Members of the Hoosier Lake Radio Club pose while assisting at the St. Paddy’s Day 5K “Shamrock Shimmy.” From left are Loren Melton, Greg Shafer, Ted Michas, Brian Sexton, Bryon Wells and Greg Haschel. Photo provided by Greg Shafer.

By Patrick Webb
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Three local Hoosier Lake Radio Club members will be assisting with radio traffic at the Indianapolis 500 Parade Saturday, May 25.

According to Bryon Wells, a member of the club who will be going to the parade, the members will volunteer as part of the Amateur Emergency Radio Services Corps, who assist with public and emergency communications.

For Wells, it’s not the first time he’s gone to Indianapolis for volunteer. Two weeks ago, Wells volunteered at the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. When a runner fell during the marathon and harmed their shoulder, radio operators called in the accident and an emergency vehicle transported them to a hospital.

“We don’t make the determination to send (people) to the hospital,” Wells clarified. “We’re just there to communicate from our point to the (main control).”

Members of the Amateur Emergency Radio Service were also in Indianapolis during the solar eclipse. Wells said 11 local Indianapolis phone towers went down because they were overwhelmed with traffic, which the Indiana Emergency Management Agency planned for, based on a solar eclipse in South Carolina.

Wells said radios aren’t affected by the same outages as phone towers. So if phone communications go down, “we have our radios ready to help,” he said. Wells is the incoming emergency coordinator for Kosciusko County’s Amateur Emergency Radio Service.

Wells said members of the Hoosier Lake Radio Club volunteer as part of the club’s community outreach and to practice their skills. Each member who volunteers is a licensed radio operator. The Hoosier Lake Radio Club helps people to take the test and if they pass to obtain their license.

Wells added that the club also volunteers at local events, including the Elkhart County 4-H Fair Parade, Claypool Festival 5K and the St. Paddy’s Day 5K “Shamrock Shimmy.”

Wells said the club is currently in discussions with the Kosciusko County Fair to volunteer. He credited Greg Shafer, another club member and Kosciusko County’s Emergency Management Agency auxiliary communications officer, for doing outreach and making connections.

Part of the job of the radio operators is to maintain contact for first responders, such as paramedics at parades, and to look out for participants and spectators. When an emergency happens, Wells said their job is to relay information based on decisions medics make.

Another role is to keep an eye out for potentially dangerous behavior. Wells recalled when he worked at a past Elkhart County 4-H Fair Parade, a person was driving their golf cart through the parade, which he called in.

“It’s one of those things where you’re there if you’re needed, but you hope you’re not,” Wells said. “You want to be prepared for everything and anything. And having licensed, ham operators that can be on the radio just helps.”

Wells shared that the Hoosier Lake Radio Club will attend the upcoming Silver Lake Days, June 7 and 8. Members of the public can see their radios and learn radio operations and the club.

On Aug. 23 and 24, the club will participate in a Summer Field Day at the Warsaw Telegraph Office, to make contact with radio operators around the U.S. and continent.