Enhancing disaster Relief through Amateur Radio and Health Education in St. Thomas US Virgin Islands.

Emergencies and disasters in the US Virgin Islands include earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, riots, marine and terrestrial search and rescue operations, landslides, bomb threats, chemical spills, nuclear radiation, and war. Some are caused by natural forces, some result from human error, and some are deliberate acts of violence. There is no place that is safe from a threat of disaster. There are multiple disasters occurring in the world today. Closer to home hurricanes Erma and Maria in the territory in 2017 and prior hurricanes.  Fortunately, loss of life from these were not great.  These hurricanes brought disaster and infrastructure damage to the Virgin Islands. Such incidents have caused great loss of lives and property. There were much difficulty with communications and much citizens had a difficult time reaching out for assistance. Now with the threat of volcanic eruption in neighboring islands, tsunami, hurricanes there is a greater need for adequate communication and coverage between the islands and outgoing to other islands.  The project will bring together two local organizations Heathdove Inc. and the St. Thomas Amateur Radio club. Healthdove Inc. will provide the service of educating the St. Thomas Amateur radio operators in the area of CPR and First Aid. This will add to the skills of the Amateur radio operators when assisting with manmade or natural disasters in the territory. The St. Thomas Amateur Radio club will provide amateur radio classes to individuals who are interested in becoming radio operators. The club will purchase additional amateur radio repeaters on the island of St. Thomas. The repeaters will provide communications throughout the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. A ham radio repeater is essentially a relay station that receives a signal on one frequency and retransmits the audio on another. It connects all amateur radio operators who provide service and transmit messages in time of emergencies.