One of the first reasons I decided to get my ham license was for Emergency Communications or “Emcomms”.
The ARRL has a child organization called ARES which organizes hams into regional groups to participate in providing communications when needed.
Next month, September, is National Preparedness month, so the ARRL is promoting the ARES training right now.
So here are some important links to the ARES and FEMA training for hams who want to participate in emergency communications.
Step 1: Download the Task Book
- ARES Training Plan Task Book
Has a list of the three training levels and which courses need to be taken to certify at that level.
Step 2: Level 1 Education
Beginning Level of ARES education for new hams. Some of these classes are available online.
- IS-100.C: Introduction to the Incident Command System
- ICS‐700.B Introduction to National Incident Mgt. System
- SKYWARN ‐ Spotter Basic Training (Bi‐Annually)
- ARRL EC‐001 Introduction to Emergency Communications
Step 3: Level 2 Education
Everything from Level 1 plus the following training courses:
- ICS‐200.c–ICS for Single Resource
- ICS‐800.c – National Response Framework
Step 4: Level 3 Education
Everything from level 1 & 2 plus the following. (Some courses are optional – see the task list)
- IS‐120.c‐An Introduction to Exercises
- IS‐230.d‐Fundamentals of Emergency Management
- IS‐235.c ‐ Emergency Planning
- IS‐240.b ‐ Leadership & Influence
- IS‐241.b ‐ Decision Making & Problem Solving
- IS‐242.b ‐ Effective Communications
- IS‐244.b ‐ Developing & Managing Volunteers
- IS‐288.a – Role of Voluntary organizations in Emergency Mgt.
- IS‐802 – ESF #2 ‐ Communication
- IS‐775‐ EOC Management and Operations
- PR‐101–PublicInformationOfficerTraining(EC‐015)
- ARRL EC‐016 Public Service & Emergency Communications Mg
- AUXCOMCourse
- ICS‐300 ‐Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents
- ICS ‐400 ‐Advanced Incident Command System
Each level also has a list of participation tasks, so see the Task List for all the details.