New to ARES?

If you’re a new member, you’d probably like to know where to get started. This page is a good place to begin.

Some new members want to become Active Members and get really involved, others just want to be Reserve Members so they can be of some assistance when the “big one” hits. Either way, welcome!

Active Members: If your plan is to become an Active Member and get the recommended education and training, download and carefully read the two documents listed in the next paragraph for starters. That will make you immediately more useful should your services suddenly be required. Then spend some time reviewing the many resources available on our website. Next, have a conversation with your local ARES group’s Emergency Coordinator (EC) to match your skills and interests with the group’s needs. Chances are he or she will have a valuable job you can take on. Then, it’s time to gain new skills or update existing ones.

Reserve Members: If you plan to be a Reserve Member, we recommend at least familiarizing yourself with two key documents and the Richland County District 6 ARES website. Begin with the Section Emergency Communications Plan and its attachments. At 28 pages all-told, it may seem like quite a lot to read, but you don’t have to memorize it – just learn what it contains. Print it out and keep it handy as a quick reference. Try to replace your copy with a fresh one at least once a year, as the plan is periodically revised. The second document, Expedient Training for Walk-In Volunteers, is a quick, information-packed two-page read. Print this out and keep it handy as well.

Education & Preparation

ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communications – The first recommended course is the ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communications Course, EC-001. It can be taken on-line on your own schedule. Taking this free course is well worth your time because it teaches all the basics. The material is both interesting and useful. In addition to the on-line material, you can choose to interact with a knowledgeable mentor via email, and their insights can be valuable. To keep it in perspective, the knowledge gained could help you save lives, possibly even those of friends and family.

District 6 ARES Richland County Academy (Coming soon) – The Academy posts videos on a variety of ARES education topics, some of live sessions, and some specially produced for You Tube. More classes are always in the works. This is a great way to quickly get up to speed on your own schedule.

Basic Incident Command System (ICS) – The other course you should take is one that all police, firefighters, and emergency management staff must take: IS-100, Basic Incident Command System, offered free online by FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute. In a post 9/11 world, FEMA requires all agencies to use the Incident Command System when dealing with a major emergency. For that reason, it’s important that ARES members understand how ICS works. When we have to work alongside and interact with agencies, we’ll understand how the response is organized and be better able to move messages to and from the correct parties. In addition, some agencies are now requiring that all staff and internal and external volunteers have this training.

Optional courses are available, and you are encouraged to take as many as you can. These include the ARRL Advanced Emcomm Management course, EC-016, and many basic and advanced FEMA ICS and National Incident Management System (NIMS) courses. Some FEMA courses are more relevant to what we do than others. Served agencies may also offer relevant training. For instance, consider the Red Cross’s Introduction to Disasters, and Basic First Aid, and National Weather Service Skywarn Weather Spotter training, among others. Visit our training links page for a sample.

Richland County District 6 ARES On-Line Training provides short downloadable PowerPoint programs on a variety of topics. Visit the Training Downloads pages for more information.

Participate in Drills

Richland County District 6 ARES holds periodic local and state-wide drills to test both our skills and our communication plans. Not only do they serve an important purpose, they can be fun! In addition to actual drills and exercises, ARES members often provide public service communications for large and small public events. The skills and methods used for those events are much the same as for an actual emergency. Some of the larger events, such as the Prouty Century Ride, can very closely simulate certain conditions encountered during an emergency operation. Contact your Emergency Coordinator for events and dates.

Build Your Go-Kit

Education is a big part of preparation, but getting your gear ready is just as important. Emergencies don’t wait for you to be ready, so it’s up to you to prepare well ahead of time. Many of us have at least one kit that lets us operate in the field for up to 72 hours without outside support. In addition to radio gear, that means food, water, personal needs, and often shelter. Many of us create modular kits so that we are able to take only what we’ll need. For suggestions on what to put in your go-kit, download the Go-Kit Checklist from our Forms page. Don’t forget to keep your kit’s contents fresh and up to date.

Unable to Respond to the Field?

Not everyone is able to handle field deployments. That’s not a problem because in some situations, we will need almost as many hams working from their home stations as we do in the field. They do jobs like net control, net liaison, net manager, Winlink operations, logistics management, and more. You might even help just by reporting on conditions in your neighborhood. (Emergency power at home is a big plus.) Talk to your EC about stay at home job opportunities.

To join ARES you need to:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Willing to train and learn
• Have a Technician class license or higher
• If you have a GMRS and not an amateur radio license and interested in emergency communications send us your info, GMRS is making ground in ECOMM.

You do NOT have to be a member of a radio club or a member of the ARRL to be active in ARES.