ARES/Data:A PACKET-RADIO DATABASE FOR EMERGENCY

COMMUNICATIONS

W. E. Moemer, WN611003 Belder Drive

San Jose, California 95120WN61@ WB6ASR

David Palmer, N6KL248 Omira Drive

San Jose, California 95123N6KL @ WB6ASR, CIS: 73357,3157

INTRODUCTION

ARES/Data is a multiple connect,specialized bulletin board system tailored to storeand retrieve basic information about people, places,or things during an emergency. The program is ageneralized form of the FINDER program (FamilyInformation Database for Emergency Responders),written by David Palmer, N6KL and W. E.Moemer, WNGI’. Although ARES/Data allowsaccess to the database via packet radio, the programcan also operate stand-alone without the need forpacket radio hardware. The actual operating modeis chosen by the system operator when theARES/Data program is started.

ARES/Data is a system which allowscollection and organization of information during awidespread emergency that overloads normalcommunications channels. The program is designedto be flexible, so that it can be used without changefor both small and large disasters to organizeinformation about victims, evacuees, locations, oreven ham radio operators. Examples of situations inwhich ARES/Data could be used are:

0 registration of individuals at Red Crossshelters

l patient/victim tracking in a multiple casualtyincident

0 maintaining staffing information about hamsassigned to an emergency

l listings of road closures or damage reportsl logging reports from SKY WARN observers

during periods of severe weather

With alternate power sources and their ownfrequencies, Amateur Radio Emergency Service(ARES) operators can provide the ARES/Dataservice without tying up critical communicationschannels or relying on commercial power.

ARES/Data SYSTEM OVERVIEW

There are three major elements to the ARES/Datasystem:

l ARES/Data software and databasee Data Concentratorsl Voice operators

The central element of the ARES/Data systemis the computer on which the ARES/Data programis running. The ARES/Data program collects andcollates current information about people or items inthe system, according to the needs of the incident.The program establishes and maintains the actualdatabase on floppy disk or hard disk at this centralcomputer. In general, the operator at the computerkeyboard can add new records to the database,delete incorrect records, perform searches forspecific information, and generate databasesummaries. The ARES/Data program will run onmY IBM@ Personal C o m p u t e r DOS’ o rIBM-compatible system with at least one floppydisk, although a hard disk increases the allowablesize of the database and improves performance.

If remote accesls is desired, addition of aserial port, TNC, and rajdio allows the centraldatabase computer to become the hub of a packetradio network in which up to eight remotelyconnected stations can access the information in theARES/Data database. These packet. radio stations,called “Data Concentrators,” can update or query theshared database. This data acce,ss occurs byexchanging updates or queries in a si.mple, precise,and well-defined format.

Data Concentrators extend the coverage of theARES/Data system. They are the input/output portsof the ARES/Data database when remote access isneeded. The Data Concentrators can also act aslocal net controls for any participating voiceoperators within their range. If voice operators arenot needed, the packet operators interact with thepublic and/or disaster officials directly.

The Voice Operators enter the ARES/Datasystem when the points of contact with thoseneeding information are numerous and/or spreadover a wide area. These amateurs are also thepublic face of the AREiS/Data system. They can bethe ‘reporters’ live at the scene, sending status

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updates and requests to the Data Concentrators.They also ensure delivery of responses to thepersons making status requests.

Emergency responders, their families, evacueeslocated at a particular shelter, and responsibleagency officials access the ARES/Data system bycontacting a participating amateur radio operator.

DESCRIPTION and O P E R A T I O N of theARES/Data SYSTEM

THE ARES/Data PROGRAM

The ARES/Data software was written by W. E.Moemer, WN61, and David Palmer, N6KL. It may

, be run in either of two modes: stand-alone with noTNC support and no remote access, or by changingthe configuration file, the program will control aTNC that allows multiple remote connections. IfTNC support is chosen, the program requires a TNCwith WA8DED firmware, because host mode isused for communication between the computer andthe TNC. No requirement is placed on the otherTNCs connected to the ARES/Data databasemachine, except that they use AX.25 link-layerprotocol. The ARES/Data program is written inTurbo PascalTM Version 4, and uses Turbo DatabaseToolboxTM3 for management and indexing of itsB-plus structured tree. Briefly, ARES/Data may beregarded as a specialized multiple connect BBS witha specific command set tailored to the handling ofSTATUS INPUT information and SEARCHREQUESTS.

The ARES/Data database is simply a collectionof records. Each record consists of four main itemsor “fields” plus a message item. The information inthe four main fields can be sorted or searched asrequired. The rest of this section provides examplesand a condensed user manual for the ARES/Datasystem.

G E N E R A L R U L E S F O R C U R R E N TINFORMATION INPUT / SEARCH REQUESTS

All basic commands can be entered either atthe main ARES/Data keyboard or at any one of theremotely connected packet stations. In addition, theoperator at the main ARES/Data keyboard (the“sysop”) has an additional set of commands thatallow direct communication with the TNC, theprinting of a log, backups, and disk report files.

SYNTAX FOR CURRENT INFORMATIONINPUT:

To add a record to the database, the operatorsimply enters values for the four fields and anymessage, in order, with separators between thefields. The only valid separator is the comma.Within a field, leading and trailing blanks areignored, but imbedded blanks ARE significant. Ifno value is desired for a particular field, that field isjust skipped by adding an extra comma. The

database will fill that field with ten blank characters.For example,

fieldl,fieldZ,field3,field4,message<cr>

(<CT> means carriage return)

Fields 1 through 4

The four fields are very general. Eachcan have up to 20 characters, with imbeddedblanks. The meaning of each field is definedat the beginning of the event by the ARESofficials, depending upon the nature of theevent and what type of information needs tobe tracked. The sysop can issue a “labels”command that will give specific names toeach of the four fields to help the operatorsremember the purpose of each field.

Messa@

MESSAGE is an optional, free-form fieldthat can be up to 80 characters in length. Itcould contain a message, a phone number, anaddress, or other information deemed usefulfor the incident.

Examples of Data Input

85553195,joe,12,sj34<cr>Johnson,Mary,93445,sjl3,home

2333 Maplenut St SJ617055502368<cr>

All of the input information is stored in thedatabase as a record of the status of a particularperson, place, or thing at a particular time and date.The time and date are added automatically by theARES/Data program. Further STATUS INPUTpackets for the same person, place, or thing willalso be saved in the database. The time and dateidentifies which information is most recent.

SYNTAX FOR SEARCH REQUESTS

The search commands instruct the database tolook for ALL entries with the same value for field1, 2, 3, or 4. For example:

/l,value<cr> Searches for “value” infield 1

/2,value<cr> Searches for “value” infield 2

/3,value<cr> Searches for “value” infield 3

/4,value<cr> Searches for “value” infield 4

(For convenience in typing, the question mark“?” may be used instead of the diagonal bar “/‘‘--

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both are treated identically). A status report listingall information for each match is sent back to therequesting packet station. The first line gives thesearch value and the field number. At the end ofthe report, the line

ARES/Data Search done at HHMM, nnhits.

is sent, which signifies no more information coming,and that “nn” matches (or hits) were found in thedatabase at time “HHMM”.

can disable or enable this function as necessary.Be extremely careful in using this command!Always list the record first before deleting to besure you have the right one.

CONFERENCE BRIDGE (Roundtable)-

This feature allows any connected station tosend messages to other connected stations or to theSysop. The conference bridge illustrates how t h eARES/Data system operates as a hub-orientednetwork, with all transactions passing through thecentral database station.

ValueUsers command:

VALUE must exactly match what wasoriginally typed in for the selected field, withleading and trailing blanks removed, and. . - ^without regard for case.

The users command in the form “users<cr>”or “t~cr-9 returns a. list of the callsigns of currentlylogged-on packet stations. The response is of theform:

Examples of Search RequestsAt WN61-1: N6KL W6BB-3 KJ6K

/1,555.3195<cr>/2, wlaw<cr>/3,mercyhosp<cr>/4,85563<cr>

SYNTAX FOR SUMMARY REQUESTS

A Summary command is provided that prints alisting of all the distinct entries in a given field,with the total number of like-named items for eachdistinct entry. For example, if ARES/Data werebeing used to maintain a list of evacuees, and field3 was designated for “shelter location”, then thecommand “$3” would print a list of all distinctshelter names in use, and adjacent to each, thenumber of records (people) in the database at eachshelter would be printed.

$l<cr> Produces a summary on field 1$2<cr> Produces a summary on field 2$3<cr> Produces a summary on field 3$4<cr> Produces a summary on field 4

LISTING SPECIFIC ENTRIES (RECORDS) INTHE DATABASE

retEach record i s automaticall y assigned

ord number for identification purposes.a unique

1 nnnnn<cr> lists record nnnnn

DELETING SPECIFIC ENTRIES (RECORDS)FROM THE DATABASE

d nnnnn<cr> deletes record nnnnn

This function is always enabled at the sysopkeyboard. Its use by remotely connected packetstations is controlled initially by the configurationfile during program startup. Thereafter, the sysop

Tell command

The Tell command allows connected packetstations to use ARES/Data as a conference bridge,or roundtable. The general format is:

tell callsign message<cr> or:t callsign message<cr>

For example:

tell w6bb-3 We have lots ofpeople here at SJl.2<cr>

The message “We have lots of people here at SJl2”is sent to the connected station W6BB-3 prefacedby a time stamp and the call of the stationoriginating the tell command. In this case, if thetell command was sent by KJ6K, W6BB-3 sees:

1230 KJ6K> We have lots ofpeople here at SJl.2

The special callsign! “*” or “all” is used to send amessage to all connected stations. The specialcallsign “sysop” sends th.e message to the sysop atthe ARES/Data database station. It. is not necessaryto enter the entire callsign--just the suffix or someother substring will do. In this caste, the message issent to any connected station whose callsigncontains this substring. This feature can be used tocreate multiple roundtables. For example, packetstations located at, say, hospitals, [could adopt sub-station identifiers (SSIDs) of “-l”, while thoselocated at shelters could use SSIDs of “-2”. Thisway, broadcast messages of interest to one groupcan be easily sent without disrupting the o t h e rgroups. For example:

tell -1 Mercy Hospital has 12beds availableScr>

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This message would be sent to all stations that werepart of the hospital net.

EXAMPLES OF HOW TO USE ARES/Data INSPECIFIC DISASTER SCENARIOS

0 In an evacuation of residents in a local area,the Red Cross often maintains health and welfarestatus information about evacuees. In this case, thefour fields and the comment field might be definedto be:

Last Name - First Name, Shelter, Number inFamily, Last phone, Next of kin

0 In a multiple-casualty event where victimtransportation needs to be tracked:

Name, Sex/Age, Ambulance#, Hospital, Injuries

a In a ham radio staffing situation:

Call, Name, Location, Shift, phone number forcancellation

0 In a disaster situation where damage assessmentand damage reports are needed:

Coded type of damage, Location, Number ofinjuries, Callsign, comment

There are many more possibilities, of course.This is why the exact definitions of the variousfields are not defined in advance. In any givensituation, more information than will fit into fourfields and a comment field might be needed.However, on today’s 1200 baud packet radionetworks, not much more information per record canbe accommodated without restricting the totalnumber of records that can be handled in areasonable time.

HOW TO OBTAIN YOUR COPY OF THEARES/Data PROGRAM

The ARES/Data program, a relative of andsuccessor to the FINDER program, is in the publicdomain. The current version is 0.1, which operatesas described in this paper. A copy of the program

along with the documentation is available fornon-commercial, non-profit use from WN61 orN6KL by sending us a blank, formatted 5 l/4” (360kB) or 3 l/2” (720 kB) floppy in a mailer withreturn postage stamps. The cost to you is the costof the diskette and postage. No other compensationcan or will be accepted - please do not send money.We have included a configuration file facility sothat you can tailor many parameters to your specificsystem.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The ARES/Data program is continuouslybeing updated to add additional function andflexibility. For example, multiple TNC operation atthe main database is being added to the program toallow more data concentrators on multiplefrequencies. In addition, support for the AdvancedElectronic Applications’ PK-232, PK-87, and PK-88TNCs as the main database TNC is planned. Weencourage your comments and suggestions, and willstrive to incorporate them in future releases.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The ARES/Data concept is a generalization ofthe FINDER system, and the deliberations of theFINDER committee have contributed greatly to thepresent form of ARES/Data:

Sharon Moemer, N6MWD, FINDER CommitteeChairperson .Dick Rawson, N6CMJRandy Miltier, N6HMOWeo Moemer, WN61David Palmer, N6KLFrank Kibbish, WB6MRQBill Robinson, WB60MLDon De Groot, KA6TGEGlenn Thomas, WB6W, SCV Section ManagerDon Tsusaki, WW6Z, FINDER manual editor

In addition, we have benefited from all hamradio operators in the Santa Clara Valley Sectionthat have participated in the various alpha and betatests of the FINDER and ARES/Data systems.

1 See FINDER: The Family Information Database for Emergency Responders,Proceedings of the Sixth ARRL Computer Networking Conference, 1987, pp*134-141, by W. E. Moerner, Sharon Moerner, and David Palmer.

2. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business MachinesCorporation.

3. Turbo Pascal and Turbo Database Toolbox are trademarks of BorlandInternational, Inc.

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