In recent years Burning Man as an event and as a community has grown,
and the Emergency Services Department (ESD) has developed in tandem
with Black Rock City in providing 911 services such as EMS, fire,
mental health, and emergency communications. In 2007 ESD started
offering a remote way for theme camps, art projects, and participants
to get help and in 2008 we plan on building on what we learned from
the first trial year of service.
While all the conventional ways to get help are still available (for
example know your local Ranger or where the nearest Emergency
Services Station is), we wanted to enhance safety by providing an
option for those who might have a specific concern or for those who
just want be helpful to others in their neighborhood. This is
accomplished by ESD and Rangers monitoring the license-free MURS
(Multi User Radio Service) radio band.
MURS is a service similar to FRS (the frequencies that Motorola
Talkabouts and similar radios use). As on-playa radio users can tell
you, FRS is extremely overcrowded and in use by thousands of
participants during the event. FRS radios are also not powerful
enough to effectively communicate throughout Black Rock City. MURS,
in contrast, is currently not in common usage and operates at a
higher power so it can communicate across the entire playa.
We hope that with the intention of reserving this "911" channel
before MURS use becomes widespread at Burning Man will set the
expectation that this channel will be for emergency use only. You
will need to purchase your own MURS radio to contact ESD 911, but the
other four MURS channels can also be just like the FRS channels for
other purposes. Large camps or villages might also choose to make one
part of their group planning efforts and store it in a public place
for emergency use.
Why do I want one of these when my FRS radio works just fine?
* If you're part of a large theme camp it could be a good investment
to have a MURS radio around to call 911 for your group, especially
if you have members who have known health issues or the risk of
injury is of special concern.
* Large art projects working out on the open playa will be able to
get help faster.
* Camps that are on the outer-rings of the city and are far from a
Ranger outpost or Emergency Services station don't have to send
runners for help when an emergency arises.
* The other 4 channels on MURS can be a great alternative to crowded
FRS channels, especially if your camp has an art-car or event-wide
project they want to coordinate.
* Emergency Services Dispatch cannot be reached on an FRS radio.
Calling 911
FOR ALL MURS USERS: we ask that all Burning Man participants respect
that channel 5 will be used as a 911 channel only. While the other
channels are fine for use as an alternative to FRS, we want to stress
that channel 5 on MURS please be kept open for emergencies and not
used for any other purpose.
Set your MURS radio to channel 5, code 11 (154.600 / CTCSS 97.4) to
reach Black Rock City Emergency Services Dispatch. Using any other
"privacy codes" on channel 5 will interfere with 911. Instead limit
your personal use to channels 1-4.
If you have further questions or need help in finding a source for
radios, please email 911@burningman.com for more information.
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