Wood County Emergency Communications Inc. (WCEC) is an all volunteer Non-Profit organization, created to provide back-up and overload communications to all Public Safety (Fire, Police, Rescue, Hospital, Ambulance, Red Cross, Etc.) agencies when normal communications are overloaded or non-existent during Natural and/or Man-made Emergencies or Disasters and drills. As such WCEC has filed for and been issued 501c3 status.
Members of WCEC work on a regular basis to study communication procedures, design, build, train, and work on communications equipment and networks that may be needed when emergencies and/or disasters happen. WCEC has provided back-up and overload communications for several emergencies, disasters, and drills since it was first organized. A few activities that WCEC has provided and/or coordinated communications for are: People's Cartage Fire, all major snow storms, and flooding, most major brush fires in Wood County, the Shell Fire in Belpre, the Snyder Warehouse fire, the Chevron fire in Marietta, several Hazardous Material transportation accidents, Train derailments, boating accidents, missing persons, power & communication outages at the Sheriff's Department and Parkersburg City buildings.
WCEC was organized July 14th, 1983 and is a tax exempt organization under Federal IRS 501c3. WCEC receives no funding from any government agency. Funding to purchase and maintain communications equipment is received by donations from the traveling public "Safety Breaks" on the Interstate over certain holiday weekends, the operating of BINGO games three times a year, and donations from users of it's communications facilities and other equipment. Some of equipment used by WCEC has been donated by local utility companies, chemical plants, and hospitals.
WCEC maintains a 2-meter Amateur Radio repeater that operates on
WCEC created and has developed a computer based digital Emergency Packet Radio system known as DAREN which stands for Digital Amateur Radio Emergency Network. The DAREN system is a State Wide radio system that has been recognized and approved by the West Virginia State Office of Emergency Services. WCEC has installed and maintains eight Emergency Packet Radio stations on the DAREN system in six counties. It has installed one Non-emergency Packet Radio station in Wood County.
WCEC maintains a Packet Radio Emergency data storage and reporting system known as "FINDER" to keep track of victims, emergency response personnel, and equipment during disasters and other emergencies. The "FINDER" system operates on the DAREN system.
Members of WCEC are in the process of rebuilding a used recreational motor home, converting it into an Emergency Mobile Communications Center that can be taken to the scene of a disaster, or it can be used as the Communications Center for a temporary Emergency Operations Center. The Mobile Communications Center has the ability to communicate on all Public Safety agency frequencies in Wood County and the five surrounding counties.
WCEC publishes A monthly Newsletter that has articles about Amateur and Public Safety radio communications. It's sent to a variety of Public Safety agencies such as all Fire and Police Departments in Wood County and some in Washington County, Ohio, the Sheriff's Department, the Wood County Commissioners, Hospitals, Red Cross, County and State Offices of Emergency Services.
Members of WCEC are not only Amateur Radio Operators, they also train and can communicate on Public Safety frequencies. The WCEC members can operate as radio & telephone operators and as dispatchers. They also train in Emergency Operations Center, and Incident Command System procedures. They can set up emergency communications at the four area hospitals, Camden Clark Memorial, St. Joseph's, Marietta Memorial, and Selby General as well as disaster scenes, or other locations as necessary. Most of the hospitals are equipped with additional radio antennas to allow better operations when additional Radio Operators are needed. WCEC has also installed and maintains both Voice and Packet communications radio equipment at the Red Cross office in Parkersburg.
The members of WCEC train as severe weather spotters for and are registered with the National Weather Service in the National SKYWARN Program. They also train with the Red Cross as Disaster Assessment workers.
WCEC coordinates and helps provide Safety Communications for various public service activities such as the GE Race for Safety road run, the Parkersburg Half Marathon road run, the Brundage Schoolboy Regattas, the Lubeck Fun Run, the Challenge at Mountwood bike race, the West Virginia 10K Mountain Classic Road Race and the Ohio River Sweep. Other public service activities are line-ups for the Parkersburg Homecoming Parade, and the Parkersburg Christmas Parade.
WCEC personnel can be recognized and identified in two ways. During most emergency activities, disasters, and drills, WCEC personnel should be wearing an Orange Vest with the word COMMUNICATIONS on the front and back. All WCEC personnel are issued an ID CARD which has an expiration date of December 31 of the current year.
Some members of WCEC stay familiar with members of other Public Safety agencies in Wood County by attending meetings of the Wood County Fire Fighters Association.
WCEC is always looking for members who don't mind getting their hands dirty and are willing to work. If you're interested in providing the above type of communications just let us know. There are no annual membership dues, we want your warm body and ideas, not your money.
For additional information contact:
Wood County Emergency Communications
Attn: Kenneth Harris WA8LLM
P.O. Box 3328
Parkersburg, WV 26103
(304) 679-3470 (Home)
(304) 481-3840 (Cellular)
(304) 863-1006 (Pager)