Antennas, Satellite Broadcasting, and Emergency Preparedness for the Voice of America (1988) / Chapter Skim
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Emergency Preparedness Telecommunications
Emergency Preparedness Telecommunications
Pages 38-55
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From page 38... ...
Therefore, emergency preparedness plans must be formulated to position essential operational resources, to ensure availability of critical communications, and to guide operations during emergency conditions. The Committee reviewed the VOA's emergency preparedness plans and the status of its emergency preparedness telecommunications.
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From page 39... ...
The extant mission statement for emergencies -- to continue broadcasting in the official United Nations languages -- is so vague that it fails to provide the guidance necessary to distinguish an emergency from, say, a failure of the plumbing system. Planning VOA emergency preparedness procedures is difficult, then, since the VOA lacks tangible mission objectives for emergency situations.
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From page 40... ...
ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND REQUIREMENTS At present, the VOA depends on other government agencies and organizations for emergency planning. Through NSDD-97 and Executive Order 12472, which define national security telecommunications policy and establish authorities and operating conditions, the United States Information Agency (DSIA)
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From page 41... ...
To do this, the VOA must have continued access to National Command Authority messages, capabilities to develop programming material, technical means to communicate messages to broadcast and relay sites, and technical means to broadcast the messages to target audiences. DISASTERS AND PRIORITIES Significant Problems in Disasters Local and regional disasters might strain communications and logistics within the impacted areas and present a challenge to the VOA's ability to cope with their effects, but national disasters constitute the most critical emergencies, presenting severe problems related to massive and widespread destruction to which the VOA must respond.
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From page 42... ...
A national disaster wild strain all traditional communication and logistics resources severely, and it will present the VOA with a situation in which restoration will be particularly complex. A national disaster planning process with resources limited to those the VOA has currently in place cannot ensure continuity of operations.
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From page 43... ...
THE VOICE OF AMERICA'S EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS The VOA's emergency preparedness requirements for facilities, personnel, and logistics arise directly from modification of its mission during disasters. During a national disaster, the VOA must have the following capabilities: o Continued access to the National Command Authority's message 0 Ability to develop programming material o Technical means to communicate messages to broadcast and relay sites o Technical means to broadcast the messages to target audiences.
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From page 44... ...
9 in National Research Council, 1985) concluded that ''e..power will be largely unavailable in the more highly stressed situations." The VOA should prepare for this eventuality by providing its alternate sites with standby power generating facilities and the fuel to run them for extended periods.
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From page 45... ...
outside the affected region. The VOA should consider alternative means of disseminating the broadcast message to these transmitter sites.
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From page 46... ...
Commercial satellite terminals could also be used to provide critical, redundant, communications paths between studio facilities and broadcasting sites. Another attractive aspect of ensuring survivability through geographical dispersion lies in locating VOA-unique systems on, or adjacent to, existing commercial or public communications terminals.
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From page 47... ...
For example, a system with fixed primary and fixed backup facilities lacks flexibility compared to a system comprising both fixed and mobile facilities. Neither is the system with fixed primary and fixed backup as survivable as the system with both fixed and mobile facilities.
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From page 48... ...
The mission statement should assign specific responsibilities to each level, including operating authority and simple, standard, operating procedures to be followed in seeking both system reconstitution and alternative program content. o Consultation with telecommunications network designers to determine reasonable technical means to reconstitute STLs in the event of a national emergency o Consultation with private-sector news-gatherin~, broadcasting, and telecommunications service providers to establish procedures for emergency use of equipment such as mobile, news-gathering vans, alternative studios, and satellite transponders 0 Establishing an emergency preparedness office at each VOA backup site and relay station, and providing the authority to this office to locate sources of necessary fuel, food, supplies, and transportation for short-term operations.
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From page 49... ...
These emergencies should include sudden, urgent events affecting the abilities of the Washington staff to deliver program content to relay sites and of the relay stations to deliver program content to audiences. Thus, both domestic and international emergencies must be addressed.
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From page 50... ...
facilities may not be feasible, it may be possible to create some sort of ready reserve capability at a few less vulnerable locations, perhaps in the vicinity of VOA domestic relay sites. Relocating critical VOA facilities at less vulnerable, less urban, geographic areas would increase the possibility of continuous operation in a national disaster.
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From page 51... ...
Programming material for day-to-day operations can be transmitted from Washington or any other desired location by satellite. Under emergency conditions, programming material could be transmitted directly from any site, such as a relocation center, through a mobile, news-gathering, satellite earth station.
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From page 52... ...
AWARENESS OF NATIONAL SECURITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANNING Survivability of communications links poses another major challenge. The VOA is one of the 22 federal agencies designated to participate in NSEP telecommunications.
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From page 53... ...
It would be helpful to the VOA to use FEMA capabilities to establish emergency links to domestic relay stations from both Washington and alternative operations sites, or to earth stations that would link domestic VOA operations with those of foreign relay stations. But the VOA should not depend solely on the capabilities of FEMA.
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From page 54... ...
7. To ensure availability of communications links, the VOA should implement alternative satellite communications capabilities and directly participate as the United States Information Agency representative in the National Security Emergency Preparedness (NSEP)
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From page 55... ...
1985. The Policy Planning Environment for National Security Telecommunications: Annual Report to the National Communications System.
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