Home >  Emergency Communications >  Phraseology for Radio Communications During Emergencies
Overview

For many amateur radio operators, a true disaster happens once or twice in a life time. Those are the moments that radio operators must be at peak efficiency, accuracy and capability to pass the most messages in the precious moments and seconds that are available. People who've gone through the experience say they should have been better practiced and prepared. Standard radio procedures, words and phraseology are the key to radio nets that are crisp and precise that get the critical messages delivered.

There is a tendency for "walk-ons" and first timers to "blab" and ramble their message to the other station, because the message has not yet been organized sufficiently in the sender's mind to be concise.

The secret to working quickly and efficiently during an emergency is to use common and plain English radio procedures. These are "communications norms". It is a specific set of words that have a certain agreed upon meaning by both the sender and the receiver.

Strive to get your message through on the first attempt. As you practice your proper radio procedures daily, the flow and rhythm of operating and communicating on a radio becomes automatic and natural which reduces the chance of hesitation and confusion during an actual emergency.

Below are procedure words and phraseology that are consistent with communicators with other radio services. As emergency communicators, we strive to use plain English and common words to reduce the likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding with other emergency responders. Therefore, we do not use procedure codes such as amateur radio "Q codes" or APCO "10 codes".

When sending messages and information during emergencies, be sure to pause so that the other station can write the message down, or type it on a computer keyboard.

Repetition is the key to acquiring the skill. Practice. Find partners you can practice with during times of non-emergencies, and you'll be ready for the big one.

Initial contact with the Net Control Station (NCS)

Usually during the onset of an emergency situation, a station will assume the role of a Net Control Station (NCS) to provide order and direction for the radio net. For maximum efficiency, listen carefully to the NCS for instructions and direction for the net.

Interacting with Net Control Station (NCS)

Situation	Transmission	Comment
You request to check into a busy net.	(suffix) CHECK IN.	Use the last letters of the suffix of your call sign to attract the attention of the Net Control Station. The NCS will reply with "(suffix), say your call sign."
You request to check into a moderate or slow net, or after the NCS has acknowledged the suffix of your call sign.	(callsign) CHECK IN.	If the Net Control Station heard your transmission clearly, the NCS will reply with "(call sign) you are checked-in."
You request to check out of the net.	(suffix) CHECK OUT.	You should not leave the net without checking out with the NCS. Use the last letters of the suffix of your call sign to attract the attention of the Net Control Station. The NCS will reply with "(call sign) checked-out."
You complete your exchange of information with the other station, ID (identify) and clear the frequency for the NCS or next station.	… (callsign).	Your full call sign at the end of the transmission fulfills and complies with Part 97.119(a) for proper identification of a US amateur radio station. Identifying your station at the end of the exchange of transmissions is a common practice in other radio services.
You wish to attract the attention of the NCS once you've checked in.	(suffix) or (tactical callsign).	The suffix of your call sign may be unique enough for the NCS to identify your station. The NCS will acknowledge and call you to proceed with "(suffix) GO AHEAD".
When you have information pertinent to the current exchange of information.	(Suffix) INFO.	The NCS will acknowledge with "(call sign) GO AHEAD with your info."
When the NCS requires radio silence, or a radio operator needs a moment to prepare to receive messages.	STAND BY.	Wait until the NCS or requesting station requests radio activity to resume.
When the NCS or radio operator awaits a call or information from another station.	(suffix) STANDING BY.	Communicates to the other station that the NCS or requesting station will observe radio silence and wait for a response.
The NCS or another station has messages for you.	(call sign) I HAVE (quantity) (type) MESSAGES FOR YOU.	The NCS or other station notifies you of the quantity and type of messages to be transmitted to you. Message types could be ICS-213, FLDIGI, the ARRL Radiogram or other type of message.
The NCS or other station requests you change frequency and make contact with (callsign2).	(callsign) CONTACT (callsign2) ON FREQUENCY (new frequency).	You would normally acknowledge the request by reading back the new frequency and identifying your station prior to the frequency change. "(new frequency) (call sign)". If the other station (callsign2) is on the same frequency, the station would likewise acknowledge "(new frequency) (call sign2)" and the NCS would resume the radio net. Both (call sign) and (call sign2) then change frequency to the (new frequency) and call each other to establish contact.
You need to gain the attention of the NCS with an item of higher precedence than the transmission in progress.	(suffix) BREAK.	Use the last letters of the suffix of your call sign to attract the attention of the Net Control Station. The NCS will reply with "(call sign) GO AHEAD."
You need to gain immediate attention of the NCS with an emergency message.	BREAK BREAK BREAK - This is (call sign) with an emergency message for (call sign2).	Use your full call sign to attract the attention of the Net Control Station. The NCS will reply with "(previous call sign) standby. (call sign2), (call sign) has traffic for you." This phraseology is reserved for the most important of emergencies and should be used sparingly.

When interactive with a Net Control Station, or a Net Operator station, be prepared to wait for the other party to respond. Often, the person is logging or otherwise writing down information before their attention is turned to you. Or, there may be distractions or extra activities at their location such that they may not be able to get to you right away.

Establishing Direct Communications With Other Stations

The protocol for calling another station varies with each radio service, so it is not covered in detail here. However, all radio services exchange signal reports as needed to ensure that the receiving station can hear clearly the transmitting station. The following table outlines the common types of signal reports.

Signal Report

Signal Report	Readability/Comment
Loud and clear	100%
Readable	90% to 100% readable
Weak Readable	50% to 90% readable
Noisy	10% to 50% readable
Unreadable	Less than 10% readable
Nothing Heard	Unable to hear a signal

You may also hear a station state "(call sign) RELAY". That means that the station heard the other station, and can relay the message to you. Similarly, if you can hear the weaker station and can offer a relay, you may want to break in and offer to relay the message. That will speed up the exchange of information.

Communications for Exchanging and Receiving Messages

The procedure words and phraseology that are common during the exchange of messages are listed below.

Exchanging and Receiving Messages

Situation	Transmission	Comment
You request the other station to transmit at the end of your transmission.	… GO AHEAD.	GO AHEAD is preferable to OVER for emergency communications.
You request a specific station to transmit.	(Suffix) GO AHEAD. or (call sign) GO AHEAD.	Use the last letters of the other stations's call sign to indicate who should transmit next. If the suffix alone is not enough to uniquely identify the station, use the whole call sign to indicate who should transmit next.
	COPY.	It means that the message or information was received. In some settings, operators may use "Roger", which is the voice version of the morse code proword for "Received". In a multi-agency setting, operators are encouraged to use "Copy" instead. COPY does not convey a positive or negative response to the content of the message. NASA uses it for communications during manned spaceflight.
You respond YES or NO to the other station	YES / NO	Use instead of "AFFIRMATIVE" and "NEGATIVE". Under noisy conditions, "AFFIRMATIVE" and "NEGATIVE" can be confused and easily mistaken.
When you are ready to copy the message(s).	READY TO COPY.	Indicates to the other station that you are ready to copy a message.
Beginning the transmission of a message.	PLEASE COPY MESSAGE NUMBER (message number)…	This short preamble signals to the other station that the message immediately follows.
The other station is talking too fast to copy the message.	SPEAK SLOWER.	When exchanging messages, you should speak no faster than the other person can write down or type the message. If you speak too fast, the other station will not be able to copy the message on the first attempt, and that is a waste of valuable time on the radio. Also, you should practice writing "ahead" by leaving blank space on the paper and keep up with the other station. During pauses in his transmission, very quickly go back and fill in the word(s) you had to skip over. If you are a student, this is a great skill to master for taking notes in the classroom.
You are spelling the next word phonetically.	I SPELL …	Use the ITU/NATO phonetics when spelling words. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.
You request the other station to transmit specific information	SAY (Your Location).	You can specify "Your Location", "Your Name", "Your Callsign", etc.
You request the other station to retransmit part or all of the last transmission	SAY AGAIN xxxx	Do not say "Repeat" or "Come back" on the radio. Use "Say Again" instead. "Repeat" is used in the military to order another round of artillery fire at the exact same coordinates. "Come back" can be confused as direction to return to a base of operations. "Say again" specifically means to retransmit your last transmission as it was not clearly heard. You can specify "Your Location", etc, "Word Before", "Word After", or "All Before" or "All After" to further clarify what piece of information needs to be retransmitted.
You retransmit part or all of the last transmission.	I SAY AGAIN xxxxx.
You have a correction to an item.	CORRECTION.	Proceed to give the corrected item. If you do not get a positive acknowledgement from the other station about the change, you might want to ask the other station if he/she copied the correction.
You request a read back from the other station of a part or all of the message that was just transmitted.	READ BACK xxxx	If xxxx is not specified, it means to read back the entire message.
You are reading back a part or all of the message that was just transmitted.	I READ BACK xx	Since the sender knows what the original message should be and has it written in front of him/her, you can read back the message faster than when the sender originally sent the message.
You are confirming that the message was copied completely.	MESSAGE COPIED.
The transmitting station wishes to cancel the message that is in progress.	DISREGARD THIS MESSAGE.
The transmitting station has more information or traffic for the receiving station.	MORE TO FOLLOW.
The transmitting station has sent the last message in a series of messages.	END OF MESSAGE. NO MORE.
When you are through exchanging messages and transferring use of the frequency back to the Net Control Station.	BACK TO NET CONTROL. (callsign)	You may abbreviate it to BACK TO NET if you believe other radio services and non-amateur radio operators are not actively monitoring the net. Your full call sign at the end identifies your station at the end of transmission.

Exchanging Tactical Messages With Other Stations

There are times when stations need to exchange status or progress information, and can do it quickly without bogging down the radio net. These messages are called "tactical" messages. These are words and phrases common in exchanging tactical messages.

Tactical Messages

Situation	Transmission	Comment
You can give your location at the same time that you ID. If you are mobile, it gives a status update to other stations on the net.	(call sign) mobile. (location, such as Ward and Prospect)	Receiving stations should write the information in their ICS 309 communications logs.
You can give a status update.	(status, such as "At destination at Ward and Prospect. Check out.") (call sign)	Receiving stations should write the information in their ICS 309 communications logs. Transmitting station gives their call sign to identify and end the transmission.
Basic format of a tactical message that is reporting an incident is: (a) the need or request, (b) the incident, (c) the time element, (d) the location, (e) what responders need to know about the situation, (f) if available, information about injuries or death.	Request police and co-response by fire department. Broken fire hydrant, just occurred. Intersection of Green Street and Ward Ave. Water plume is five stories high. No known injuries.	In this real-life example, the accident was caused by a hit-and-run driver that was located by a witness reporting the license plate of the vehicle involved. On Oahu, the fire department is responsible for controlling water flow to fire hydrants. You should pause during the transmission to give the receiving person a chance to write or type in the information. If you don't, the person will likely ask you to say again parts of your tactical message.
When relaying status or information, attribute the source of the information.	PER person, (status or info)	By naming (person) as the source of the status or information, the receiving party is able to relay the source of the information.
	Per an eye witness, the hydrant was broken due to a hit-and-run vehicle accident. License plate number is ABC-001.
Transmit your call sign at the end to identify and end your transmission or exchange of tactical message.	(call sign)	For amateur radio stations, you do not need to say "Clear". following your call sign. Your call sign is sufficient. FCC Part 97.119(a)
Passing a report of a traffic accident to the 911 operator.	Send a police officer. Motor vehicle collision just occurred. H1 East Bound on the Ward Ave onramp. The officer may use the Ward Ave onramp to access the scene. Two vehicles involved. A white SUV and a dark colored sedan. Vehicles are in the extreme right hand lane, blocking traffic. Unsure if anyone is hurt.	This is the essential information needed by the police to respond to a traffic accident on the freeway.

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March 29, 2014 Updated: May 13, 2022

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