Index of the book is given in the following Appendix so that the extent of the contents can be seen.