Western Washington Medical Services Emergency Communications
Who We Are
The MST Team's continuing mission is to provide communications support to the major hospital systems in Western Washington when all other forms of communications fail, via the analog and digital forms of the Amateur Radio Bands. Learn more on our About page.
Donation Opportunities
Give With Bing - Your searches with Bing accumulate points that result in contributions to our organization. Turn on "Give Mode" and select "WESTERN WASHINGTON EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES" as the charitable organization. It's easy and it helps!
- Fred Meyer/Kroger/QFC - The Kroger Family of Companies is committed to community engagement, positive social impact and charitable giving at the national and local levels. Every community is unique, but our common goal is to partner with the neighborhoods we serve and help the people there live healthier lives.
One of the ways in which we do this is through our Fred Meyer Community Rewards program. This program makes fundraising easy by donating to local organizations based on the shopping you do every day. Once you link your Card to an organization, all you have to do is shop at Fred Meyer, QFC, or any KROGER affiliated store, and swipe your Shopper’s Card.
News and Information
November - Danica Little, MHA, UW Director of Preparedness
Saturday, November 16th at 9am
This month, we will be joined by Danica Little, MHA, UW Director of Preparedness, who will speak about the role of hospitals, and how they prepare for emergency events and coordinate during an emergency.
We expect to meet at the AMR in Tukwila (and zoom) but the location is not currently confirmed. Please block this time on your calendar now. More details to follow.
Fall Simulated Emergency Training (SET)
Saturday October 19, 2024 9am
We held a robust training session. There was solid participation, lots of traffic, and validation of communications with Region 1 hospitals and the DMCC (Disaster Medical Coordination Center) in both Region 6 and Region 1.
Antenna Fundamentals
Saturday, September 21st, 2024
This month we were joined by John Schurman, a retired antenna system design engineer with over 30 years of experience with in-building antenna systems for UHF/VHF public safety and cellular applications. John also served as the Operations and Service Manager for Day Wireless for over 10 years, providing radio services to commercial and public safety agencies at the largest Motorola full-service dealer in the country.
John holds an amateur extra class license and has been a ham radio operator since 1969. He is the co-founder of the Lake Washington Ham Club and former Chairman of the WWARA (Western Washington Amateur Relay Association. (repeater coordinators) and also holds an FCC GROL license and formally served as Chairman of the Lake Washington Institute of Technology Electronics Department Advisory board.
John covered the basics of how antennas work, and what you need to know to make yours work. He also covered differences in base and mobile antenna performance.
Helicopter Awareness Training
Saturday, July 20th, 2024
We enjoyed a great presentation of helicopter awareness and safety by Peter Linde, King County Sheriff's Deputy. They even let us out on the tarmac to watch as they conducted drills!
heli launch.MOVHands-on Winlink Clinic
Saturday, June 14th, 2024
We had a fantastic clinic featuring in-person help on a wide range of setups. Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you to WSARC for the joint exercise and use of their meeting space.
Helpful Links - A few helpful links for clinic participants are below:
Download Winlink Express installer.
Packet SoundModem installation guide (PDF from Wavetalkers).
VARA FM installation guide (PDF from Wavetalkers)
Grid Square Finder via Levine Central
Flying Wheels Century Ride
Saturday, June 1st, 2024
Do you ever feel like you'd like to put your well earned radio operator skills to work? The MST is fortunate to not have been activated. It means we haven't had a major regional disaster. It's also unfortunate because all of your accumulated training might not be benefiting society as directly as you would like.
Let's change that!
"Public service events are the very best practice for emergency communications work. They are 'disasters by appointment.' You know that things will go wrong, you just don't know what, where and when. You have to improvise, just as in a disaster."
-- Mike Pulley
This year, the MST is proudly demonstrating our commitment to public service by supporting the Flying Wheels Century Ride on Saturday, June 1st. The ride begins and ends at King County’s Marymoor Park in south Redmond. Besides being a fun, engaging event to be a part of, it's a great way to develop your radio operating and practical operations skills.
Are you worried that you need a truck and special skills as a bike mechanic? I was! We are looking for radio support operators at net control and ride alongs with other supporters. No bike rack or maintenance skills needed!
Big Backyard 5k/10k
Sunday, June 9th, 2024
The MST will be supporting the King County Parks' Big Backyard 5k Sunday, June 9th.
This is a super-easy intro to event support: you only need an H-T and a few hours. You arrive at about 8:30 am and you're done by 11:00 am. It's 1,500 runners, walkers, strollers, and lots of dogs (on leash). It's easy, fun, and we mostly just monitor the lead and trailing participants while giving guidance if needed.
Contact ww7mst@ww7mst.org to get involved or learn more.