ARES Information

WB8OIF's Emergency Communications Information Site

ARES Information

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Amateur Radio Emergency Service --ARES (r)

We provide emergency communications because it is exciting,
adventurous, and serves the public. We work side by side with
disaster relief officials from the Red Cross, Salvation Army,
government emergency management and other entities, supplementing
their communications of potentially life and property saving
messages. "EmComm" is a longstanding function of Amateur Radio over
decades, and is what hams are most famous for. There is the thrill
and the deep camaraderie that results from working with our
colleagues in what sometimes are desperate circumstances.

How to get started: Go to <http://www.arrl.org/ares>; and get basic
information and a contact person for ARES, the preeminent amateur
emcomm program. Although ARES is a national program, it is
coordinated at the local and county levels by appointed Emergency
Coordinators (EC). Contact your local EC. A simple 2-meter H-T is all
you need to start your participation. ARES brings you the benefits of
being part of an established team, formal training, recognition,
skill enhancement, and real opportunity to provide emergency
communications when it hits the fan.

- reprinted from the ARRL ARES newsletter, Oct. 15, 2007

(ARES and ARRL are registered trademarks of the Amatuer Radio Relay League.)

ARES is a completely volunteer organization. It is administered and operates under the Amateur Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL).

Click here for more information about communicating in an emergency.

ARES is administered at our local level in Berkeley County, WV by our ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC): Ed Dashiell, K8WXI.

At the state level ARES is administered by our WV Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) Ken Harris, WA8LLM.

Click here to register with the Berkeley County's ARES group.

ARRL Leadership in WV:

Section Manager: Ann Rinehart, KA8ZGY

Asst Section Mgrs: Darrell Ringer, K8WV

                                   Nick Siebold, KB8NDS

Section Emergency Coordinator: Ken Harris,

                                                               WA8LLM

Section Traffic Manager: Tom Jones, N8NMA

Affiliated Club Coordinator: Robert M Adams,

                                                 W8GU

Bulletin Manager: Hal Tate, N8FXH

Official Observer Coordinator: Don Lemley,

                                                     W8DL

Technical Coordinator: Don Lemley, W8DL

Public Information Coordinator: Joe E Richards,

                                                       WV8WVU

State Government Liaison: Bill Hunter, K8BS

WV ARES(r) Bulletin

I will try to keep the latest WV ARES Bulletin posted here, so refer back to read the next one.

TO: ALL WEST VIRGINIA ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM WV SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED

WV ARES BULLETIN NR 08.46 DATE: November 16, 2008
SUBJECT: DON'T TELL IT ALL

At a disaster drill a few years ago it was brought to light how much information could be acquired from the Internet. The disaster drill facilitator talked about information that could be sensitive, and could allow someone to cripple your ability to perform your assigned job.

Information such as Non-published telephone numbers on membership rosters, exact locations of key people in your organization, or where you keep important supplies should never be placed on your Web Page for just everyone to see. One public safety organization even gave the Latitude and Longitude, of all their buildings and radio towers. Even though this information might be available through other means, it shouldn't be made easy to get, by someone who wants to disrupt your communications. Only information such as how to join your organization, the basics of what your organization does, your by-laws, membership forms, and who to contact would be alright for the whole world to see. But, don't put information which could cause you headaches later.

To determine if the information you will be letting the world see will cause you problems, you need to think like a bad guy. Ask yourself "How can I disrupt this organization's way of doing business?" If you can think of a way to mess things up, you can bet that someone else will think of it too. Don't make it easy for someone to give you problems, don't publish sensitive information where it can be seen and used against you.

Ken Harris WA8LLM
Wood County WV
WV ARES Section Emergency Coordinator

ARRL Media Relations Form Released for ARES PR

Allen Pitts, W1AGP, Media and PR Manager of the ARRL Headquarters
staff, has released the following report form to be used by ARES
leaders for reporting ARES activations to the media:
________

The _______ Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES(r)) has been
activated to assist with primary/auxiliary emergency communications
for this event. The group is coordinated by _____(name of EC or
acting EC).

_______________ ARES is working with the ______________
county/city/town Office of Emergency Management and the following
agency(ies): ___________

The group is providing communications links between: _________

Amateur Radio operators are stationed at the following locations to
provide communications assistance:
___ (#) of Amateur Radio operators are at the sites
___(#) of additional Amateur Radio operators are on standby for
additional communications needs.

Insert boilerplate paragraph about the local ARES group here:

For more information contact:
________________________ (name of acting PIO)
________________________ (e-mail)
________________________ (phone and cell numbers)

_________

For more information on the new form, contact Allen Pitts, W1AGP,
<w1agp@arrl.org> at ARRL Headquarters.

ARES Training Recommendations

All ARES operators should periodically review their training and
qualifications.
First and foremost, ARES operators should take Level One of the ARRL
Emergency Communications courses, progressing to Levels Two and Three
when possible. Here are some links to find out more about the ARRL
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Courses:

- Frequently Asked Questions <http://www.arrl.org/cce/faq.html>;
- CCE Course Syllabi <http://www.arrl.org/cce/syllabus.html>;
- Registration for Online Courses <https://www.arrl.org/forms/cce/>;
- Listing of Classroom Courses and Exams
<http://www.arrl.org/cce/activity-list.php3>;
- CI/CE Search Page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/cice-search.php3>;
- Discussion Forum (Members Only)
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/forums/w-agora.php3>;
- CCE Student Page (Members Only)
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/cce/>;
- Course Listing <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html>;

In addition to the ARRL Emergency Communications Courses, field
operators should also complete certain formal training courses:

-- Red Cross combined course in Adult CPR/First Aid Basics
-- Red Cross online Introduction to Disaster Services
<http://www.redcross.org/flash/course01_v01/>;

-- FEMA IS-100 (Introduction to Incident Command System)
-- FEMA IS-200 (ICS for Single Resource and Initial Action Incidents)
-- FEMA IS-700 (National Incident Management System)
<http://training.fema.gov/IS/>;

Except for the first two, all courses are free of charge, and
CPR/First Aid may be free to members of the Red Cross. CPR/First Aid
is the only course that requires periodic refreshers and the only
course that must be taken in person rather than on the Internet. The
American Heart Association (AHA) also offers Basic Life Support (BLS)
courses. Where FEMA courses exist in more than one current version -
aimed at somewhat different audiences - any of the
currently-available versions will suffice.

Remember to check in to your local ARES or RACES nets. Be a known participant before disaster strikes!