We rely on cell phones and the point has been made that they might be not be reliable.
One thing to remember is that a text message has a greater chance of getting through than voice if the cell phone system is overwhelmed after a wide-spread disaster.
Land-lines have fallen out of favor with many people, but there are times a land-line will work when cells won’t. However, it is also reliant on the system to be intact.
Remember that an emergency alert will be sent through the phone system so leave your phone on when you go to bed. Yes, the pesky spam calls are irritating, but you don’t want to miss an emergency evacuation order.
The Internet is another common mode of information. Of course, it’s reliant on the system being viable. Twitter is an excellent early-warning system with live reporting. However, also be aware that the Internet is often full of bogus material. Research on after-action reports from disasters do report that Facebook has proven to be an effective way of gathering information in neighborhoods.
Two-way radios are an option for an A-Team. Because they are FM, their range is limited. They are also half-duplex, which means you have one channel so you are either transmitting or receiving. Thus the use of the term ‘Over’ when you are done transmitting and release the transmit button. (For picky people, you never say ‘over and out’ because ‘over’ means you are awaiting a response and ‘out’ means you’re done and not expecting a response).
Most decent two-way FM radios have a range of about two-miles but buildings and terrain can limit that as FM waves travel in straight lines.
There are other two way radios that claim much longer ranges using GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) which is basically what CBs use. The issue with all these radios is battery life.
How To Extend Battery Life In Your Cell Phone:
Download map tiles for whatever GPS App you’re using before you go. I recommend the GAIA App. I always download the map tiles to both my phone and iPad before traveling. This is also useful if you go out of cell range.
Use Airplane Mode as much as possible. Your phone will stop trying to constantly find a network, saving power. Your phone will still be able to operate its GPS in airplane mode as long as you have the maps downloaded.
Avoid exposing to extreme temperatures. The ideal temperature is 72 degrees F. Going below 32 or higher than 95 can cause your phone to shut down. Direct sunlight on a cell phone’s screen on a warm day can cause it to stop. Extreme cold, such as out skiing, can do the same. My iPhone stopped working when I visited Gettysburg Battlefield after a blizzard and was there all by myself, since I had it out taking pictures too long.
Shut down Apps you don’t need. Any App that tracks location uses power even if you’re not using the App. On the iPhone go to Settings>General>Background App Refresh and turn off those you don’t need. Try it now: you’ll be surprised how many are refreshing all the time.
Turn off location services for Apps you’re not using. This can degrade the use of some— for example, your camera will still work but won’t record the location of an image— but it does save power.
Lower screen brightness manually.
Turn your phone off when you don’t need it. This seems obvious but in a serious situation would be key to extending battery life. This is a reason to have a check in schedule in certain situations.
Bring a backup battery with you and cable to plug into. In the Solar Section I discuss small solar chargers and their usefulness.
It is unlikely your team will all be in the same place when a disaster strikes. We are overly reliant on cell phone communication. In a moderate or extreme emergency, it is likely that this service will either be interrupted (lack of power, towers destroyed) or overwhelmed with too many people trying to call at the same time. On Nine-Eleven, many people were frustrated in their attempts to use their cell phones.
Also, if there is an extended power outage, even if service isn’t interrupted, will you be able to recharge your cell phones? Will cell towers still transmit?
When you consider using a GPS on your cell phone, remember that in many cases, the mapping information is being downloaded from your net if you haven’t already downloaded it into the memory. Thus if your service is interrupted, your cell phone GPS can tell you where you are, but it might not display the map. Understand that the GPS on your cell (and many apps) are a way you can be tracked by people who have access to the technology. Most people don’t understand that they are basically carrying a tracking device with them all the time (their cell phone). It’s also a listening device.
There are other options.
GMRS and FRS radios work well for short distances, but their range is limited. Suffice it to say, that any system you use, make sure you test it. A problem with these systems is they require power to work. These usually work line of sight. So while the manufacturer might state they work 30-40 miles, the reality is, in uneven terrain, their effectiveness will be more limited. If purchasing these types of radios, get ones that run on 12 volt DC or rechargeable battery packs. It helps if they can also run on conventional batteries as you should have a supply of those on hand.
At the end of preparation, I cover power. I discuss solar power which can be indispensable in keeping your cell phone and GPS working.
CB radios are also an option, with greater range. Again, power consumption is a problem. Also, no matter what system you use, remember that anyone can be listening in on your frequency or channel. If you don’t live near water that people boat on, a sneaky way to communicate can be to get VDC marine radios. The bottom line, however, is assume any transmission you make is being listened to by others in an extreme emergency. So don’t be broadcasting to a team member “oh my gosh, we have so much food here, we don’t know what to do with it. Hurry up and join us for the feast tonight.” You might end up with too many dinner guests.
I’ve gone many places where there is no cell phone coverage. While going to Hole in the Rock in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, my clutch began to burn out. 120 miles from the nearest civilization. Luckily I managed to sustain in third gear out of there but it made me consider the situation. I now carry a SpotX 2 Way Satellite Messenging GPS Tracking system with me whenever I’m in my Jeep or even day packing.
This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide
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