Probably biased, but I've always seen communications as the core of any emergency response. It doesn't matter if you have 35 trailers of ice and 20 trailers of MRE's. If you don't have communications, you don't know the state of roads, and where to distribute them! BTW, I've only had my ham license for 2 years. Listened to a radio scanner for 15 years before that.

There used to be a time that police officers were still required to carry whistles, even though they had a radio. Probably still not a bad idea in a disaster prone area like San Fran.

Work on your RACES/ARES. You have to find people that are willing to put everything down to help you (think retired people, and couples with no children at home). Nothing more embarassing as saying you have a roster of over 1,000 people, and can't find 40 people to man shelters in teams of 2. Makes the professionals lose all respect for your "hobby".

If your department/city has one (if it's not you), talk to the Homeland Security Coordinator. If they don't have one, perhaps you might have some free time! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />