Mod­ern soci­ety depends enor­mous­ly on elec­tric pow­er to func­tion whether in the home, retail and com­merce, indus­try or just the facil­i­ties of traf­fic sig­nals and safe­ty light­ing at night. 

An exer­cise on June 8 had a pow­er out­age sce­nario in the south of the Nether­lands and part of Belgium. 

Respond­ing to the make-believe event were mem­bers of the Dutch Ama­teur Radio Emer­gency Ser­vice (DARES) and from the Roy­al Bel­gian Ama­teur Radio Union B‑EARS group. 

Through emer­gency com­mu­ni­ca­tions the radio ama­teurs swung into action to pro­vide wel­fare and sec­ondary com­mu­ni­ca­tions links. 

The exer­cise test­ed the effec­tive set up a wide area VHF and a 40 metre band net­work to han­dle traf­fic, most­ly by voice although some Win­link and Dig­i­tal modes were in use. 

— Jim Lin­ton VK3PC, Chair­man IARU Region 3 Dis­as­ter Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Committee