1. Check that you and your family are safe and secure and that your property is safe and secure before you respond as a volunteer to help others.

2. Monitor your list of locally PRE-ASSIGNED EMERGENCY NET frequencies.

3. Follow the instructions you receive from the officials in charge on the above frequencies.

4. Contact your local EMERGENCY COORDINATOR, OR HIS/HER DESIGNEE, for further instructions. 

The net control station or officials on the designated emergency net will provide additional instructions, including information on frequencies used for other resource and tactical nets. Normally, a resource net will enroll volunteers and provide information on how you can assist.

• Be prepared to operate. Check all equipment and connections.

• Check-in with your assigned contact. Deploy to assignment with “Go”  kit.

• Obtain tactical call sign for your location/assignment.

• Initiate personal event log.

• Enter assigned frequency's) on log sheet.

• Use log sheet to record messages handled.

• Use a formal message form when a precise record is required.

• Use tactical call sign for your location, while observing FCC’s ten-minute ID rule.

• Monitor your assigned frequency AT ALL TIMES. Notify NCS if you have to leave.

PREPARE A BASIC DEPLOYMENT EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST

When responding to an emergency event, or even a training exercise, there is a minimum set of equipment and personal gear you should bring with you to get the job done. Basic items include:

• 2-METER HT

• ARES ID CARD AND OTHER REQUIRED CERTIFICATION OR                          CREDENTIALS TO ENTER DISASTER AREA.

• 2-METER MAGMOUNT ANTENNA AND COAX

• EXTRA BATTERIES

• EAR-PHONE • APPROPRIATE CLOTHING

• PAPER AND PENCIL • FOOD AND WATER

I realize and understand this list is a very minimum and really basic stuff to many that have been emergency communicators for a long time, however myself and many new folks may need the information and some of the more seasoned veterans may need a refresher, so it never hurts to remind us all of the basics. With that said I am looking forward to your comments and I would like to provoke them with a few questions from what I have shared. 

#1. Of the four things I listed to do first in an emergency #4 was to  “Contact your local EMERGENCY COORDINATOR, OR HIS/HER DESIGNEE, for further instructions.”

So it prompts me to ask. Do you know who your EC is at this time and do you have a way to contact him or her if the emergency happens in the next ten minutes?

Further down the list I said. • Check-in with your assigned contact. Deploy to assignment with “Go” kit.

Naturally this prompts me to ask. Do you have an assigned contact and a GO KIT, ready at this very moment?

Under the Very basic and minimum Go kit, listed is the need for ARES ID CARD AND OTHER REQUIRED CERTIFICATION OR CREDENTIALS TO ENTER DISASTER AREA.

This prompts me to ask the question. Should an emergency arrive at present with your present certifications and credentials, are you sure the officials at the disaster site will even let you in, much less use you in any real since of the word.