Cornville Nonprofits and Charities

Before I became an active member of the Yavapai County ARES/RACES organization, I was the Director of Nursing at Wickenburg Community Hospital (WCH). Ever since I began my nursing career in 1971, I had an interest in emergency preparedness. I was actively involved in this aspect of my nursing career in Washington, DC; Putnam, CT; Baltimore, MD; and finally, Wickenburg, AZ. In all my years of participating in emergency preparedness, the amateur radio groups were always a part of our planning; that is, until I came to Wickenburg. For whatever reason, the “Hams” had not been included in the disaster planning. One of my goals after assuming the responsibility of emergency planning was to get these fine people actively involved. I was fortunate that the Yavapai County ARES/RACES organization was not only receptive to the idea of being included in the planning but had been actively seeking that inclusion for some time.<br><br>ARES/RACES members participated in our required emergency preparedness exercises and offered valuable insight into our communication shortcomings. The hospital has a satellite clinic in Congress, AZ and there was no effective way to communicate should the “normal” communication systems fail (telephone and internet), short of sending a runner between the two sites. Members of the ARES/RACES organization approached me with a possible solution to this communications gap. Even though by this time I had my own amateur radio license, much of what they were talking about was foreign to me. The members I worked with were kind and patient with me, often repeating the same explanations until I fully understood. We were on our way to installing a MESH network so if, and when, the normal communications were “down” we would have a reliable method of communication with the hospital, allowing us to access confidential patient information, if required, in a very secure fashion.<br><br>After September 11, 2001, the Federal Government realized that hospitals were inadequately prepared to handle large scale disasters, whether manmade or naturally occurring. They then set up a grant program so hospitals could apply for funding to help them purchase equipment and supplies to be able to appropriately respond to such events. The Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) was born and continues to provide funding for not only hospitals but other healthcare organizations as well.<br><br>Working with the ARES/RACES group to implement the MESH program required identifying what equipment was needed, how much, and the cost. We prepared a budget for this project and submitted a grant request to receive some of the Arizona allotment of funds from the HPP grant. Our grant request was approved, and we began to purchase the necessary items. All the work to install the equipment was performed by members of the ARES/RACES organization (at no cost to the hospital). Once everything was in place, we were ready to test the system. We stationed two members of the ARES/RACES group at the radios, one located in the hospital and the other located in the Congress Clinic. We sent out our request for medical record information and were able to successfully transmit an EKG from the hospital to the Congress Clinic. What a joyous moment as we now knew we would be able to retrieve time-sensitive information, going in either direction, with our new MESH system in the event of a power outage or other communications disruption while maintaining patient confidentiality.<br><br>Installing the MESH system was an important component of our emergency communications system, ensuring the ability to communicate with our remote clinic. It was also important to know it worked and worked well, as the hospital was in the process of establishing another remote clinic in Wittmann, AZ. At the time of my retirement, April 1, 2019, there were discussions about installing a MESH network at this facility. <br><br>All the members of the ARES/RACES organization with whom I have had interactions are dedicated, professional and genuinely care about improving emergency communications. It was a pleasure working with them in my role as Director of Nursing/Emergency Management before my retirement. After I retired, I became a member of ARES/RACES and hope that I can share my knowledge and experience with others.<br><br>Linda Brockwell, MBA, BSN, RN<br>Director of Nursing, Retired<br>Wickenburg Community Hospital<br>