The University of South Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (USC-CPHP) participated in the South Carolina Earthquake Full-Scale Exercise conducted by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) on June 6 and 7, 2007.  In partnership with the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) organization and the South Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator for Amateur (Ham) Radio, the Earthquake scenario was used as a springboard to activate the SCHEART Radio Response Teams (RRTs).  Upon activation, the RRTs were assigned to provide critical communications for nine healthcare facilities and other ESF-8 responders.

In addition, the RRTs worked closely with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) to provide communications to and from the affected area.  Their primary goal was to provide communications support during the recovery portion of the earthquake, and to act as a primary source of communication for evacuating healthcare facilities until normal lines of communication could be restored.

The SCHEART Response Network was activated and based on previously established agreements, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) between hospitals and healthcare facilities in the affected areas were activated.   Receiving hospitals were identified along the evacuation route and contacts were made through the SEOC.  The SCHEART RRTs were activated and the following locations were manned to coordinate message traffic and patient evacuations:

• Aiken Regional Medical
• Bamberg County Memorial
• Greenville Memorial Hospital
• McLeod Medical Center
• Oconee Memorial
• Orangeburg Medical Center
• Palmetto Richland Memorial
• Self Regional Medical Center
• Spartanburg Regional Hospital

The objectives for the team were to:

• Demonstrate the ability to establish and maintain effective communications with emergency response personnel during an earthquake event;
• Assess gaps in communication between public health officials and SCHEART medical facilities; and
• Demonstrate the skill and ability to establish contact with the state and local EOCs to route message traffic and to coordinate resources during an earthquake event.

Additional contacts and participants supporting the SCHEART network were:

• Civil Air Patrol Repeater
• South Carolina Budget and Control Board  Communications vehicle
• Aiken County Emergency Communications Trailer
• State Guard Emergency Communications Trailer
• South Carolina DHEC Office
• South Carolina Hospital Association

Overall, the exercise was a success.  The main goal and objectives established by the USC-CPHP to support the SCHEART project were met.  Naturally, there are issues that will require additional coordination and training but as a whole communication was established.  Participating agencies were impressed with the message traffic used to obtain information from hospitals supporting the evacuation of patients from the low country to receiving hospitals in the upstate community.  Although the SCHEART network is still under construction, the ham radio community was successful in providing the communications needed for patient movement.

The Aiken County Communications Trailer was deployed in support of the SCHEART project.  The vehicle was initially setup in the community of St. Matthews in Calhoun County to monitor the traffic coming out of the area affected by the earthquake.  Initially, communication signals were affected by a grove of trees surrounding the area.  Through coordination the trailer was moved to a local high school and communications were immediately established with a number of VHF repeaters in the state.  Also, a solid link was established with the state EOC.   Even though communications were poor on the 40 and 80 meter bands, the trailer was able to effectively communicate through Web EOC using the internet.  The vehicle was also equipped with the Palmetto 800 MHz system and satellite phones; however, they were not needed due to the excellent VHF path into the Columbia area.  During the exercise the trailer experienced a minor glitch with a modem that crashed and disabled the Satellite. The exercise allowed the Aiken County Communications Team to test their ability to support the SCHEART project and to identify a problem with the primary Motosat Satellite System which is being repaired at this time.

Also, the 1st Brigade Communications Group, assigned to the South Carolina State Guard, deployed their Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Trailer to support the SCHEART exercise.  Their vehicle and operators provided backup communication support from a strategic location in the Newberry County area.  Through the use of this vehicle, the State Guard was able to link up with the SEOC and the Aiken County Communications Trailer in St. Matthews.  The significance of their participation was that it allowed us to route message traffic seamlessly from the affected area in the low country to the receiving hospitals in the upstate region.  There was a minor glitch using high frequency (HF) communications at the beginning of the exercise, however; they were able to overcome the problem quickly and provided successful communications to hospitals in the Greenville, Spartanburg, Oconee, and Laurens areas to support patient evacuations.

The USC-CPHP ham radio operator worked closely with the SEOC, the State Section Emergency Coordinator for Ham Radio, Palmetto Richland Healthcare facility, DHEC and the SCHA to establish communications during the recovery phase of the exercise. The USC-CPHP also visited and coordinated with each of the locations in the Columbia area to ensure that communication links were established while meeting the SCHEART goals and objectives.  In addition, a number of state and local agencies recognized the fact that a loss in communications during a major event, such as an earthquake, is not just a possibility but a reality.  Therefore, the USC-CPHP has been asked to consider expanding our current operation to support other agencies under the SCHEART infrastructure, to include additional trainings and ham radio assessments.