Effective communications (Commo) are absolutely essential to the mission of the TADMAT.
Active Mode:
1) If the activation is local (within 100 miles of the Medical College of Ohio main campus), all TADMAT communications will be performed on 463.9125(simplex) and the call sign will be WPAU357 or 463.700rx / 468.700tx with a tone coded squelch of 100mhz. If the deployment is outside of this radius, the Communications Officer or Executive Officer will coordinate with NDMS National for FEMA frequencies and call signs. The Communications Officer will see that all available commo equipment is packed for shipment.
2) If other DMATs are activated and already on site, they will be contacted by the Communications Officer by whatever means available and attempts will be made to pre-determine frequencies to contact them and other agencies at the disaster site.
3) Upon arrival, the Communications Officer will determine the commo requirements necessary to accomplish the medical mission and advise the Executive Committee and Executive Officer of his assessment of the situation and equipment availability. If inadequate equipment is on-site, priorities will be established and requests will be made to NDMS National.
4) Internal communications will be consistent with the Incident Command System terminology and procedure. Reverse calling (Called party first, then calling party) and clear text will be used in all internal communications. No call signs will be used but radios will be identified by the name of the operator or the position being called. If a shared frequency is used, the name of the party will be prefixed with "TADMAT".
5) Priority of communications will be:
Primary commo will be voice, digital commo will be established as soon as possible to facilitate the movement of logistics requirements.
6) Logs will be maintained of all incoming and outgoing traffic. Only authorized traffic will be handled.
7) No other organization may use the commo frequencies without prior approval of the Executive Officer.
8) The commo personnel will only release information received via comms through the Executive Officer or designee and not directly or indirectly to the team.
9) Within two weeks after return from deployment the Communication Officer will submit to the Executive Committee an after action report and all logs and messages for a permanent record with the TADMAT historical archive.