Subject: [NEXTEL-1] (Dated) State-of-the-Art Red Cross Communications Response Vehicle to Change Disaster Relief Ford Donates 10 Excursion SUVs

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:55:35 -0500

State-of-the-Art Red Cross Communications Response Vehicle to Change
Disaster Relief Ford Donates 10 Excursion SUVs To Help Nationwide
Disaster Relief Services

New York, NY, July 26, 2001...American Red Cross staff and volunteers
attending a conference on hurricane preparedness for New York State were
provided a tour of the prototype of a state-of-the-art Red Cross
Communications Response Vehicle (CRV) currently stationed in Falls
Church, Virginia at the National Red Cross Headquarters.
Next time disaster strikes, don't be surprised if you see a Ford
Excursion on the site. Last March, Ford Motor Company donated 10 Ford
Excursion SUVs to the American Red Cross.
Outfitted by the American
Red Cross with satellite,
cellular and short wave
telecommunication
equipment valued at
$150,000 per vehicle,
these vehicles will be
positioned at Red Cross
chapters in strategic
locations nationwide to
facilitate and coordinate
the delivery of disaster
relief services.

Some have already been put to use. According to John Perry, manager of
disaster telecommunications for the American Red Cross, National
Headquarters, the Excursion have been on relief operations in
Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Texas, West Virginia and
Michigan, helping to transport people and materials. Plus, the vehicles
support Red Cross disaster activities such as damage assessment and
emergency assistance outreach.
All this and they are not even fully outfitted, says Perry. "The first
Excursion to be fully outfitted with the communication equipment is
currently being tested at our headquarters in Falls Church, Va."
Once they are fully equipped, here's what the Excursion will be counted
on to provide:
Temporary PBX phone system allowing 30 stations
with 10 incoming phone trunks
Emergency Response Vehicle radio operations
5kw generator for vehicle and facility
Digital satellite TV for weather/news coverage as well
as video conferencing
Satellite phone systems for voice and data transmission
HF and amateur radio operations
ARC UHF, VHF Commercial, UHF-Government,
VHF-Lo, and HF radio capabilities
Complete integration of all two-way radio systems; and
52-foot pneumatic mast for antennas and video
This equipment will help increase lines of communication between Red
Cross personnel and other government and emergency management
organizations, which are on-site immediately following a disaster.

"The Excursion will enable
our disaster relief workers
to travel into areas
severely affected by a
disaster and then to
effectively communicate
needs to ensure that
supplies and relief are
being delivered to those in
need of help," says
American Red Cross
Vice President of Disaster
Services Dr. John Clizbe.

Of course, they aren't letting just anybody get behind the wheel of
these high-tech Excursion. The Red Cross has an extensive training
program on the communications equipment. "We believe it will take
participants nearly two weeks to become familiar with all the equipment
on the Excursion," says Perry. "This is state-of-the-art equipment, and
we want to make sure our employees and volunteers are comfortable with
the technology."

The Excursion are expected to be ready and the training completed by
summer 2001 in preparation for what experts say will be another
devastating hurricane season.

The donation of the vehicles was arranged by the Detroit Red Cross
chapter, which received the 10 vehicles from Ford Motor Company. The
Detroit chapter kept one for local disaster response use and forwarded
the other nine to national headquarters to equip and place around the
country.

http://www.nyredcross.org/news/2001/010727_fordsuv.asp

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