Establish a Communication Plan

The ability to communicate with command and operational personnel is critical.

• Have multiple communication sources (radio, smart phones, ham radios, and computers).
• Utilize smart phone applications, PDFs, and browser features such as:
  • Weather and radar
  • Emergency alerts
  • Hazardous materials
  • River flows
  • Maps and navigation
  • Google Earth
  • Skype
  • Voice recorder
  • Camera and video
  • Notepad
  • GPS
  • Contact lists
  • E-mail/phone
  • Flashlight
• Remember to:
  • Charge the phone battery often, and conserve battery life by turning off unneeded features that are running in the background.
  • Save PDFs on your phone. Internet access is not always available.
  • Protect your phone from the elements and impact with rugged cases and waterproof containers (cases, pouches, boxes).
• For the ICS tasks, use ICS Form 205 – Incident Radio Communication Plan.