Georgia Section ARES District Emergency Coordinators and Emergency Coordinators are responsible for developing and maintaining an emergency communications response plan for their jurisdiction. This plan should be developed with input from active ARES members in the jurisdiction, and with leadership officials of jurisdictions which may be affected by the plan or whose plan may affect the plan being developed.
All elements of the plan must be coordinated by the DEC or EC to ensure a unified and effective response. These include training, a system for call-up, job assignments, equipment needs, types of nets and communication patterns, resource nets and staging areas, and personnel management. It is appropriate for DEC's and EC's to appoint assistants in their jurisdiction with the responsibility for this planning. The persons writing the local emergency communications response plans are encouraged to have taken the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course, levels EC001, EC002 and EC003.
The emergency communication planning process involves three steps:
Effective plans are never developed in a "vacuum." This means that the EC must work in concert with the served agency's personnel and other ARES officials to be sure that everyone understands and agrees with the goals, capabilities, and limitations of the plan.
Working cooperatively builds mutual trust and respect, and provides a greater likelihood of everyone's expectations being met.
Preventing Duplcation of Effort
Communications Systems Failure Modes
Designing Local Emergency Communications Plans
Designing Emergency Communications Systems