Georgia Section

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Georgia Section

• Introduction to the
• Amateur Radio Emergency Service
• Stan Edwards, WA4DYD, ASEC, Georgia Section

ARES and Amateur Radio Emergency Service are
service marks of the American Radio Relay League.
Logo used by permission.
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National Organization

• The Amateur Radio Emergency Service is part of
  Field Organization of the American Radio Relay
  League (ARRL)
• ARRL has established Memoranda of Understanding
  with
• Dept. of Homeland Security, National Weather
  Service (NWS), National Communications System
  (NCS), Association of Public-Safety
  Communications Officials-International (APCO)
• American Red Cross, Salvation Army, REACT
  International (Radio Emergency Associated
  Communications Teams), Society of Broadcast
  Engineers (SBE), National Association of Radio
  and Television Engineers (NARTE)

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Why ARES?

• Part 97 of FCC Rules Regulations The rules
  and regulations are designed to provide an
  amateur radio service having a fundamental
  purpose as expressed in the following principles
  (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of
  the amateur service to the public as a voluntary
  noncommercial communication service, particularly
  with respect to providing emergency
  communications. . . .

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ARES Charter

• "The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
  consists of licensed amateurs who have
  voluntarily registered their qualifications and
  equipment 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
  for membership in the ARES. 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." -- ARRL Public Service
  Communications Manual

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Why ARES?

• During disasters, commercial communications
  infrastructures can become damaged and/or
  overloaded no exceptions
• Typical emergency services communications
  systems are also vulnerable
• Interagency communications, if existing, are
  vulnerable as well

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Hospital
Public Health
Hospital
Transportation
Red Cross
Coroner
Schools
EOC
SO
Utilities
PD
Corrections
Municipality
Municipality
Municipality
FEMS
Municipality
Municipality
Municipality
Parks
GEMA
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National Infrastructure

• Nationwide message handling system National
  Traffic System voice/digital
• Transcontinental, region and section networks
  with interconnecting liaisons
• Liaison between local and section networks for
  national relay
• New digital initiative specifically for ARES
  endorsed by ARRL Board of Directors

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Section Organization

• Section (Georgia) Manager (SM) elected by ARRL
  members of Section
• Section (Georgia) Emergency Coordinator (SEC)
  appointed by SM
• District Emergency Coordinators (DEC) appointed
  by SEC
• Local Emergency Coordinators (EC) appointed by
  DEC.

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Section Organization
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Local ARES Organization

• Emergency Coordinator
• Assistant Emergency Coordinators
• Administration
• Business Management
• Digital Communications
• Logistics
• Mobile Communications Facility
• Net Manager and SKYWARN
• Recruiting and Retention
• Red Cross Liaison
• Response Teams
• Training

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Membership

• Open to any licensed Amateur Radio operator
• Today there are 1,120 ARES members in Georgia
• Membership varies county-to-county

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Mission
A primary responsibility of the Amateur Radio
Service, as established by Part 97 of the Federal
Communications Commissions regulations, is the
performance of public service communications for
the general public, particularly in times of
emergency when normal communications are not
available. To that end, the Georgia Amateur
Radio Emergency Service members, under the
oversight of the American Radio Relay League,
will equip themselves and train to provide
communications as a direct service to the general
public through government and relief agencies
when requested by those agencies.
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Training

• ARRL Emergency Communications courses
• NWS SKYWARN training
• Local training
• Required training
• Operational training (nets, exercises)
• Section-wide training (nets, exercises)

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Operations

• Focus is on serving local agencies
• Every jurisdiction should have local support
  plans and operating guidelines
• Local net(s)
• Flexibility with frequency agility

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District/Section Operations

• A number of Districts have District-wide or
  regional nets.
• The Section supports Section-wide needs as may be
  requested by Section authorities such as GEMA.
• The Section supports local needs when assistance
  is needed.

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Activation

• SKYWARN warnings automatically cause spotter
  activation of ARES jurisdictions within the
  alerting area.
• Local as desired by Served Agencies EMA, Red
  Cross, Public Health, etc.
• Based on plans developed in support of Served
  Agencies.

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Activation

• Section HF nets are normally activated in
  response to requests either by GEMA or a local
  EMA needing communications with GEMA.
• Section nets may be activated prior to an event
  based on Section-wide preparations, typically
  resulting when a disaster declaration is made by
  the Governor.

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In Summary

• During disasters, all communications
  infrastructures can become damaged and/or
  overloaded
• A primary responsibility of the Amateur Radio
  Service, as established by Part 97 of the Federal
  Communications Commissions regulations, is the
  performance of public service communications for
  the general public, particularly in times of
  emergency when normal communications are not
  available.

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In Summary

• ARES is there to help alleviate the
  communications crunch that can occur during times
  of emergency. As Walter Cronkite said in a
  public service video for Amateur Radio, When all
  else fails, Amateur Radio is there!

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Questions?
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Website

• www.gaares.org