The Good
The Androscoggin County ARES group
supports the Androscoggin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
Through training, exercises, and community events
Androscoggin ARES is commited to be able to provide auxiliary communications
in the event of disaster or other crisis affecting county communications.
There a large event that originates and ends in Androscoggin County, and overflows into Cumberland County, called The Dempsey Challenge. This is a fundraiser that includes; bicycle, running, and walking participants. Amateur radio operators provide much appreciated backup emergency communications for the event. It provides a fantastic opportunity for supporting our community, exercising equipment and skills, and finding areas for improvement.
The Challenges
The challenge currently facing the ARES organization in Androscoggin County is a lack of trained volunteers. Past nationwide disasters have led to strict requirements for training and certification of amateur radio volunteers to assure they are able to operate under the Incident Command System (ICS) and are registered with the appropriate agency in their area indicating a background check has been performed. Currently, many amateur radio operators in this county that were previously registered as ARES and/or RACES operators have not been active participants in ARES, not kept up training and certification, and have not renewed registration as ARES/RACES operators.
Fortunately, amateur radio operators from neighboring counties volunteered to provide communications during this event and we had enough operators to staff each location needed by the event organizers.
The Reality
There may be a belief that when activations are requested during times of need that amateur radio operators will be able to just show up and volunteer their services. Some may assume that the government agency in charge would not turn them away in time of need because, after all, they are amateur radio operators. That could not be further from the truth. While the need for communicators may be high, it does not change the fact that operators need to be vetted, certified as having current training, and have current background checks before being allowed in sensitive areas during a disaster. As a result, this county is severely lacking in ARES registered amateur radio operators.
Fortunately, there appears to be an interest among GMRS licensees to volunteer during emergencies.
These individuals are eager, well versed in communications, willing to undergo CERT training,
and provide a resource that can be used with amateur radio to provide coverage scaled to the community.
It is for this reason that we are attempting to integrate ARES and GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service)
and provide a wide range of communication alternatives during times of need.
The Hope
There has recently been more people getting licensed as amateur radio operators. This is, in part, due to the ability to take the test either in person or online. This tells me there is interest and that amateur radio is far from dead. These new hams are just what the ARES and RACES teams need, people willing to learn and having a desire to invest in their community.
Moving into 2027, ARES should be able to grow with the help of these newly licensed amateur radio operators and incorporating CERT members through GMRS and FRS (Family Radio Service). Androscoggin County is home to the City of Lewiston, which is the second most populous city in Maine. There is no reason we shouldn't be able to have that refelcted in our ARES/RACES membership and participation.