The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization, is eligible for membership in the ARES. The only qualification, other than possession of an Amateur Radio license, is a sincere desire to serve. Because ARES is an amateur service, only amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership. From the ARRL Public Service Communications Manual. For more information check-out the ARRL ARES page.

You should also consider that Nassau County ARES members are held to a higher standard of service than the FCC requires of ham radio operators. Participating in Nassau County ARES may require that you deploy to one of the county's shelters. These shelters are all public schools where families and children may be present. In addition, as a member of ARES you may be asked to work in the Emergency Operations Center or onboard the County's Emergency Command Trailer, along side public safety officials and public safety communications equipment. Nassau County ARES members may also be asked to work at Baptist Medical Center - Nassau or at a mass-casualty incident. These activities can only be supported by amateur radio operators of the highest caliber. As such, a back ground check will likely be required before you can take on these responsibilities for Nassau County ARES. The County Emergency Manager is arranging for these checks and it will not cost you any money. Please be aware that any anomalies in the background check such as felony convictions or habitual DUI convictions will likely mean you will not be able to participate in Nassau County ARES events.

If you live in Nassau County and would like to join ARES download the ARES Membership Form, fill it in and email it to us here at Nassau County ARES. Someone will contact you shortly there after.

ATTENTION ALL ARES MEMBERS!!!!

If you are already a member of Nassau County ARES you need to take the first four National Incident Management System (NIMS) training courses listed below. Nassau County Emergency Management (NCEM) now requires it of all incident participants. In addition, both NCEM and the North Florida Section of ARES are using the incident documentation forms that are based on NIMS. The courses are available to take online and best of all they are FREE! Taking these courses will help you understand how to properly interact with emergency management and incident management personnel during an emergency.

IS-100 Introduction to Incident Command System

IS-200 ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents

IS-700A National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction

IS-800B National Response Plan (NRP), An Introduction

These additional NIMS courses are not required but are recommended for ARES members.
(Reference: ARRL ARES E-Letter, July 20, 2011)

IS-802 Emergency Support Function 2, Communications
IS-240.a Leadership & Influence
IS-241.a Decision Making & Problem Solving
IS-250 Emergency Support Function 15 (ESF-15) External Affairs
IS-1 Emergency Manager, An Orientation to the Position
IS-288 The Role of Voluntary Agencies in Emergency Management
IS-244.a Developing and Managing Volunteers
IS-120.a An Introduction to Exercises
IS-130 Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning
IS-139 Exercise Design

When you take one of these courses let us know! We need to keep a copy of your certificates on file for deployments. You should print a copy of each of your certificates and carry them with you in your go-kit document bag. They will be needed when you check-in to an incident. To see a list of the NIMS certificates we have on file, click here.

We also recommend that you take the ARRL emergency communications courses. They are not free and so they are not required but the courses are available online to ARRL members.