Amateur Radio is often used to facilitate emergency communication to speed up relief operations or to communicate messages when other modes fail. How often have you noticed that you can't dial out using your mobile as you are driving on a highway (no network coverage).

Though I recall a famous advertisement on cable television couple of years back where a pretty young one first attempts to call out for help using crashed aircrafts rig - which doesn't work, and than promptly switches on the mobile in the middle of a forest range and surprise surprise - the cell phone works!!!! That is marketing gimmick for you, in real life it's the mobile that fails not just on highways and mountains, but within your own city and sometimes your homes. So what is all this about?
Read how an amateur radio operator helped in rescue operation by the roadside very recently. The article was published on ARRL Web and here is just an introduction for your consumption. Visit ARRL Nevada Hams Coordinate Roadside Medical Rescue article for full story.

On the afternoon of July 16, ARRL Elko County (Nevada) Emergency Coordinator Greg Barker, K7CWL, was making his way home from Eureka on Nevada Highway 278 when a van sped past him. About 60 miles into his trip, he saw the van slow down and pull over to the side of the road. Barker, a physical therapist, pulled over and asked if he could assist. An elderly couple, their daughter and granddaughter were on the way to the hospital in Elko -- another 60 miles -- as the grandmother was experiencing what they believed were a series of mini-strokes.

The daughter told Barker that their van kept losing power and wouldn't run. Barker assessed the grandmother and tried to call 911 on his cell phone, but there was no coverage in that area. "I put out a call on my mobile radio, requesting immediate assistance, using the 146.850 repeater located about 55 miles away, part of a wide-area linked repeater system maintained by the Elko Amateur Radio Club," he told the ARRL. "Kent LeBart, K6IN, club president and a radio technician for the Nevada State Highway Patrol, was monitoring the system and responded immediately, asking how he could be of assistance."

Using the crossband repeat mode on his mobile radio, Barker was able to stay with the family at the van. He also used his handheld transceiver to tell LeBart that the grandmother needed to get to the emergency room. "Kent contacted central dispatch and relayed the information I gave him and asked me questions from the dispatch about the patient's situation and condition," he said. "Based on that information, they sent a medivac helicopter from Elko and an ambulance from Carlin."

I know you would be curious to know more, but as I said earlier, visit ARRL website and read article Nevada Hams Coordinate Roadside Medical Rescue to get  the complete picture.

Have you ever helped anyone? Or did you ever feel, if you were an amateur radio operator, you could have helped someone in emergency? What is your view on this, share your views and we would share them with the world!

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