AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE
Public Service amateur radio communication was established by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) of Newington Connecticut in 1913. The "Service" is now available nationwide to local and national governments, non-profit organizations or others in need of communications where safety of life or property is concerned. Our services are provided free of charge. Donations are acceptable under Section 501(c)3 of the Tax Code but are neither required nor solicited for services. When donations are received, the are used exclusively for purchases of additional equipment or for expansion of our services to the public.
Almost all of the 3075 counties in the
Should it become necessary to open evacuation shelters in times or disaster, a ham radio operator will be sent to each shelter as the primary source of communications to the net control station located in Red Cross Headquarters on Riverside Avenue. Operators can also be assigned to the Emergency Departments of eleven area hospitals, NOAA Weather Service at Jacksonville International Airport, Civil Defense, Fire/Rescue Control Center downtown and the Police Memorial Building Disaster Coordination Center. These centers are linked through repeaters high up on the antenna of TV-12 and tall buildings in the area. Our hand held radios transmit low power signals to a repeater that amplifies and re-broadcast those signals with higher power. Signals can be transmitted well in excess of fifty miles in this manner. All radios and repeaters are provided with emergency power and are not dependent upon commercial source. These repeaters are owned and operated by various radio clubs and private owners in the area. Each hand held radio has a build in telephone patch system which can also contact all emergency services. During an extended hurricane or major emergency, ham radio in frequently the only method of communicating to the general public. Through the ARRL National Message System, thousands are routinely handled each day for officials and the general public.
Ham radio operators provide their own equipment and volunteer their services in a most gracious and concerned manner. Locally, a tone warning system alerts them to the immediate need of their services. Over fifty of the several hundred ham radio operators in Duval County can be assembled and organized within minutes. Operators are trained for short and prompt message handling using a standardized method which is practiced by all hams worldwide. Drills are held through weekly "nets" and service to community projects, which require long range communications and through annual exercises sponsored by the Hospital Disaster Council in coordination with the Jacksonville Fire/Rescue Division. An outstanding example is the 26K Jacksonville Marathon run held in M arch each year. Operators are stationed along the entire race route and in mobile units to help the race directors with coordination and calls for medical aid when necessary. The nationally famous River Run is also handled in this manner. Services are also provided for other not-or-profit organizations. Ham radio is listed in the local phone book under Ham Radio Operators and Amateur Radio Emergency Service. The telephone service is provided by the Northeast Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross.
A ham radio operator is required by the Federal Communications Commission
to pass a technical theory test and show proficiency in sending and receiving
Morse code as compared to Citizens Band radio which requires only that one
be a citizen of the
A slide presentation program is available for Civic Clubs. For information on how to become a licensed ham radio operator or for additional information regarding the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, contact Emergency Coordinator shown above.
Hurricane Andrew got our attention in a big way. With the prediction of additional storms of this size or greater within the next five years, it has come to our attention recently that great effort is being expended by city, county and state government agencies, larger corporations and others, to protect the public and employees from unnecessary harm.
Recovery provisions are also a part of this extensive planning. It is obvious to us who are an actively engaged in radio communications that our services will be in great demand should we experience a major hit. In the aftermath of Hugo, Andrew and in Hawaii, ham radio was the only dependable method of short and long range communications available to most government agencies, telephone companies, Red Cross and most other relief agencies for the first two to five days. We see nothing in local ongoing plans at this time which convinces us that the same conditions would not apply Here in Duval County, after a major storm.
Therefore in anticipation of hurricane season, it seems timely for us to present you with an understanding of how our services are presently allocated and what you might expect of amateur radio "after the storm" has passed.
Should a hurricane strike, under present plans, all of us, including Red Cross, will be under the supervision of this agency. Red Cross has a complete ham radio communication operation's center at their headquarters on Riverside Avenue that, in the future, can be moved in a matter of minutes to a safer location if necessary. From this EOC, we conduct the North Florida Amateur Radio Emergency Net. Tied into this net are all open Red Cross Shelters, a ham permanently stationed at NOAA Weather Service at JIA, a ham stationed at the Jacksonville FL Rescue Communications center, the County EOC at the Police Memorial Building, the EOC physically at Civil Defense Headquarters at 107 North Market Street, ham radio operations for the North Florida Sector of the National Weather Radio Emergency System and ham radio operations for the remainder of the United States. This unique hub at Red Cross ties together all major entities during a major disaster, including any temporary services moved into the area, such as the National Guard, Baptist Services units (who use their own ham radio network), U. S. Navy, etc.
We know from experience that local hams will be giving attention to their own families early into a disaster. Even so, we still anticipate the availability of enough local hams to handle the initial emergency during the first few hours of the "inventory" phase. Because of Hugo, and later, Andrew, ARES in the southeastern states has formed "jump teams" which can and will move into an area immediately to take over operations under the direction of the Emergency Coordinator of that area (me) and provide both, relief and additional personnel, to handle the first few days. Hams worldwide operate under the same emergency plans and rules and need absolutely no basic training when they move into any area. It is this kind of training that could offer our local hospitals so that all hospitals would be using identically the same system. The Hospital Disaster (bed count) Net was basically re-written and assembled by the hams with the supervision of hospital and fire/rescue personnel. All hospitals now use the same system and it works most effectively.
AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICES (ARES)
If you were to get a call tomorrow requesting help, who and why would the call come? One way we could examine the answer is from a journalistic approach by providing the who, when, where, how, and why.
Amateur radio has proven time after time, that we can respond to the call for assistance. Our primary resource is COMMUNICATIONS.
Communications, however is not our only asset. Sometimes just our "presents" is valuable, such as when we provided security assistance at a local mall. The visibility of "unmarked" vehicles with antennas driving around probably prevented at least one crime.
At other times we free up police to respond to other calls or emergencies. By the numbers, we have about 800 amateurs available during a normal day, they travel all over the city and can instantly call the police if they witness a crime or accident. It's very likely that you know of someone who that owes their life to amateur radio. It may have saved a few minutes of response time or may have been the sole source of communications.
Public authorities such as police, fire, or medical is the most common
We may be the sole communications source or work with other agencies, businesses, and even CB'ers.
Who would the call come from? Who would need our services?
When would you most likely to be called and how long before you're ready?
Where would the call come from?
How would you respond?
Why would they be calling us?