South Carolina Healthcare Emergency
Amateur Radio Team (SCHEART)

SCHEART is a statewide initiative to establish a redundant communications system using amateur radios to support the  hospitals in South Carolina. These facilities will be linked through a network of "repeaters" that amplify communications signals.  The repeaters will be strategically located and linked together to form a statewide emergency communications network.  This redundant communications network would be located at broadcast and microwave towers owned and operated by the South Carolina Educational Television Network (ETV), using the ETV microwave network as a communications backbone.  ETV would co-own and maintain this emergency communications network for the benefit of the SCHEART initiative.

This project has been approved and the funding for this project will provide for all the equipment necessary to install seven repeaters in the state.  These repeaters would reach the majority of the sixty plus hospitals that receive funding and support from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response under the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP).  The project manager's goal is to have the network completed by the beginning of the 2007 hurricane season.   The installation will occur in three phases.   Phase one will begin on the coast with Beaufort, Charleston and Conway.  After testing and commissioning these sites, phase two will include Columbia, Florence and Orangeburg. Phase three will finish up in Greenville (Paris Mountain). Once Greenville is completed the entire system would be tested and commissioned.  The deadline for completion of the project is August 30, 2007.

To support the SCHEART project, the USC-CPHP conducts Ham radio training classes and recruits radio response team (RRT) members.  These teams will become active participants in our communities serving at state and local healthcare facilities.  Our goal is to provide the expertise at each hospital facility to support the SCHEART communications network.  In 2005 the center implemented a facility assessment program in partnership with the state Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) organization.  This program provides recommendations for the purchase and installation of Ham radio equipment.  In addition, the Center coordinates the participation of Hams in state and local training exercises.  For more information about the SCHEART project, facility assessments, and training classes, please contact  Bill Dease, deasew@gwm.sc.edu.
 

SCHEART products for printing and downloads:

• Facility Assessment Checklists (pdf) are available to guide assessors and to facilitate consistency from one facility to another.

• USC-CPHP Waiver of Liability and Release (pdf) forms are to be filled out and submitted to the USC-CPHP prior to any individual conducting any assessments or participating in any drills funded wholly or partially by the Center.

• Radio Response Team Volunteer Applications (pdf) are for individuals willing to serve as Ham radio operators at the healthcare facility of their choice during a disaster or mass casualty event. These individuals work as part of a team with other local operators to train and provide support to the assigned agency.

We are partnering with the following agencies to accomplish these activities: Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), Carolina Amateur Radio Emergency Services (CARES), Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), South Carolina Educational Television (ETV), South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team (HEART), South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA),  York Technical College, and other concerned state and local agencies/organizations.

This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement U90/CCU424245-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent official views of the CDC.