W2SRP-10 RMS Gateway Ocala, Florida HOSPITALS Emergency communications

Hi All, about myself:
I'm happily retired in Florida! Married (XYL WA2ENY) with two grown children and four grandchildren.

I'm a US Navy Viet Nam vet, served in Antoi vietnam 67'-68'. Supporting operation Market Time (if you're a history buff) after that had a wonderful career as a professional Medical Photographer (Bio-Med Photography degree from Rochester Institute of Technology) as head of the Medical Photography Dept at The Genesee Hospital, Rochester NY affiliated with the University of Rochester School of Medicine. A Teaching hospital.
And finally owner/president of a photography laboratory which served professional photographers in Rochester NY and throughout the us.

I was first licensed in 1960 as WN2ZLI and later relicensed as WA2EJP in 1976 and now hold a ADVANCED class license. Currently my call sign W2SRP honors my HAM mentor and ELMER who became an SK.

I always planned on using my ham license for emergency communications. Back in 1960 during the cold war era, there was a special effort to license ham operators to participate in RACES. I was trained initially for that purpose. I was only 16 at the time.

So retiring to Florida and arriving in 2004, just in time for hurricanes, CHARLIE, IVAN, FRANCIS and JEANNE I found myself working my ham radio on emergency power in our local shelters in Marion County.

Fast forward to WINLINK and hospitals emergency communications:

W2SRP-10 RMS gateway is located in the SW part of Marion County Florida. It's one of six RMS gateways. There are two on the West Side of the county, three on the East side and one at the Marion County Sheriffs Division of Emergency management located in the center of the county. All serve to provide emergency communications in case of hurricanes or other disaster or health and welfare message handling.

I maintain the W2SRP-10 RMS Gateway and coordinate 20 ham operators specially trained for the hospitals here in the county. There are five
Munroe Regional Medical Center, TimberRidge Emergency Center, Ocala Regional Medical Center, West Marion Community Hospital and Kindred Hospital.

I develop and coordinate monthly drills which serve to test the system for the hospitals as well as provide training for the ham operators to pass emergency formal and informal messages using voice only if necessary.

Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala Florida, is used as the hospitals incident command. The HAM radio room includes Pactor and VHF winlink capability. All hospitals are NIMS compliant and all hospital ham operators are NIMS compliant with IS 100, 200, 700 and 800. All adhere to the HICS (Hospital Incident Command System). They are also credential volunteers of the hospitals, so all have a hospital ID badge in order to ensure access in the event of hospital lockdown.

The hospital ham operators participate in all the hospitals mandatory exercises and contribute to the requirements for backup emergency communications for hospitals accreditation and grant funding.

WINLINK will always play a part in emergency communications for the hospitals in the county.

73 Dave Welker, W2SRP-10 RMS Gateway SYSOP
Munroe Regional Medical Center, Ocala Fl Special Projects HAM radio Emergency Communications
Ocala Regional Medical Center, Ocala, Fl HAM volunteers
coordinator