DXpedition Health and Safety

 

When you travel on DXpeditions* (or for other purposes) taking care of your personal health and safety is important! The CDC Yellow Book (https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/yellowbook-home) is a useful reference to use in your mission planning.   

CDC's Yellow Book (Health Information for International Travel) is published every two years as a resource for health professionals providing care to international travelers. The fully revised and updated CDC Yellow Book 2020 compiles the US government’s most current travel health guidelines, including pretravel vaccine recommendations, destination-specific health advice, and easy-to-reference maps, tables, and charts.

Additional travel security information is available from OSAC:

OSAC Travel Security Form (2016) (https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/f4d7f293-6161-4edb-ba7f-15f4adc81c37)

The Overseas Security Advisory Council’s Travel Safety Reference Guide (2011) (https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/30d6c2d4-ab51-426e-a558-15f4ad127743)


*A DXpedition is an expedition to what is considered an exotic place by amateur radio operators, perhaps because of its remoteness, access restrictions or simply because there are very few radio amateurs active from that place.

Disaster Preparedness Training (On-line)

 Being prepared to survive a disaster and care for yourself, your family, and your community in the aftermath of such an event is essential. The following free, on-line courses will help you gain the knowledge and skills needed to be better prepared. 

Neighborhood Emergency Response Planning (NERP)
https://cert.hazready.com/CourseCatalog?friendlyId=DP000029
This training program, from the University of Utah, assists homeowners to plan ahead in preparation for a disaster so that they have the necessary supplies, and are able to assist others to sustain the basic necessities, such as food and water for at least 72 hours.

You Are the Help Until Help Arrives
https://community.fema.gov/until-help-arrives
Life-threatening emergencies can happen fast and emergency responders aren’t always nearby. You may be able to save a life by taking simple actions immediately. "You Are the Help Until Help Arrives" is a short on-line course from FEMA that can help you be more prepared to respond to an emergency situation.

Stop the Bleed https://stopthebleed.usuhs.edu/ is on-line training from the National Center for Disaster Medicine & Public Health. No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss within five minutes, so quickly stopping the bleeding is critical. Those nearest to someone with life threatening injuries are best positioned to provide immediate care if they are equipped with the appropriate training and resources.

CPR, AED & First Aid Certification Course
https://nhcps.com/course/cpr-aed-first-aid-certification-course/

Download and Read:

Are You Ready?
An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness (September 2020)
https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/are-you-ready-guide.pdf

If you travel into the back country, perhaps hiking remote forest trails, you should have some knowledge of back country safety and wilderness survival. The following resources will help you stay safe in wilderness areas.

General Backcountry Safety
http://training.mra.org/course/index.php?categoryid=2
This program is designed to provide an introduction for beginners and intermediate backcountry enthusiasts to help develop safe habits in the backcountry. This material is designed to cover the fundamental ideas that will help equip you to travel safely and be able to deal with emergency situations that can occur in the backcountry.

Watch all five parts of the Survival Basics YouTube videos with Dave Canterbury.
Survival Basics DVD Part 1 - 5 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZLagqylZ3j4YRWkpZIE4qsFDi5Otk4Jb

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/B1KnQp7D8sw
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/VaLYfXiTfFI
Part 3 - https://youtu.be/hbpkW28swT8
Part 4 - https://youtu.be/oTHiRXQwH7k
Part 5 - https://youtu.be/t84xGjdGPYg

Read "What Are The Ten Essentials" from The Mountaineers https://www.mountaineers.org/blog/what-are-the-ten-essentials

Finally, as amateur radio operators, it is important that we understand our equipment and that we have a plan to communicate when telephone, cellular, and Internet systems fail. 

Basic Radio Awareness
https://www.taitradioacademy.com/courses/basic-radio-awareness/
Basic Radio Awareness covers the foundations of critical communications, covering topics like communication, modulation, trunking, propagation, TDMA and FDMA, and more.

Best Practice for Radio Users
https://www.taitradioacademy.com/courses/best-practice-radio-users/
This course focuses on end-user training for connecting and communicating clearly, safely, and efficiently on your radio.

Intro to Ham Radio (YouTube video 49:17 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtexMEqAuZ0

An Introduction to Radios and Emergency Communication (YouTube video 21:24 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzDj0u1HhvE

Kentucky ARES Emergency Communications Training
http://www.kyham.net/emcomm/training/kytest.html
This training course is offered at no cost to anyone interested in starting or refreshing their amateur radio emergency communication knowledge. The course is comprised of study materials and 3 exams and requires 2-5 hours depending on your reading speed. After successful completion of the course (all 3 exams), you will receive a PDF certificate.

ARRL EC-001: Introduction to Emergency Communication
http://www.arrl.org/online-course-catalog
This course is designed to provide basic knowledge and tools for any emergency communications volunteer. The course has 6 sections with 28 lesson topics, and includes a selection of student activities, knowledge review quizzes, and a final assessment. The course is conducted entirely online and can be completed at your own pace, allowing you to work according to your own schedule.