ARRL EmComm Training site
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment, with their local ARES leadership, for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization is eligible to apply for membership in ARES. Training may be required or desired to participate fully in ARES. Please inquire at the local level for specific information. Because ARES is an amateur radio program, only licensed radio amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership.
How to Get Involved in ARES: Fill out the ARES Registration form and submit it to your local Emergency Coordinator. That is Phil Bates, AC8FW, for Shiawassee County (see below).
SAFECOM Public Communication Plan - Links
from US Department of Homeland Security
Check the following links for information and background:
You may wish to check these out as well:
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Make a New Year's Resolution Now
Take the New ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communications Course - It's Free
The newly revised ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communications Course is now available on-line - it's free, and designed to provide basic knowledge and tools for any emergency communications volunteer. The course has six sections with 28 lesson topics. It includes required student activities, a 35-question final assessment and is expected to take approximately 45 hours to complete over a 9-week period. You will have access to the course platform at any time of day during this 9-week period so you may work according to your own schedule. You must pace yourself to be sure you complete all the required material in the allotted time.
At the end of the course an online final assessment is taken. A score of 80% or better is required for successful course completion. For the student to receive a "Pass," Mentors must also verify student completion by evaluating work on required activity assignments and notify the Continuing Education Program that the student has successfully completed both the course work and achieved a satisfactory score on the final assessment.
This is an online course hosted on the Canvas online learning platform, and is best accessed using the Chrome or Firefox browsers.
Before you begin the course you should have completed the following prerequisites. These courses provide a foundation for the content of this course. These are free mini-courses you can take online:
Please get started on you ARES training, ASAP!
For more information, click ARRL OnLine Course Catalog.
To register for the EC-001 course click ARRL Online Course Registration.
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What is ARES? [Amateur Radio Emergency Services]
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the name of public service. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local (SARA) or national organization, is eligible for membership in our ARES group. The only qualification, other than possession of an Amateur Radio license, is a sincere desire to serve. Because ARES is an amateur service, only amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership. The importance is placed on a desire to support the people in our local area.
ARES is broken down into four levels: national, section, district and local. The national level emergency coordination is handled at the ARRL headquarters by the ARRL Field Services and Field Sport Manager or his/her designee. They are responsible for advising all ARES officials regarding their problems, maintaining contact with federal government and other national officials concerned with amateur emergency communications potential, and in general carrying out the ARRL's policies regarding emergency communications.
At the section level, the section emergency coordinator [SEC] is an assistant to the section manager for emergency preparedness. The SEC is appointed by the section manager to handle all things dealing with emergency communications. Part of the SEC's job is to support and help grow their sections participation in ARES functions. They are the person that is responsible for collecting all the district activity reports and making a consolidated report to the section manager and ARRL headquarters. They are also responsible to maintain a good work relationship with state and local governments, civil preparedness, Federal Emergency Management agencies, the Salvation Army, NWS, etc.
Each local area will have their own Emergency Coordinator that is appointed by the SEC. The local level EC is the most hands on of all the levels and is responsible for more operational details. Parts of the local EC's responsibilities are:
- Promoting and enhancing the activities of the ARES for the benefit of the public.
- Manage and coordinate training, organization, and emergency preparedness of interested amateurs in the area.
- Establish and maintain a good working relationship with local and state government officials.
- Develop detailed local operational plans with served agencies and partners in their jurisdiction.
- Establish a local communications network and emergency communications plans.
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Shiawassee County Coordination
The Shiawassee County ARPSC coordinates local activity and is where our local efforts start (this can be for any 'locally triggered' event ~ different than RACES.). The ARES group provides communication during emergency operations or local sanctioned events when other forms of public communications do not satisfy requirements our local needs. Using even the simplest of radio setups and antennas, amateurs can communicate with each other for fun or during emergency support, and in contest operations. The communication practice local amateurs get during events for fun or operating in contests, greatly assists them in the support of local events or emergencies. They are better able to handle messages for police and other public service organizations. Due to the 'regular practice' of our skills, we become much better eqquiped to doing local communication. It is very important to keep your local communication skills sharp!
SARA maintains some equipment [club owned] for use with an our activities. The club insures that this club equipment is ready whenever it may be needed.
Amateur Radio Emergency Coordinator [EC] for Shiawassee County (Communications):
Phil Bates, Shiawassee County EC, handles the coordination of ARES, RACES & Skywarn Communications for Shiawassee county.
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EOC Shiawassee County
Phil Bates, AC8FW
Email via: ac8fw (at) arrl.net (replace 'at' with @)
Phone (cell) is [810] 919-9906
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The county has two assistant ECs, Kevin Middleton, K8MID, and Don Warner, WB8GUS to assist Phil in activities. Additional contact information is below in the Shiawassee County ARPSC People Inventory List (table). Is your information in here and correct?? Contact us to get your data corrected.
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Shiawassee County Emergency Operations Center
201 E. McArthur St., Corunna, MI 48817 ~ Sheriff's Office
Phone (office) is [989] 743-2620
Fax [989] 743-6423
Emergency Management Homeland Security Coordination for Shiawassee County:
Shiawassee County ARES is registered with the ARRL using the Federal Information Processing Standard Publications [INCITS 31}. See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_county_code for information on those identification details. The complete code is state and county specific: MI,26,155,Shiawassee County,H1 is the 'complete registry number'. The shorthand often used is Shiawassee-155-MI. We are registered with the ARRL Volunteer program. If interested in being a volunteer please register on: ARRL Volunteer ARES Connect site. After registering, please connect often and record your activities. Volunteers do rock! Events will be posted and you should see emails with notification information. By registering and recording we provide proof of value towards recognition of local efforts.
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Training - ARES
Most of the training that you will receive when you join our local ARES team will be done at meetings and on the air during nets. However, there are a few things that you can do individually as well and depending on how much effort you wish to support.
Contact our EC for training assistance. These are similar to what training is required for RACES training (see topic below).
The Shiawassee County ARES group has set up a 'google drive' for holding various forms and files. The drive is designated as "w8shi78" and requires permission and you being signed in to gain access (contact/email Dennis Phillips, KC8ETW) to get permissions. A link to the drive is here: "W8SHI78 Shared Folder". A complete set of ICS forms for message handling is located in this drive.
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Shiawassee County ARPSC
Amateur Radio Public Service Corps [ARPSC] is a compliation of emergency and community services with the goal of providing a fully integrated communications team to support Public Service Agencies at the local community, state (Michigan) and national levels (United States). The ARPSC combines support for ARES [Amateur Radio Emergenvy Services], RACES [Radio Amateur Radio Civil Emergency Services] and Skywarn [a service provided in cooperation with the National Weather Service].
ARES provides communications for any non-commericial event where a need exists. ARES is administered by the ARRL - Amateur Radio Relay League. Note that ARES can support any need, not just emergencies. If a local group needs communication capabilities, ARES is the local amateur radio support group to assist.
RACES supports emergency events using the government level (State or Federal) whenever a need additional communications support is required. Generally, the Governor of a state or their duly appointed Representative makes the call for support (or at a national level). The goverment must start the "request for support". RACES is administered by Federal Emergency Management [FEMA], a branch of Homeland Security. Additional clarification can be found by reading the FCC Part 97 Rules.
Skywarn is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] National Weather Service [NWS] Division. There are four National Weather Service sites in Michigan - Detroit/White Lake, Grand Rapids, Gaylord and Marquette.
Michigan ARPSC [state level] has a web site at: Michigan ARPSC
Shiawassee County ARPSC is open to all hams in the area ~ you do not need to join SARA. SARA does attempt to coordinate the activities and maintain an inventory of people and equipment for use in the area. Please contact us if you can provide support so we can add you to the database (see link below)! Thanks.
A question we need to find the answer for is: How many Shiawassee County hams have completed the basic National Incident Management System (NIMS) requirements? This is done by completing the required four basic Incident Command System courses (ICS 100, 200, 700 and 800). Can we have your status? PLEASE - Contact us (email in footer of every W8QQQ page).
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AMATEUR RADIO INVENTORIES - Shiawassee County
Please Send Along "YOUR" data. We need this to be constantly updated!
Some Displayed Data is NOT actual at this time. It is to be updated as information gets supplied ~ now it is "just an example" dataset ~ NOT factual. See 'last updated dates' above each table.
Part of Emergency Management planning is to understand exactly what resourses are available to support a future need. When available, a good list can then be quickly compared to the actual needs (at the start of the emergency). Any shortfall can then be quickly assessed and plans put in place to obtain adequate coverage. Historically, locally, we have not done very well in keeping the 'curent local inventory' lists up to date. SARA wants to provide a leadership role in this area for Shiawassee County. Therefore, we are starting [in 2018] to gather and post information for usage to served agencies. This will be a 'growing procss' as we develop the structure and obtain real information. The following area will track our process. AGAIN, THIS IS 'EXAMPLE' DATA' ~ not real at this time (January, 2016). A goal is to have 'real data' updated very soon (spring 2018). We have developed an 'Individual Inventory Form' [a link] for local amateurs to fill in and provide their inventory capabilities for inclusion below. IF YOU ARE A "LOCAL" Ham, please take the time to fill out a copy and submit (email/snail mail will work, just get the information back to us!).
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Shiawassee County ARPSC People Inventory Modified ~ 2019
List Data last updated: 12-Apr-2019
A list of radio amateur radio operators in Shiawassee County who indicated an interest in supporting local events. Further divided into community events (ARES), emergency events (ARES & RACES) and Skywarn (Weather Spotting). Contact information if the person wishes is to be published. There 'may be' additional capabilities for individuals not listed (clearance to list declined). SARA will keep a 'private list' of these "other capabilties" in their files. It is important that you still need to submit an inventory form ~ link above. The data maybe shared with FEMA for their usage on local inventories. County is assumed Shiawassee unless noted otherwise.
| Title / County | Call Sign | Name | Local Events | ARES | RACES | Skywarn | City | Phone~Type & Number | email |
| Emergency Coordinator | AC8FW | Phil Bates | X | X | X | X | Corunna | C [810] 919-9906 | ac8fw 'at' arrl.net |
| Ast. EC | K8MID | Kevin Middleton | | X | X | X | Owosso | C [989] 323-9722 | k8mid.73 'at' gmail.com |
| Ast. EC | WB8GUS | Don Warner | X | X | X | X | Byron | C [810] 599-0729 | wb8gus 'at' arrl.net |
| District 1 EC, Michigan | WM8A | Tim Crane | | X | X | X | Linden | C [810] 429-6180 | timwm8a 'at' gmail.com |
| N8IES | Tom Oliver | | X | X | X | Bancroft | C [989] 239-4570 | n8ies 'at' yahoo.com |
| AB8VS | Mike Rothe | X | X | X | X | Owosso | C [989] 413-9697 | ab8vs 'at' charter.net |
| KI8AS | Tom Carpenter | X | X | X | X | Owosso | C [989] 277-2262 | ki8as78 'at' gmail.com |
| KC8ETW | Dennis Phillips | X | X | X | X | Perry | C [269] 986-1942 | dephillipsmi 'at' gmail.com |
| KF5MYQ | Michael Middleton | X | X | | X | Corunna | C [575] 725-7258 | mikelm80 'at' moc.com |
| K8DZH | Chuck Dafoe | | | | X | Dewitt | C [810] 444-0340 | cdafoe 'at' frontier.com |
| N8NVN | Louis Addington | | | | X | Durand | C | |
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Shiawassee County ARPSC Training Inventory Modified ~ 2018
List Data last updated: 12-Apr-2019
Class completion information follows below. Use link: Shiawassee County RACES Classes to get to class course requirements quickly.
| Call Sign | Name | ICS-100.b | ICS-200.b | ICS-700.a | ICS--800 | ICS-300 | ICS-400 | Skywarn | ARES Card | RACES Card |
| AC8FW | Phil Bates | X | X | X | X | | | X | | |
| K8MID | Kevin Middleton | X | | | | | | X | | |
| WB8GUS | Don Warner | X | X | X | | | | X | | |
| N1TXF | Rick Smith | X | X | X | X | X | X | | | |
| WM8A | Tim Crane | X | X | X | X | | | X | | |
| AB8VS | Mike Rothe | X | X | X | X | | | X | | |
| KF5MYQ | Mike Middleton | | | | | | | X | | |
| KC8ETW | Dennis Phillips | X | | | | | | X | | |
| N8IES | Tom Oliver | | | | | | | X | | |
| KI8AS | Tom Carpenter | | | | | | | | | |
| K8DZX | Chuck Dafoe | | | | | | | X | | |
Green background is the 'Basic Required' Classes for ARES.
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Shiawassee County ARPSC Equipment Inventory
List Data is NOT actual at this time. To be updated as information gets supplied ~ now just an example.
EMERGENCY POWER Support
Emergency Power Generation
| Call Sign | Home Station | Portable | Portable Watts (without impact to 'Home EM Power') |
| WB8GUS | No | Yes | 5500 |
| K8MID | Yes | Yes | 5000 |
| AB8VS | Yes | Yes | 5000 |
| KF5MYQ | Yes | Yes | 100 |
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HF Support
An X below means you have equipment that can be supplied, if requested.
Home Base Radio Equipment {Rx, Tx, TRx}
| Call Sign | 160 | 80 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| WB8GUS | X | X | | X | | X | | X | | X |
| K8MID | | X | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| AB8VS | X | X | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| KF5MYQ | | X | | X | | X | | X | | X |
Portable Radio Equipment {Rx, Tx, TRx}
| Call Sign | 160 | 80 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| WB8GUS | X | X | | X | | X | | X | | X |
| K8MID | | X | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| AB8VS | X | X | | X | X | X | | X | | X |
| KF5MTQ | | | | | | | | | | |
Mobile Radio Equipment {Rx, Tx, TRx}
| Call Sign | 160 | 80 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| WB8GUS | | | | | | | | | | |
| K8MID | | X | | X | | X | | X | X | X |
| AB8VS | X | X | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| KF5MTQ | | X | | X | | X | | X | | X |
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VHF/UHF Support
Home Base Radio Equipment {Rx, Tx, TRx}
An X means you have equipment that can be supplied, if requested.
| Call Sign | D-Star | C4 Fusion | 2M(146MHz) | 1.25M(220) | 70cm(440) |
| WB8GUS | X | | X | X | X |
| K8MID | X | | X | X | X |
| AB8VS | X | | X | X | X |
| KF5MTQ | | | | | |
Portable Radio Equipment {Rx, Tx, TRx} Fixed spot ~ not Mobile
| Call Sign | D-Star | C4 Fusion | 2M(146MHz) | 1.25M(220) | 70cm(440) |
| WB8GUS | X | X | X | | X |
| K8MID | X | X | X | | X |
| AB8VS | X | X | X | | X |
| KF5MTQ | | | | | |
Mobile Radio Equipment {Rx, Tx, TRx}
| Call Sign | D-Star | C4 Fusion | 2M(146MHz) | 1.25M(220) | 70cm(440) |
| WB8GUS | X | X | X | | X |
| K8MID | X | X | X | | X |
| AB8VS | X | X | X | | X |
| KF5MTQ | X | | X | | X |
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Handheld Radio Equipment {TRx}
| Call Sign | D-Star | C4 Fusion | 2M(146MHz) | 1,25M(220) | 70cm(440) |
| WB8GUS | | X | X | | X |
| K8MID | X | X | X | | X |
| AB8VS | X | X | X | | X |
| KF5MTQ | | | | | |
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| WB8GUS | 4 | | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| K8MID | 6 | | | 1 | 1 |
| AB8VS | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| KF5MTQ | | | | | |
Antenna support levels will need to be addressed in the near future.
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AREDN Support
The number indicates AREDN equipment / frequency band that can be supplied, if requested.
| Call Sign | 2.4 GHz Routers | 3.4 GHz Routers | 5.8 GHz Routers | Home ARDEN Station(s) |
| WB8GUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K8MID | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AB8VS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| KF5MTQ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Antenna support levels for networking needs to be addressed in the future (availability/portable/path lengths, etc.).
Shiawassee County currently (2019) does not have a 'coordinated' network approach... we will work on it. For getting started in AREDN we suggest you go to GitHub site and read the PDF files "arednGettingStarted" and "arednHow-toGuides". Perhaps the "How to use GitHub for AREDN.md" to get you up to speed quickly. Do not forget to view the You Tube AREDN Mesh 'You Tube for more information.
The AREDN groups splintered in June 2020. See the site: ARDEN Overview for information.
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Michigan ARES District 1
ARES MI District One Contact Information:
District Emergency Coordinator ~ District 1
Timothy Crane, WM8A, from Genesee County
Box 128
Linden, Michigan. 48451
Contact: [810] 429-6180
Email via: timwm8a at gmail.com (replace at with @)
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Michigan DISTRICT Coordinator Level {Contact Information}:
Michigan District One ~ County Emergency Coordinators:
Clinton - 'vacant'
Eaton - Jeff Frank, N8HEE
Gratiot - Bill Rogers, KC8OUF
Hillsdale - Daniel Sprow, KC8RYF
Ingham/ Lansing - Jim Hannahs, KC8QWH
Jackson - Tim Bair, WD8PMD
Lenawee - Cletus A. Brooks, K8TLT
Livingston - Bruce Pollock, N8WWX
Shiawassee - Phil Bates, AC8FW
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Information from Michigan Section ECs.
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RACES - National Level
RACES is for radio amateurs only. A general citizen emergency prepardness class 'IS-22' was available for all people desiring to be prepared and should be required for all. "IS-909: Community Prepardness"
It is a great place to start community prepardness.
Required Courses for RACES membership (in most areas) has been upgraded due to Homeland Security Public Safety NIMS [National Incident Management System] requirements. These training course will take approximately 20.5 hours to complete, but when taken one at a time, are not difficult. NOTE: Retain your completion records as they are required to become registered.
Notice: Independent Study Exams now require a FEMA Student Identification (SID) Number. If you do not yet have a SID, register for one today: https://cdp.dhs.gov/sso/login {this is the 'log-in' site and has link for registering}.
If you have an inquiry regarding the FEMA Independent Study Program, NIMS or other Emergency Management Institute (EMI) related requests such as: requests for certificates, transcripts, online test scores/results, please contact the FEMA Independent Study program office at 301-447-1200 or email Independent.Study@fema.dhs.gov for further assistance. Please do not contact the FEMA SID Help Desk as they are unable to provide assistance with these requests.
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Shiawassee County RACES / Training
The following 'required' classes (2019) are used for RACES membership and they are FREE at the Incident Command System FEMA training site. Start and work through them to become a registered volunteer. Shiawasse County would like to have all amateurs in the county complete the required and reccomended/desired courses by the end of 2018. Keep training and complete the 'recommended' clases (five of these) as soon as your time allows. Having indivuals being 'cross trained' would make it much easier to go from an ARES to RACES level (or the other way). Both are actually needed to support the full emergency plans for Shiawassee county. Addionally, Skywarn training would completely round out the desired indivual training and allow full support for all llocal emergency activities. Please let SARA know of your efforts (email or in person) so we can add you to the county wide inventory (it is NOT just a 'club thing'.
RACES is in the process of being restructured (fall, 2021) and changes will be made as new information is released.
Here is a good read from FEMA on Emergency Prepardness. It has links for most types of emergencies with detailed content. {This appears to be the 'replacement' for the §IS-22 information}.
Links for the Required and Depricated classes in the 'Class Number' column below lead to a class overview for the individual course. On that web page is a link to the "Interactive Web Based Course" for the class.
Shiawassee County ~ RACES Training Classes Modified ~ 25 July 2018
| Shiawassee Cty. | Class Number | Class Name | Time Estimate |
| Desired | §IS-22 | Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness | No Online Course ~ 10 Hrs |
| Deprecated | §IS-100.b | Introduction to Incident Command System [ICS] | 3 hours |
| Required | §IS-100.c | Introduction to the Incident Command System | 2 hours |
| Required | §IS-200.b | ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents | 3 hours |
| Deprecated | §IS-700.a | National Incident Management System [NIMS] An Introduction | 3 hours |
| Required | §IS-700.b | National Incident Management System [NIMS] An Introduction | 3.5 hours |
| Recommended | §IS-701.a | NIMS Multiagency Coordination System [MACS] Course | 5 hours |
| Recommended | §IS-702.a | National Incident Management System [NIMS] Public Information Systems | 3 hours |
| Recommended | §IS-703.a | NIMS Resource Management | 3.5 hours |
| Required | §IS-800 | National Response Framework, An Introduction | 3.0 hours |
| Recommended | §IS-300.b | Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents | ???? |
| Recommended | §IS-400.b | National Response Framework, An Introduction | ???? |
| Advanced | E/L-969 | All-Hazzards Position Specific Communications Unit Leader | with Instructor Only |
You may wish to look at a 'more general' training list found at: National Incident Management System (NIMS). This has a list of all courses.
Note the IS-100.c and IS-700.b are updated versions of the IS-100.b and IS-700.a courses (now deprecated - July 2018). If you have successfully completed a previous version of a course there is no FEMA requirement to take the revised versions of the courses at this time. However, because these courses contain new information based on the revised NIMS, October 2017, you may find it informative to review the new versions of these courses. The new courses will be available through FEMA's EMI website as they get updated.
ICS 300/400, G191, G402, and G-775 are coordinated by local Emergency Management Agencies, please contact them directly for course offerings in your area. Contact information for State or Territorial Emergency Management Agencies can be found at https://training.fema.gov/programs/aps/stolist.aspx
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Nets ~ ARPSC, ARES, etc.
Below are many links to Emergency Information for Michigan Hams
Michigan Section ARPSC Net Scheduling:
The Michigan ARPSC Net meets each Sunday at 1700 local time near 3.932 MHz. If conditions warrant, the net will meet near 7.232 MHz. These are the designated Michigan Emergency Frequencies. 1.932 is also a designated Emergency Frequency, but at 1700 local time it is unlikely that conditions would require that frequency.
Net control duties rotate among the various districts with a member of the section staff assuming net control duties on the first Sunday of each month. See
Nets for CW, Emergency, MARS and NTS
Click the name and it will take you to a Net's "WEB Site", for further information.
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Additional ARES / RACES / ARPSC & SKYWARN Links
Click the name and it will take you to further information.
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Some Learning Opportunities on ARES Topics
Technical Topics
Learn more on making Powerpole connections, soldering, building dual band J-Pole antennas and other technical topics of special interest to public service operators from ARRL. Click here.
Digital Modes for ARES/RACES
Learn more on current digital modes used for incident and event communications and operating on ARRL Operating Topics.
Automatic Packet Reporting System [APRS]
Automatic Packet Reporting System is a Digital Location and Communications System for use in 'local' areas. It occurs on one frequency: 144.39 MHz (terrestial ~ space is 145.825 MHz). See the SARA presentation by Dennis Phillips, KC8ETW called "Beginners Guide to APRS" 2018. A couple of websites where you can view real-time APRS data are APRS.FI and FindU.com.
The 'base site' for APRS is APRS.org site.
A couple of overviews by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR can be found in YouTube video format are: APRS at HACDC [35:31] and APRS by WB4APR at ARRL/TAPR DCC 2011 [1:29:06].
This is a great service for amateur deployments that supplies real time asset management during emergency or event driven situations.
If you use a Yeasu FT2Dr or FT3DR then a useful YouTube is from ModernHam APRS Setup FT2DR/FT3DR radios.
Another interesting YouTube for doing APRS through the ISS repeaters is APRS thru ISS.
Citizen Weather Observing Program [CWOP]
You can use home weather station and some software to upload your weather data to the CWOP or Citizen Weather Observing Program. More information about this program and how to sign up for an account is Citizen Weather Observing Program [CWOP]>.
FCC Part 97 Emergency Opreration Topics
Information and learning how the FCC Part 97 amateur service rules apply to emergency communications, ARES, RACES and drills from the ARRL.
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What are ICS methods and forms utilized?
The ARES program uses ICS methods and forms... you need to be current on these methods.
QUOTE from 'Wikipedia' --
ICS consists of a standard management hierarchy and procedures for managing temporary incident(s) of any size. ICS procedures should be pre-established and sanctioned by participating authorities, and personnel should be well-trained prior to an incident.
ICS includes procedures to select and form temporary management hierarchies to control funds, personnel, facilities, equipment, and communications. Personnel are assigned according to established standards and procedures previously sanctioned by participating authorities. ICS is a system designed to be used or applied from the time an incident occurs until the requirement for management and operations no longer exist.
ICS is interdisciplinary and organizationally flexible to meet the following management challenges:
- Meets the needs of a jurisdiction to cope with incidents of any kind or complexity (i.e. it expands or contracts as needed).
- Allows personnel from a wide variety of agencies to meld rapidly into a common management structure with common terminology.
- Provide logistical and administrative support to operational staff.
- Be cost effective by avoiding duplication of efforts, and continuing overhead.
- Provide a unified, centrally authorized emergency organization.
'End Quote'
See 'wikipedia.org' and search for "Incident_Command_System" for more complete details and further information. The general commend structure is:
The command structure indicates how the various divisions interact. We are (usually) the "Commun. Unit" under the "Logistics Section". We could be assigned anywhere in this structure - why we need to know the interconnects.
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Know Your ICS Forms!
It's important for all active ARES operators to be familiar with all the forms used under the Incident Command System. They are used during incidents and events. A great page from FEMA's website lists and has PDF (downloadable, and fillable) files of all ICS Forms. An ICS Forms Booklet is also available.
As an example of use, in the ARRL South Texas Section, all Emergency Coordinators are asked to complete an ICS-217A form for their respective county's radio assets. See the ARRL South Texas Section ARES.
See the link: ICS Forms to review/copy the following individual forms.
- ICS 201 - Incident Briefing
- ICS 202 - Incident Objectives
- ICS 203 - Organization Assignment List
- ICS 204 - Assignment List
- ICS 205 - Incident Radio Communications Plan
- ICS 205A - Communications List
- ICS 206 - Medical Plan
- ICS 207 - Incident Organization Chart
- ICS 208 - Safety Message/Plan
- ICS 209 - Incident Summary
- ICS 210 - Resource Status Change
- ICS 211 - Incident Check-In List
- ICS 213 - General Message
- ICS 214 - Activity Log
- ICS 215 - Operational Planning Worksheet
- ICS 215A - Incident Action Plan Safety Analysis
- ICS 217A - Communication Resource Availability Worksheet
- ICS 218 - Support Vehicle/Equipment Inventory
- ICS 219 - Resource Status Cards (T-Cards)
- ICS 220 - Air Operations Summary Worksheet
- ICS 221 - Demobilization Check-Out
- ICS 225 - Incident Personnel Performance Rating
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