Roles and Responsibilities

Assistant Emergency Coordinator

ARRL Field Organization

1. Promote and enhance the activities of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) for the benefit of the public as a voluntary, non- commercial communications service.
2. Manage and coordinate the training, organization and emergency participation of interested amateurs working in support of the communities, agencies or functions designated by the Section Emergency Coordinator/Section Manager.
3. Establish viable working relationships with federal, state, county, city governmental and private agencies in the ARES jurisdictional area which need the services of ARES in emergencies. Determine what agencies are active in your area, evaluate each of their needs, and which ones you are capable of meeting, and then prioritize these agencies and needs. Discuss your planning with your Section Emergency Coordinator and then with your counterparts in each of the agencies. Ensure they are all aware of your ARES group's capabilities, and perhaps more importantly, your limitations.
4. Develop detailed local operational plans with "served" agency officials in your jurisdiction that set forth precisely what each of your expectations are during a disaster operation. Work jointly to establish protocols for mutual trust and respect. All matters involving recruitment and utilization of ARES volunteers are directed by you, in response to the needs assessed by the agency officials. Technical issues involving message format, security of message transmission, Disaster Welfare Inquiry policies, and others, should be reviewed and expounded upon in your detailed local operations plans.
5. Establish local communications networks run on a regular basis and periodically test those networks by conducting realistic drills.
6. Establish an emergency traffic plan, with Welfare traffic inclusive, utilizing the National Traffic System as one active component for traffic handling. Establish an operational liaison with local and section nets, particularly for handling Welfare traffic in an emergency situation.
7. In times of disaster, evaluate the communications needs of the jurisdiction and respond quickly to those needs. The EC will assume authority and responsibility for emergency response and performance by ARES personnel under his jurisdiction.
8. Work with other non-ARES amateur provider-groups to establish mutual respect and understanding, and a coordination mechanism for the good of the public and Amateur Radio. The goal is to foster an efficient and effective Amateur Radio response overall.
9. Work for growth in your ARES program, making it a stronger, more valuable resource and hence able to meet more of the agencies' local needs. There are thousands of new Technicians coming into the amateur service that would make ideal additions to your ARES roster. A stronger ARES means a better ability to serve your communities in times of need and a greater sense of pride for Amateur Radio by both amateurs and the public.
10. Report regularly to the SEC, as required.
11. The AEC is expected to be able to step in and assist the EC in any matter regarding the operation of the County.
12. AEC's may have specializations or sub duties as defined by the EC.
13. AEC's are encouraged to earn certification in Level 1 of the ARRL "Intro to EmComm, EC-001" Course (See ARRL for details)
14. All ARES Oklahoma officers are also expected to complete ICS-700.A, ICS-100.B, ICS-200.B, and ICS-800.B FEMA training. All existing ARES members must complete this training before 12/1/2007. All new applicants have one year from the time of application to become part of ARES Oklahoma to complete this training.

Requirements: Full ARRL membership; FCC Technician class amateur radio license or higher.

ARES Oklahoma Additions

• You are responsible for training someone who can fill in for you if you unable to participate. As an example, if you are a ZEC, DEC, or EC one of your assistants should be designated as your potential replacement.
• You must go to www.aresok.org/mkApplication.asp and apply to be a part of the section. This adds your name to the list that local incident commanders use in trying to find ARES members for emergencies. Additionally, if you are joining as an AEC or above, this is the web site that has all of the tools you'll need to participate within the section reporting structure. This associates your call sign with ARES at the local section level.
• If you are applying to be an officer within ARES Oklahoma, you must fill out our personal information release form and mail to the current SEC. This gives ARES Oklahoma the legal coverage deemed necessary for liability issues regarding the web site.
• All ARES Oklahoma officers must join the "aresoklahoma" Yahoo!Group at groups.yahoo.com/group/aresoklahoma (then click on the big blue "Join This Group!" button at the top right). This is how we broadcast all section events, information, etc. that is of a timely or critical nature. All ARES Oklahoma volunteers are encouraged to join this group also.
• If you are an EC, a DEC, or a ZEC, you must also download a copy of the ARES Oklahoma Section Plan and, using it as a template, edit the section(s) starting on page 14 that apply to your position within the organization. These should be emailed to the ASEC Chief of Staff (currently, Mr. Charles Goodson) for review. Once approved, it should be passed along up the chain of command (ie. EC's edit their information into the EC section on page 15 and mail it to their DEC; their DEC would collect all of the EC's sections mailed to them, and insert it into their own approved copy of this plan and after adding their own information and mail that to the ASEC Chief of Staff. Once approved, tehy would then mail it to their ZEC; and so on). This gives uniformity to all of the operations of ARES in Oklahoma, as the bulk of data for the rules, etc., will be maintained as STANDARD across the section. The finished document, with all EC, DEC, and ZEC additions, will be the definitive statement of ARES in Oklahoma. Looking through it, any incident commander working any disaster within the state will have all the information needed to find the ARES members in the section.
• Once per quarter, all ARES Oklahoma members should validate all of their contact information on both the ARES Oklahoma web site as well as the national ARRL web site.

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