MEMO to County EMA Managers

MEMO TO: Directors of Local Emergency Management Agencies

FROM: Ron Brown, Mississippi State RACES Officer

SUBJECT: Interoperable Communications with Ham Radio

DATE: June 9, 2008

One of the critical issues currently being considered by all agencies is maintaining communications when needed in emergency situations.  During Katrina operations and response, ham radio provided backup communications when the high-tech systems were damaged, failed or were overloaded. Volunteer amateur radio operators provided hours of service around the state without pay and sometimes using their own equipment. I urge you to include amateur radio in your ESF-2 communications plans.

The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is established in the FCC Regulations as “a radio service using amateur stations for civil defense communications during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies” [97.3(a)(37)].

RACES units serve government agencies.  Operators are registered members of the local EMA organization and are directed by the local EMA manager through the RACES County Coordinator (RCC).  Local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) groups organized under the structure of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) can be merged into RACES units to serve your agency.

An amateur radio station KM5EMA has been established at MEMA EOC to provide backup contact with agencies around the state.  This station will be available to relay massages to and from MEMA during EOC activation.  Properly equipped agency stations can take advantage of this system.

If you need additional information, assistance or want a point of contact for your area, Please contact me directly.  My home telephone is 601-956-1448 and cell is 601-278-5968. E-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Or the  RACES web site at http://www.msraces.com 

When all else fails…Amateur Radio.