Recent global earthquakes inspire some Mid-Island residents to learn emergency radio skills

With the recent deadly earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria top of mind, people on Vancouver Island are getting prepared with emergency communications.

A group in the Comox Valley is planning ahead and says amateur radio operators will be a sought-after commodity if an emergency strikes.

"In every major disaster that we know of there is always, for some period of time, a mass communications failure," said Scott Goodman, an emergency radio coordinator.

Should such a natural disaster happen in the Comox Valley, Goodman and his team of volunteers will keep communication links with the outside world.

"We’ve provided essentially seven simultaneous streams of communication that will allow command and control communication with the provincial government," he said.

Now, Goodman and the Comox Valley Regional District are looking for a few more volunteers to assist them in that challenge.

"If people have amateur radio licenses they can get on a network of other amateurs and start doing situational awareness, sharing information of 'What’s my community looking like, what’s this neighbourhood looking like?'" said Howie Siemens, Comox Valley Regional District manager of emergency programs.

"Then they can gather that and it will actually help us understand how bad the impact has been," he said.

The regional district will be holding a free amateur radio course beginning on March 5 to highlight what's needed.

"The radio operators will be working out of a room that we have been working on to build that redundancy that, when everything else fails, they’ll be there to make sure those last miles of connection of communication happen," said Siemens.

The regional district adds that it wants the community to be reassured that volunteers will be ready should a disaster happen.

"I’d like the public to be aware that we’re here, there is a plan, that we’re on top of it and that we have the technical capability to execute it when the time comes," said Goodman.

More information on the course can be found on the Comox Valley Regional District website.