Volume 2   Issue 16         

Safety News

 By Ronald Porep

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 Wednesday, March 19,  2003

Stay Informed During Code Red

            We have experienced the colors of terrorism – including the nation’s current Orange Alert as we anticipate going to war with Iraq – the nation accused by many as a major backer of Arab terrorism.

            But what is a Code Red?

            What will happen during a Code Red?

            How can you and your family survive the terrorism attacks that will likely trigger a Code Red?  Safety Issues is publishing a series of articles about what may come and how you can prepare.  

            This article focuses on the most important thing you can do during the ultimate terrorist alert – stay in touch so you know what is going on and how both local and national authorities can help you and your family survive what is happening.  

Defining Code Red

            Code Red won't be declared unless an attack occurs or is imminent, and that announcement will be intended mainly as a guide for the nation's homeland security agencies, government officials and such first responders as police and firefighters.

            That will leave ordinary citizens to tune into emergency information being relayed over the radio, television or other media. It will be the time for people to put their emergency plans into action, seeking shelter at home or evacuating to a prearranged location.

Keeping In Contact

Safety Issues has already published an article on how to create a survival package. Part of that package is a radio that will allow you to hear radio broadcasts by both local media and by government officials.

            Why radio?

            Computers, including the Internet itself – where Safety Issues lives -, may be severely crippled or just not working due to a terrorist attack. Power outages will likely knock out that broadband connection you have grown so used to. Your phone line may also be crippled or inoperative which means that access to the Internet will not be available either. And, forget about the cell phone access to the Internet you have as cellular phones depend on technology that is very complicated and dependent on things working within certain limited standards.

            So, the Internet will likely not be available to you. Neither, likely, will TV.

            TV depends on technology that is also highly vulnerable to changes in power supplies and atmospheric conditions. Even localized interference can jam a TV signal from a nearby city. High fluctuations in power can burn out TV transmitters. Cable depends on computerized distribution systems that can be crippled or knocked out by many types of disasters and interruptions in power so you will likely not be able to watch the cable TV you have become used to.

What kind of radio?

            As pointed out earlier in this article, your teenager’s boom box or the transistor radio you use to listen to ball games will not keep you in touch. Why?

            Those radios need strong signals to give you sound. Call your favorite radio station and ask the engineer where the station’s transmitter is. You may be surprised to find out that the station has more than one transmitter site. For example, some AM stations in major metropolitan markets such as Chicago have a transmitter in the city on a high building and another transmitter in the suburbs on a very spacious land area. Some FM stations have similar setups. Some FM stations too have transmitter sites in areas they serve – not studio capabilities. The transmitters are broadcasting content and are controlled by a studio somewhere else in the metro area or even the United States. Those systems work great under certain controlled standards but reduce or cut out the power and satellite connections these stations use and the local stations go off the air. That may leave no local stations broadcasting with any useable power in your area.

            You need a radio that does more than pick up local signals.

            You need a radio that picks up signals from far away as well as locally – in case a local station manages to stay on the air at all after a terrorist attack.

            What you need to buy is what is known as a multi band radio. Multi band radios pick up both AM and FM signals but also signals on other radio bands such as shortwave and even emergency services frequencies.

            For the public, shortwave radio may be the best way to know what is going on. What is shortwave radio?

            Basically, a signal from a shortwave radio station can travel high into the atmosphere and bounce off a part of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere so the signal lands in many places around the world. That means that you can hear a station broadcasting from England in the United States. That ability will keep you in touch with national officials as well as the world in case of emergency.

            The United States has shortwave radio stations funded by the government. You may have heard about the Voice of America which broadcast programs into Communist nations during the Cold War to tell the citizens of those nations about America. That station as well as others still exists. The Federal government also has emergency broadcasting facilities that will likely use shortwave radio to keep America informed during the emergency.

            So, a multiband radio is your best choice for keeping up on the information you will need to survive an emergency.

            But do not buy such a radio that operates only on house current.

            You, at least, need a multi band radio that uses batteries as the power to your home may not be on. Of course, have plenty of batteries and – regularly – throw away and replace the older batteries so you will have batteries that will last you during an emergency.

            But that is not your best radio choice.

            The best choice is a specialty radio that you can order from stores such as Radio Shack that is powered by batteries, house power and a windup key. Yes, a windup key.  You simply windup the radio and it will play for a few hours or charge the batteries in the radio if they are rechargeable.

            Sometimes the most ridiculous sounding technology will keep you safe.

            In this case, a radio that picks up a lot more than your local stations and is powered by a key like that in a windup toy is what will help you and your family survive a terrorist attack by keeping you informed.

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Thank you for reading this column.

Please live safetly.

THE END