Rare winter sunshine streams through an unassuming workroom tucked in the far corner of Salem Hospital’s seventh floor, where staff meet every Tuesday to check in with fellow Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Region 2 hospitals.

They don’t use the internet, cell phones or even a landline. Their equipment is small, perched atop a desk. It can be powered by a car battery and held in two hands. Yet when disaster strikes, cell towers fall, phone lines snap and Wi-Fi crashes, this ham radio can carry the voice of Salem Health far across our darkened state, reaching people and communities in crisis.

The Salem Health Ham Radio Group includes staff from Information Services, operating rooms and even a retired volunteer in Dallas. These self-described MacGyvers and cowboys/gals share a passion that transcends their day jobs.

Together, they play a critical role in emergency preparedness, ensuring our hospitals and clinics stay connected during disasters.

“We’re the last line of defense when everything else fails,” said Thomas Carmichael, systems applications analyst for Salem Health and Ham Radio Group president.

Raising the antennae

The group began years ago with a grant to fund ham radio kits at Region 2 hospitals in Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. Dedicated employees like Peter Lawry, central to organizing the group, established a network that now spans the state.

‘We’re the last line of defense’

“Think of it like a CB radio,” said James Hird, Salem Health senior network administrator and Ham Radio Group vice president. “But instead of being limited to a short range, our radios connect to repeaters mounted on mountain tops, linking hospitals and emergency services across the state.”

In the event of a major disaster — like the Big One, a destructive Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and coastal tsunami — standard communication networks like the internet and phone lines may fail. Ham radio, however, operates independently and can function with just a 12-volt battery.

“Ham radio is vital in a disaster,” said Salem Health Ham Radio Group volunteer Michael Barnes of Dallas. “It basically requires no infrastructure. As long as the equipment has power, it is radio-to-radio communications. In a disaster, conventional long-range communications may be lost or overloaded. Ham radio has rapid restoration capabilities, which means we can quickly get back on the air to provide not just local communication, but around the state and country.”

This reliability makes it an essential tool to coordinate response, from bed availability at hospitals to requests for medical supplies.

As a Regional Resource Hospital for OHA, Salem Health’s primary responsibility is to Region 2.

“In a major event, we expect the Oregon Health Authority to come online and help coordinate resources,” Carmichael explained.

For Carmichael and Hird, it’s not if the next major event will happen, but when. The health system must be ready — not just for local patients, but for communities throughout Oregon.

“The coastline would be very interested in being able to contact us,” Hird said. “In a subduction earthquake, most people are coming inland. They’re looking for open hospitals.”

Though Salem Health hasn’t used ham radio for a full-scale disaster — yet — it has come close.

“Last year, a boom truck took out our main internet and phone lines,” Hird recalled. “We still had cell service, so we didn’t have to rely on ham radio, but that was a close call. If cell towers had gone down, we would have been fully dependent on this system.”

Weekly tests and real-world readiness

Every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., Hird serves as the voice of Salem Health during the Oregon Healthcare Coalition’s weekly net, or ham radio meetup. Hospitals and emergency groups from across the region check in to test their equipment and ensure it’s ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.

Today, however, Ham Radio Group member Julie Harveaux, certified surgical technologist at Salem Hospital, takes a turn leading the net.

A former firefighter and paramedic, Harveaux brews IPA in her free time, tends chickens and practices Morse code on her lunch breaks — transmitting with her left hand (she’s right-handed) while transcribing with her right. No biggie. But for today’s net, the multitasking marvel is only using her voice.

“This is Whiskey Seven Sierra Lima Echo Salem Hospital,” Harveaux says into the handset. “My name is Julie, and I am net control today for this Oregon Healthcare Coalition net.”

Today, the question for the net is, “What backup power do you have in place?”

Each hospital takes a turn: Santiam Hospital & Clinics, Providence Newberg Medical Center, Legacy Silverton Medical Center, Samaritan Albany General Hospital, and more. They state their call sign and share what they have on tap. Some have solar. Some have generators. One reminds the net they all have a “portable generator on four wheels” (their car) as well as a “hope and a prayer.”

Hird documents each hospital who speaks and what they share. Later, he’ll email the update to area hospitals, OHA and community members.

Even a veterinary clinic chimes in.

“I was hoping you’d say a backup hamster!” Harveaux quips on air.

One caller breaks up. Hird and Harveaux troubleshoot with them. Every operator has a drive to help, like a small fire, glowing from within — 'What do you need? What can I bring? How can I help?' Such collaboration, especially across competing health systems, is powerful — showcasing a shared commitment to patient safety and well-being that transcends and inspires.

They were built for this.

Thank you for your check-ins. We hope you will join us next Tuesday at 1330 Pacific Time in Oregon. This is Whiskey Seven Sierra Lima Echo Salem Hospital closing the net and turning the net back over to undirected operations. Everybody, have a very good afternoon.