Emergency Communications

Ham radio operators are uniquely set up to provide emergency and public service communications. Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service Amateur Radio Emergency Service RACES ARES

An amateur station may use any means of radio communications at its disposal for essential communications in connection with immediate safety of human life and protection of property when normal communications systems are not available. (T2C09) Any band, any radio, call any station your think might hear… Use any means possible to address that risk.

Once the threat has receded or normal communications are restored, you must return to normal FCC rules, even if you continue to operate in support of public safety agencies. (T2C01)

When an emergency occurs, it’s common for amateur radio operators to form a network or “net” to facilitate emergency communications.

The net is led by the net control station, whose job it is to make sure that messages are passed in an efficient and timely manner. The term for messages passed between stations in an emergency net is “traffic.”

The most important job of an amateur operator when handling emergency traffic messages is passing messages exactly as written, spoken or as received (T2C08)

The message may be formal or informal.

A radio gram has three parts. the preamble, the body and the signature.

The preamble contains the information needed to track the message as it moves through the Amateur Radio traffic handling system. (T2C10)

The preamble includes a space for the check. It is the number of words in the body. It is limited to 25 words or less. (T2C11) The signature is the originator of the message.

The basic rule of net operation is that you only speak when directed to do so by the net control station. To minimize disruptions to an emergency traffic net once you have checked in, do not transmit on the net frequency until asked to do so by the net control station. (T2C07)

Sometimes, you may have an emergency situation at your location that cannot wait. If this is the case, a common practice during net operations to get the immediate attention of the net control station when reporting an emergency is to begin your transmission with “Priority” or “Emergency” followed by your call sign. (T2C06)