Communication Drills

Purpose

Communication Drills will be used to test equipment operation, exercise specific operational skills, practice digital and voice network operations, and assess user performance. Each drill will be narrowly focused on a small set of skills and will be designed to require two hours or less to complete.

Drills can take several forms.

  • Single County:  PinCo ACS will be the nominal lead for each Pinellas County communications drill. An informal plan and schedule will be created by PinCo ACS and distributed to all participating PinCo organizations prior to the drill. The following monthly drills are currently scheduled.
    • Hospital Emergency Network System (HENS)

  • Multi-County:  A single Florida county will assume the lead role for each Florida multi-county communications drill. An informal plan and schedule will be created and distributed to all participating counties prior to the drill. The following monthly drills are currently scheduled.
    • Flagler County and Participating EOC Communication Teams Monthly Communications Drill

Implementation

Single county and Florida multi-county communication drills are implemented in accordance with the following paragraphs.

  • HENS testing:  Using the Alert Pinellas system, PinCo ACS creates and sends an Email and Text message reminder to each participating organization on the morning of the scheduled test. The 800MHz public safety radio system will be used to evaluate equipment operation and RF connectivity between the PinCo EOC and each participating organization.

  • Flagler County Monthly Communications Drill:  The Flagler County DEM sends an email to all participating Florida counties prior to the scheduled drill. The email contains the testing schedule, a Microsoft Teams meeting invitation, and links for providing feedback. The Microsoft Teams meeting begins prior to the start of testing and is used to coordinate activities during the drill.

Schedule

Single county and Florida multi-county communication drills take place in accordance with the following schedule.

  • HENS testing:  This communications drill takes place on the second Wednesday of each month and begins at 1030.

  • Flagler County Monthly Communications Drill:  This communications drill takes place on the last Wednesday of each month and begins at 1100.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email