Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES)

Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES)   

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.

ARES Membership Requirements

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, print, and save. Then email the ARES Registration form to your local Emergency Coordinator.

Don Brown w0af@arrl.net EC or
Chris Skinner  kd0ivv@fastmail.us AEC

The FEMA classes IS 100/200/700/800 are all available online. Prerequisites. Before you begin the course you should have completed the following prerequisites. These courses provide a foundation for the content of this course:

  • ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1/ Basic (EC-001)
  • Skywarn Training

To become a full ARES member you will need to take the following online courses.FEMA IS 100, 200, 700 and 800, and ARES EC-001.
http://www.arrl.org/online-course-catalog
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) courses::

Intro to EmComm Online

 

Additional Resources

ARES - Amateur Radio Emergency Service - from the ARRL, but can be managed locally
http://www.arrl.org/ares
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_Radio_Emergency_Service

RACES - Radio Amateur Emergency Service - from FEMA, requires a series of online courses and a background check, administered at the State or County level
http://www.usraces.org/
https://qsl.net/races/what.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Amateur_Civil_Emergency_Service

FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency - national disaster aid (floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, pandemics, etc.)
https://www.fema.gov/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency

CERT - Community Emergency Response Teams - managed locally, may not require an amateur radio licenses
https://www.ready.gov/cert

SKYWARN - National Weather Service program - immediate severe weather confirmation - administered at the county level, retrain every 2 years
https://www.weather.gov/SKYWARN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywarn\