The Sullivan Amateur Radio Club enjoys a strong relationship with the Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital through something called the Hospital Amateur Radio Network. HARN is an Amateur Radio organization sponsored by the St. Louis ARES association. To quote their website:
“HARN will provide Amateur Radio Operators to assist hospitals in their communication needs. HARN will provide communication support to enhance hospital preparedness for response to critical incidents in the St. Louis Bi-State region. The Amateur Radio Operators will coordinate with emergency management agencies and other regional first responders to accomplish interoperable communications for hospitals. The hospitals will coordinate drills and exercises among area the hospitals utilizing amateur radio resources. The hospitals will periodically test and exercise their amateur radio equipment located in each facility that has a amateur radio installed.”
The club’s commitment to the Hospital involves supplying Amateur Radio operators for the monthly HARN exercise which is held on the second Friday of each month. During this exercise, the club’s amateurs in attendance will break out the hospital’s amateur radio equipment, connect it to the hospital’s antenna system, and use it to participate in three HARN nets. Our participation is recorded on a log sheet which is then forwarded to the HARN group. We then stow the equipment back in its storage containers and prepare it for storage.
Recently, SARC has been selected to be the new Net Control Station for the HF net on 75 meters. This means that we must supply an operator that holds at least a General class license each month to lead that net.
This is a great way for all SARC members to participate in a public service event that prepares us for service to the hospital in the event of a crisis situation. This is the very essence of ham radio, and as a club we are proud to step up to this responsibility and commitment.
For more information about HARN, please visit http://www.stlares.org/HARN/index.html