Amateur Radio Communication Technology Contingency Communication in Emergency Situation

School of Computing, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 UUM Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: azlee@gmail.com

Abstract

Disasters cannot be avoided, but efforts can be made to reduce death, injuries and property damages through better communications and better planning to deal with it before it happen. Thus we need to adopt available technology, like the Amateur Radio Communication Technology (ACT), to face this problem. These include providing awareness, training and support for the communities who adopt the technology for Emergency Communication (EC). Through having more qualified Amateur Radio Communities (ARC) in the adoption of the ARCT, we would be able to improve the communication before, during and after the disasters struck. There are many challenges and issues in the adoption of the ARCT that would part of this study. This article also describes several case studies of communication failure during Hurricane Katrina (2005) in the USA, as well as disasters in several other countries and Malaysia. The tragedies led to failure of existing communication infrastructure, and were reprieved by the help of the voluntary ARC to support the relief agencies in the evacuation and assistance the disaster victims. Therefore, this article will highlight the significant issues that influence the adoption of ARCT in EC.