RACES: Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service
RACES is an organization of amateur radio operators who volunteer to provide radio communications for State and local governments in times of emergency. Created in 1952 primarily to serve in civil defense emergencies, RACES provides essential communications and warning links to supplement State and local government assets during emergencies.
RACES is a special part of the amateur operation sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). RACES provides emergency communications for civil preparedness purposes only. RACES is conducted by amateurs using their primary station licenses or by existing RACES stations. In the event that the President invokes the War Emergency powers, amateurs officially enrolled in the local civil preparedness group would become limited to certain frequencies, while all other amateur operations would be silenced.
The RACES organization provides or supplements communications during emergencies where normal communication systems have sustained damage. It may be used in a wide variety of situations, including Natural Disasters; Technological Disasters; Nuclear Accidents; Nuclear Attack; Terrorist Incidents; and Bomb Threats.
Important Notice Per Harford County's Emergency Manager, Doug Richmond:
"I have attached a document from DHS/FEMA that spells out the level of compliance on NIMS that must be in place by September 30th of this year." (download PDF file here)
Effective immediately, all ARES and RACES members are required to complete the FEMA IS-700 course. Deadline for completion is September 30, 2006. "NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents." Many of our members have already taken this FREE online course. Click here to take the IS-700 course!
In addition to the IS-700 course above, members need to complete the ARRL EC-001 Emergency Communications course and become practiced with Radiogram formal message handling.