Thank you for your inquiry regarding Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

Times have changed. If you walk into a disaster area carrying a radio, and
say you're here to provide emergency communications, chances are you'll get
arrested, or at least escorted out.

On the other hand, if you are expected and invited to attend, you will be
deemed an employee of the city, and insured and protected from lawsuits by
those who are inconvenienced by the disaster. (Toronto Bylaw 47-1998 13(c),17)

The ARES group, through RAC (Radio Amateurs of/du Canada), have an agreement
to provide communications to the Canadian Red Cross whenever they are invited
in and require our level of communications. (see "The Canadian Amateur"
Jan/95 pg.47 or http://www.rac.ca/redcross.htm)

A.R.E.S. is a voluntary organization of licensed amateur radio operators who
have registered their capabilities and equipment for providing emergency
communications as a public service to the Community. The purpose of A.R.E.S.
is to furnish communications in the event of a natural or man-made disaster
when regular communications fail or are inadequate. 

We are also written into the Toronto Community & Neighbourhood Services Emergency
Social Services Plan, to provide communications for all social services agencies,
and we have complete stations established at the Toronto Emergency Operation Centre
and in the Provincial Operation Centre at Emergency Management Ontario.

It is our goal to provide quality communications in an organized response,
where all responders know before hand what is expected, and are capable of
performing their tasks in an experienced manner.

To attain this goal, we must first identify those hams interested in
responding, and then giving them as much preparation as possible to
anticipate all tasks which they feel capable of performing. There are a wide
range of skills required. We require those that do the preparation and
administration (like create and send this message), those that stay home
during the disaster and organize the response on the phone and/or radio,
those that respond with handhelds, mobiles, base stations, portable
repeaters, generators, additional ham equipment for those "eager but not
affluent", and even those not interesting in serving other agencies but could
support other hams with Direction Finding (yes, jammers will not go away
during emergencies).

We need technical people to recommend, install, and test antennae at pre-
assigned emergency sites and in vehicles. We need hams who know other hams
that may be interested but haven't seen this document. We need people that
know other people that can donate money or supplies (eg the above mentioned
antennae, id cards, or printing 100 copies of our 40 page Operations
Manual=$200). If you can help with any of the above, you can contact me, John
VE3POJ by e-mail ve3poj@rac.ca , or Joe VE3OV joe@cusimano.com on the ARES net
on VE3TWR Mondays at 6:45pm, or daily on 146.460 simplex or 145.130- repeater.

If you are only interested in responding during an emergency, the following
information will be requested during checkins. Name, Rank in the ARES
hierarchy, whether you've read the Toronto ARES plan, the Operation(s) you can
perform (Voice, Data, Mobile, Paging, Surveillance), when you will be
available and for how long, where you are now (if applicable), where you will
be when you are ready to respond with your equipment, your home location (to
arrange a suitable assignment in familiar territory), equipment 2m/440 HT,
mobile, base, batteries, generator, antennae, and other information you may
wish to give to help in determining an appropriate assignment.

John Meskes, VE3POJ
Revised: Mar.23, 2003