All Amateur radio operators have a responsibility during emergency situations. For the most part—particularly with new Ham operators—that responsibility is to keep the frequency in use for the emergency clear for emergency traffic. You can call out if you have an actual emergency which could result in the potential loss of life or property. You must wait for, or ask for, a break in any current messages going through. This applies to SIMPLEX and repeaters.
Just about every two-weeks you can find a catastrophe happening some where around the world. Recently a devastating earthquake struck in New Zealand. Since there are Amateur radio services around the world, emergency communications have cropped up everywhere. They asked that 14.300 MHz be kept clear for their recovery efforts. We are obligated to comply You are, of course, welcome to listen.
This may not concern most new amateur radio operators. Most simply want a technician class license so they can use the limited bands offered, particularly the 2-meter and 70-cm range. Some, however, may eventually want to get to participate in a crisis at home. There are several opportunities to do just that.
One of the projects I have been working on is becoming a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES; pronounced Air-Ease). Like everything else in this hobby, it takes some study.
RACES
During your study for your license, you have, no doubt, been introduced to the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). The Federal Communications commission developed RACES during the cold war era when bombs were likely to fall any day. RACES is regulated by Title 47, Part 97, Section 407 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
RACES is limited by legislation to passing certain messages to certain other RACES groups. ARES can keep in contact with any amateur radio station. It has more latitude in an emergency. ARES groups set up in anticipation of an incident, during the incident and thereafter until the incident manager releases them.
ARES
Over the years, the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL), in cooperation with the Federal Communications Commission, has developed ARES. There are ARES groups located throughout the country with essentially the same mission as RACES. They follow the same Part 97 regulations as RACES above.
This organization of amateur radio operators are incorporated into the Coconino Amateur Radio Club (CARC) in Flagstaff, Arizona and other communities in northern Arizona. That is why I became involved with this organization instead of RACES. You can become involved with both amateur radio groups if they exist in your area.
MILITARY AUXILIARY RADIO SYSTEM (MARS)
The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) normally operates in the high frequency range outside of amateur radio frequencies. Amateur operators authorized to transmit on those frequencies establish special phone connections for family members in the United States, among other things. Amateurs who sign-up to participate in MARS are required to do a certain amount of hours of duty. Traditionally MARS operators and amateurs “cross band” and establish communications on Armed Forces Day.
FEMA and the Department of Defense have determined that MARS could be a useful means of communications during an incident because of these exercises. The recent use of MARS demonstrates the level of importance that FEMA places on communications.
SKYWARN
SKYWARN is a produce of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA is commonly thought of as the weather service. It does the weather predictions in the U.S., but it does much more than just that. SKYWARN is more of an urgent net rather than an emergency network. Members of SKYWARN report unusual weather conditions through their web site and Facebook page. Like when a tornado happens to pass by your window. Amateurs usually become involved when a weather pattern causes extreme damage and other means of communication go down. Actually anyone can become a SKYWARN observer. It is not just for amateur radio operators. Training for SKYWARN can be found on their web site and usually consists of a four-hour lecture session.
As with other amateur radio emergency services, however, active SKYWARN members hold nets over the air. Each year NOAA holds a SKYWARN Recognition Day. Amateur members go online to make as many contacts as possible.
Back to ARES
Since this article is about ARES, I will proceed with that topic. In order to participate in ARES, you have to take certain courses on the FEMA Emergency Management Institute web site. Links to the courses are added at the end of this article. The four courses required by ARES introduce you to the National Incident Management System and incident command systems. They may take a considerable investment of your time depending on how quickly you absorb information.
In order to get credit for taking the course, you must sign up for a Student Identification Number at the web site. They call it an SID instead of a SIN. I guess you can work that out. It is similar to when you signed up for an FCC Registration Number to get your license. That is the only way you can get to the final exam, for which you will receive a certificate. I will tell you that the final examinations are much easier than the material leads you to believe.
If you think you might be interested, but are unsure, you can go to the web site and go through the entire web based course. Some of the courses allow you to download the material used in actual classroom environments; slides, student and instructor manuals, etc.
You may even become interested in taking other courses once you go through the trouble of signing up, as I did. I took courses on animals in disaster, hazardous material, introductions to the various annexes and so-on. Not necessary for ARES, but—for me—it helps me to understand what is going on around me. The theory is that I will be more efficient passing message if I know who they are and what they are supposed to be doing.
There are two other courses I recommend for ARES members. They are the two courses for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). You may have heard about this organization in your area. Many amateurs become involved in CERT, so there is an obvious connection.
One thing I will note is that I found some errors on the site. One such glaring error is the interaction of Tribal governments and FEMA. Most of the courses tell you that Tribal governments must request Stafford Act disaster assistance through the governor of a State. Only one of the courses tell you that the SARA Act amended after Hurricane Sandy changed that and that Tribal governments may contact for Stafford Act disaster assistance directly. The reason I mention this—and I hate to recommend the following because it is wrong—is that you should just answer the examination based on the particular course you are studying. Just make a note of it for your own records and move on.
The reason it is wrong is because it is bad teaching. If someone gets something in their mind, it is difficult to replace with proper information. You should be aware, though, with every disaster, all of these principles get reviewed and updated. So changes are inevitable in any case. The other thing to remember is that you are just getting introduced to NIMS and the National Response Framework (NRF). You will only be involved in the communications part. A basic understanding of the principles is what is important.
There is one more item of interest concerning these courses if you are a college student, educators or anyone else who benefits from continuing education credits. These courses have a certain amount of credits applied to the course. Check with your college administrator for more information.
These links were current as of this writing.
1. FEMA Emergency Management Institute: https://training.fema.gov/
2. National Incident Management System (NIMS)
ICS 700: https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-700.a
3. National Response Framework
ICS 800: https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-800.b
4. Introduction to the Incident Command System
ICS-100: https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-100.b
5. ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
ICS-200: https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-200.b
The following courses are not required, but recommended.
1. IS-830: Introduction to NRF Incident Annexes
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-830
2. IS-00317 Introduction to CERT
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-317
3. IS-00315 CERT Supplemental Training: The Incident Command System
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-315
4. IS-242.B: Effective Communication
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-242.b